Bill Sawers Player Profile
Personal
- Full Name: William Sawers
- Born: June 13th, 1871 (Glasgow)
- Died: October 20th, 1960
Career
- Position: Inside Forward
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Dundee Career Totals:
28 first team competitive appearances
11 first team competitive goals - Also Played For: Abercorn F.C, Blackburn Rovers, Clyde, Kilmarnock, Stoke City
Dundee Career Summary
| League | FA Cup | Other Cups | TOTAL | Competitive | Friendlies | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 1894-95 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 19 | 8 | 14 | 8 | ||
| 1895-96 | 9 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| TOTAL | 23 | 10 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 28 | 11 | 18 | 13 | ||
NOTES:
Other Cups may include: Anglo-Scottish Cup, Challenge Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, Drybrough Cup, International Soccer League, League Cup, Summer Cup, Texaco Cup.
Biography
Three times in the history have Dundee Football Club have three Dundee players been in the starting line up for Scotland and on the second occasion Dundee inside-forward Bill Sawers was one of the trio against Wales in Wrexham in 1895.
William ‘Bill’ Sawers was born in Bridgton, Glasgow on June 13th 1871 and started his football career with local side Clyde before moving to Blackburn Rovers in the close season of 1892.
A strong inside-forward, Bill had a nomadic career as one of the original pioneers of the football, playing the game while it was still in its infancy and spent most of his career crossing and re-crossing the border, including two spells at Dundee.
He spent the 1892/93 season at Blackburn where he scored 14 goals in 28 games before leaving for Stoke City in the summer. At Stoke Bill scored five goals in 18 matches for The Potters before moving again in the summer, this time back north of the border to Dundee.
Sawers joined Dundee for a “considerable amount” in just the Dark Blues’ second season and added pace and power to the Dundee forward line. He made his competitive debut in the first match of the 1894/95 season in a 1-1 draw at home to League Champions Celtic at Carolina Port and a week later scored his first goal for the club in a 4-1 home win over his old club Clyde.
In his debut season Bill made 19 appearances, scoring seven times, the most celebrated of which was the winner against Celtic in a 1-0 victory at home in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup in front of 12,000 spectators – a new record attendance for ‘The Port.’
These were hectic, happy days at Carolina Port and within seven days of that Celtic win, Dundee completed an Old Firm double with a 2-1 home over Rangers thanks to goals from Sawers and Sandy Gilligan.
Dundee would reach the Scottish Cup semi-final where they would lose 3-0 to Renton on March 9th in a second replay at Celtic Park but later that month was called up by Scotland for a British International Championship match against Wales.
Alongside team mates Francis Barrett and Sandy Keillor, Sawers lined up at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham but the 2-2 draw to be his only cap. It was a historic occasion for Dundee FC however as it would be another 66 years until three Dees, (namely Ian Ure, Alex Hamilton and Hugh Robertson) wore the dark blue of Scotland together in a World Cup play-off match against Czechoslovakia in the Heysel Stadium, Brussels in 1961.
For the third close season in a row, Bill was off on his travels again when he returned to Stoke in the summer of 1895 but his stay in the Potteries didn’t last long as after just one appearance he was back with Dundee in October and scored on his return in a 4-1 home win over Edinburgh side St. Bernard’s.
Two weeks after his comeback however Sawer’s was part of the Dundee side which crashed to a record defeat which still stands today. On October 25th 1895 a visit to Celtic Park ended in an 11-0 rout although Dundee had been severely handicapped by being down to nine men in these pre-substitute days. Captain ‘Plum’ Longair had to go off late in the first half and then left-back Frank Ferrier was also unable to resume after the break in what was his only appearance for the Club.
Almost as quickly as he had returned to Dundee he was off again when after only nine games he was released in March and turned out that same month for both Kilmarnock and Abercorn before resuming his career with Clyde for season 1896/97.
Sawers release was due to financial pressures that the Dundee board were experiencing and his departure was part of a bid to balance the books. Along with Sawer’s release, Sandy Gilligan and Bill Thomson were transferred to Bolton Wanderers while fellow internationalists Bill Longair joined Sunderland and Francis Barrett moved the Newton Heath (later Manchester United).
