Wilbur Cush

Wilbur W. Cush[1] (10 June 1928 – 28 July 1981) was a Northern Irish football striker.

Wilbur Cush
Personal information
Date of birth (1928-06-10)10 June 1928
Place of birth Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Date of death 28 July 1981(1981-07-28) (aged 53)
Place of death Lurgan, Northern Ireland
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Position(s) Half-Back / Inside-Forward
Youth career
Shankill YMCA
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1957 Glenavon
1957–1960 Leeds United 87 (9)
1960–1966 Portadown
1966–1968 Glenavon
International career
1950–1961 Northern Ireland 26 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Billy Cush represented Northern Ireland at the 1958 World Cup, scoring the winning goal in their first ever final stages World Cup match, a 1–0 win over Czechoslovakia in Sweden.

He started his career in his native Northern Ireland with Glenavon F.C. In 1951/52 he helped Glenavon become the first club from outside of Belfast to win the Irish League and 5 years later followed it up with a second league title. In 1956/57, he was named as the Ulster Footballer of the Year.[2] He moved to Leeds United in 1957 and took over the captaincy from recently departed Leeds legend John Charles. Cush was a very versatile player who could play at centre-back and centre-forward. His performances at Elland Road earned him his call up to Northern Ireland for the 1958 World Cup. Overall at Leeds he made 90 appearances and scored 9 goals. In 1960 he moved to Portadown F.C. later moving back to his first club, Glenavon F.C., as a player and later a coach. With his football career over, Wilbur became a butcher in Lurgan. He died in 1981.

Wilbur Cush was also a platoon Sergeant in the Ulster Special Constabulary. He served in Lurgan (J division County Armagh) and The Birches station County Armagh. He received the USC Long Service Medal.

See also

References
  1. Jcd (15 August 2006). "Billy Cush". NIFG. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  2. M. Brodie (ed.), Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2009-2010, p. 102. Belfast:Ulster Tatler Publications
  • Wilbur Cush at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
  • Profile`


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