Junior football fans and in particular those who follow Kilsyth Rangers and Dunipace Juniors will be saddened to hear of the death, in New South Wales, Australia, of Willie Westwater at the age of eighty two years. A legend in his time in junior football Willie has been resident down under for fifty years but still retained links with the Scottish game. A member of the famous Denny footballing family Willie began his Junior career at Dunipace as a right back being partnered by another equally famous player on the left, Bert McNab who also had a most distinguished career, becoming the most capped Junior player. Willie also picked up caps while at Dunipace but at the end of the 1951-52 season he was persuaded to move on to a bigger club and there were none bigger in that era than Kilsyth Rangers. At the time he joined Kilsyth were showing signs of regaining the prominence they they had gained in the immediate post war years and he was made captain at a time when that position was virtually that of manager nowadays. The team included such stars of the future as Jimmy Harrower who had a long career in senior football Hibernian, Liverpool and Newcastle. Also Martin Mulhall who was a favourite at Brockville in the mid fifties. It was the following season though that he inspired Kilsyth to their year of greatest success with what many still regard as the finest team ever seen in Junior football. With players such as George Mulhall (Aberdeen and Sunderland), George Rankin (Airdrie), Bobby Holmes (St. Mirren)and Alex Paterson (Stirling Albion) and of course, the incomparable Alex Querrie at centre forward, they won every trophy open to them with the exception of the Scottish Junior Cup. They put that right the following season though, taking the trophy to Kilsyth for the first time with virtually a completely new squad of players but the one consistent factor was the captaincy of Westwater which played a huge part in the cup run. He remained at Duncansfield for one further season during which they enjoyed further success but towards the end of 55-56 season he left and emigrated to Australia. During his four years at Kilsyth he had scored more than a few goals from free-kicks and hardly missed a game through injury in that time. He continued to gain Scottish Junior caps at Kilsyth, collecting seven in all. At the age of thirty two he began a new playing career down under with Canterbury and later Bankstown, enjoying considerable success including being selected as captain of a European select against a New South Wales select. His son, Alan, carried on the family footballing tradition by playing for Canterbury, at the age of fifteen he played in direct opposition to his father who was then thirty seven. Alan went on to gain a total of seventeen caps for Australia and played in the 1978 World Cup. He returned to Scotland to play for Stirling Albion and is still resident in Denny. At the end of his playing career Willie took up another sport, bowls, and typically became a champion at that as well. He also enjoyed singing and was for twenty years a professional singer with the Jack Papworth Old Tyme Orchestra, he was regularly heard on Australian radio for many years. He retired from his position as a production supervisor with Johnson & Johnson at the age of fifty eight and continued to enjoy his bowls and musical career for many more years. Willie kept in touch with another ex-Kilsyth player of that era, goalkeeper Roy Lowe, who had also settled in New South Wales. He is fondly remembered at Kilsyth and elsewhere as a true gentleman of the game and will be sadly missed. He leaves his son Alan, two grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
By John Ferguson.