Despite his short career with The Dark Blues, Sawers became just the fourth Dundee player to be capped by Scotland and in a unique group of Dees to have played for Scotland, he earns an honourable mention in the annals of the Dundee Football Club.
Debut
August 11th, 1894
Dundee 1 - 1 Celtic
League (Division One)
Playing Statistics - First Team Competitive matches (All Seasons)
| Competition | |
|
NPS | G2G |  |
 |
Win % | Draw % | Loss % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | 23 | 10 | - | 0.43 | - | - | 39.1 | 8.7 | 52.2 |
| Scottish Cup | 5 | 1 | - | 0.20 | - | - | 40.0 | 40.0 | 20.0 |
| Totals: | 28 | 11 | - | 0.39 | - | - | 39.3 | 14.3 | 46.4 |
| Recent Starting Appearances (First Team Competitive matches) |
|---|
| Dec 14th, 1895 | 14/12/95 | League | Division One | vs. Clyde (H) | 1 - 2 |
| Dec 7th, 1895 | 07/12/95 | League | Division One | vs. Dumbarton (A) | 2 - 1 |
| Nov 30th, 1895 | 30/11/95 | League | Division One | vs. Rangers (H) | 1 - 3 |
| Nov 23rd, 1895 | 23/11/95 | League | Division One | vs. Third Lanark (H) | 2 - 0 |
| Nov 2nd, 1895 | 02/11/95 | League | Division One | vs. Hearts (A) | 0 - 2 |
| Recent Goals Scored (First Team Competitive matches) |
|---|
| Oct 12th, 1895 | 12/10/95 | League | Division One | vs. Hearts (H) | 5 - 0 |
| Oct 5th, 1895 | 05/10/95 | League | Division One | vs. St Bernard's (H) | 4 - 1 |
| Sep 28th, 1895 | 28/09/95 | League | Division One | vs. St Mirren (A) | 1 - 3 |
| Jan 26th, 1895 | 26/01/95 | League | Division One | vs. Rangers (H) | 2 - 1 |
| Jan 19th, 1895 | 19/01/95 | Scottish Cup | 3rd Round | vs. Celtic (H) | 1 - 0 |
| List of First Team Competitive matches played (click to expand) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| List of First Team Competitive goals scored (click to expand) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| = Starting Appearances (Sub Appearances) | = Goals | NPS = Squad Appearances (as Non-Playing Sub) | GtGR = Goals to Games Ratio
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| Yel = Yellow Cards/Cautions | Red = Red Cards/Dismissals | W/D/L - Games won, drawn or lost as percentage of games played in |
Timeline
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Date of Birth
Bill was born on this date in Glasgow.
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First Non-Competitive Appearance (Friendly)
Orion 2 - 4 Dundee
Friendly
The football season in Aberdeen was practically opened on Saturday. Two Southern clubs visited the city, and there was a busy day of it. The principal match was between the Orion and Dundee, and was p
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First Team Debut
Dundee 1 - 1 Celtic
League (Division One)
The above clubs opened the League programme on Saturday last at Carolina Port. Much interest was taken in the contest, as some new blood had been secured for the ranks of the Celtis, while sev
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First Goal
Dundee 4 - 1 Clyde
League (Division One)
Dundee continued their League programme on Saturday when they faced the Clyde at Carolina Port. The Glasgow men came with a good reputation, having scored victories over Third Lanark and Linth
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International Debut
Bill earned his first International cap for Scotland, playing against Wales.
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Last Goal
Dundee 5 - 0 Hearts
League (Division One)
These teams met for the first time this season in a League fixture on the ground of the first-named club. Owing to the improved form displayed by the home team in their latest matches, and the fact th
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Last Appearance
Dundee 1 - 2 Clyde
League (Division One)
These teams played off their return League fixture at Carolina Port on Saturday. A drizzling rain fell for some time previous to the commencement of the game, and consequently there was a poor turnont
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Date of Death
Bill died on this date
International Career (Scotland) 
Caps: 1
International Debut: March 23rd, 1895 v. Wales