Billy Ayre

William Ayre (7 May 1952 – 16 April 2002) was an English footballer who played for three clubs in a sixteen-year professional career, making over three hundred League appearances in the process.

Ayre began his professional playing career at Scarborough in 1975 whilst balancing a teaching profession at St Leonard's Catholic School in Durham, where he taught art and physical education.

He won the Scarborough Supporters' Player of the Year award in 1977.

It was his uncompromising performances for Boro that earned him a move, also in 1977, to Hartlepool United.

Ayre played in over one hundred league games and score 27 goals for Hartlepool.

He made his debut for Pools on 13 August 1977, in a 3–0 defeat at Grimsby Town in the League Cup.

He made his league debut seven days later in a 2–1 home defeat to Torquay United.

He was the club's top scorer in an ever-present season with the club, 1977–78, with thirteen goals, which assisted in his being named as the Supporters' Player of the Year.

In Ayre's second season at Hartlepool, 1978–79, he made 42 league appearances and scored five goals.

In 1979–80, he made 43 league appearances and score nine goals.

In his final season at the club, 1980–81, he made ten league appearances and scored one goal before he was sold to Halifax Town.

He played against Hartlepool in Halifax's visit to Victoria Park later in the season.

At Halifax, Ayre made 63 league appearances and scored five goals in his first spell at The Shay.

The summer of 1982 saw Ayre move again, this time to Mansfield Town, then managed by Stuart Boam.

He spent two seasons with the Stags, making 67 league appearances and scoring seven goals.

He scored a headed goal on his first-team debut in a Football League Trophy tie at Field Mill.

The following season, 1983–84, Ayre found himself acting as caretaker manager after the sacking of Boam.

Ian Greaves was eventually appointed as the new manager, and Ayre was released on a free transfer.

After retiring from the playing side of the game, he became a manager, and took the helm at five clubs between 1984 and 2000.

Ayre re-joined Halifax for a second spell in 1984.

In two years, he made 32 league appearances and scored two goals.

In October 1984, Ayre took over as caretaker manager of Halifax for less than a month.

Mick Jones, who is the godfather to Ayre's two children, was installed on 10 November.

He brought his playing career to a close with the club in 1986.

In December 1986, Ayre became manager of Halifax again, this time on a full-time basis.

On 5 August 1987, Halifax played a benefit match for Ayre against Halifax RLFC.

At this point, he was the club's manager.

(He was also managing director of the club.) Three years later, in April of the 1989–90 season, he resigned, having failed to get them out of the league's basement division.

A few days after departing Halifax, Ayre joined Blackpool as assistant to manager Jimmy Mullen.

After Mullen's departure at the end of the month, Ayre worked alongside caretaker manager Tom White.

Graham Carr was installed during the close season, and he kept Ayre on as assistant.

When Carr himself was sacked in November 1990, Ayre was promoted in his place.

His first game in charge was a draw at Hereford United on 1 December 1990.

He guided Blackpool to two successive play-off finals, in 1991 and 1992 (winning promotion in the second appearance), during his four years in charge of the club.

Billy Ayre was born in the Gateshead suburb of Crookhill.

After trying his hand at refereeing in his teenage years, he played for several years in non-League football at two amateur clubs in County Durham: Crook Town and Bishop Auckland.

As Roy Calley wrote in his 1992 book, Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992, Ayre, almost unknown outside the lower leagues, was "greeted reservedly by Blackpool supporters, yet in the space of two years [had] become the club's most popular – and certainly most successful – boss since Stan Mortensen".

On matchdays, he wore the number 15 Blackpool shirt, in the days when only three substitutes (numbers 12 to 14) were permitted for league games.

When Carr left, Blackpool were lying in eighteenth position in the Division Four table; six months later, however, the team had qualified for the play-offs after losing only five of their remaining thirty games.

In 2008, Ayre was posthumously named United's "Player of the 1970s".