William Wallace

Early career

He started his senior playing career with Stenhousemuir as a teenager in 1958 (having played alongside Jim Storrie at Kilsyth Rangers), moving to Raith Rovers a year later. It was in Kirkcaldy that "Wispy", as Wallace was nicknamed, developed his reputation as a top-class goal poacher, his skills being rewarded with a first Scottish League cap.

Hearts

Wallace's form attracted attention from larger clubs, Heart of Midlothian eventually spending £15,000 to take him to Edinburgh in April 1961. The increased pressure for success at Tynecastle initially curtailed his scoring exploits, for he was expected to replace no less a figure than Alex Young, the "Golden Vision", whom Hearts had sold to Everton a couple of months earlier. By season 1962–63, however, Wallace was fully settled into the tactics of manager Tommy Walker, and he would become Hearts' top scorer for the next four seasons through to 1965–66. In doing so, he helped Hearts win the Scottish League Cup in 1962 and come within a goal of winning the 1964–65 Scottish Football League title, while gaining full international recognition for Scotland. In 1966, however, his form plummeted and his goalscoring ceased and, amid rumours that he had been "tapped" up by another club, his departure from Tynecastle was widely anticipated. The surprise was that his destination wasn't boyhood favourites Rangers but their nemesis Celtic, for whom Jock Stein paid £30,000 to secure his services. He played a…

In total, Wallace was capped seven times for Scotland and four times for the Scottish Football League XI. He was part of the Scotland team that defeated England at Wembley in 1967.

Throughout his career, Wallace was a prolific goalscorer, possessing a powerful shot with either leg, which led him many times to score from the 25 to 35 yard range. Despite not being a tall player, Wallace was also good in the air. Wallace was also capable of creating chances for his teammates to score goals themselves and play in different positions. In the second leg of the semi-finals against Dukla Prague in the European Cup, Stein tasked Wallace with man-marking its star player, Josef Masopust.

Retiring as a player in June 1977, he joined the coaching staff at Dundee. When this role ended he returned to APIA as a coach, eventually settling in Sydney and starting his own sports shop. In 2008, Tommy Burns, a former Celtic player and manager, died; Wallace helped organise a tribute match played on 31 May 2009 at Celtic Park, attended by over 35,000 people. The Celtic squad of the time defeated the 'Tommy Burns Select' team 11–4. In July of the same year, Wallace arranged a friendly match in Australia (where he had lived for the past 30 years) between Celtic and the local professional club Brisbane Roar; Celtic won 3–0.