Willie Young

From Heriot near Edinburgh, Young attended Ross High School in Tranent. Nicknamed "Big Willie", he first played professionally for Aberdeen, making 187 appearances for the Dons between 1970 and 1975. He was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in September 1975, and while playing under Terry Neill made 64 appearances for Spurs in two seasons. In March 1977, Young once again signed for manager Neill so as to link up at Highbury with Spurs' arch-rivals Arsenal. Young immediately became a regular in the Arsenal first team, and played in all of the 'Gunners'' trio of FA Cup finals; after losing to Ipswich Town in 1978, he was on the winning side the following year, with a 3–2 defeat of Manchester United. Young was a runner up in the 1980 FA Cup final, where he made an infamous tackle on West Ham United's Paul Allen, and also a runner up in the 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup Final. Young continued to be Arsenal's first choice centre back until the 1981–82 season, when he lost his place to Chris Whyte. Having played 237 times and scoring 19 goals for Arsenal, the 30-year-old Young then joined Nottingham Forest in December 1981 for £50,000, and played 59 times over two seasons there. In 1983, he joined Norwich City, but with injuries dogging him, he failed to secure a regular place in the side. He then had short spells at Brighton and Hove Albion followed by Darlington before retiring from the game in 1984.

Young was capped five times, scoring one goal for the Scotland under-23 national team. He never played a full international for Scotland having been banned for life after an incident in a Copenhagen nightclub in 1975.

Club

As a player at Aberdeen, Young worked on oil rigs during the summer to top up his earnings. He was married to Lynda; they had three children. After retiring from football he spent 19 years running a pub called Bramcote Manor near Nottingham, and then bought kennels in Bottesford, Leicestershire. Young died on 31 October 2025, at the age of 73.