Willie Young

William David Young (25 November 1951 – 31 October 2025) was a Scottish footballer. Playing as a centre-back, he featured for Aberdeen, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Darlington.

Club career 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; 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. He then had short spells at Brighton and Hove Albion followed by Darlington before retiring from the game in 1984.

International career 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.

Young died on 31 October 2025, at the age of 73.

Career statistics

Club

Honours Arsenal FA Cup: 1978–79; runner-up: 1977–78, 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1979–80