My friend Bill Russell, who has died aged 87, combined success in both football and teaching throughout his career.
He was born in Hounslow, Middlesex (now the London borough of Hounslow), to Doris (nee Smith) and William Russell, a professional footballer and manager. Shortly afterwards, the family moved to north Wales, where William became manager of Rhyl United and Doris ran a boarding house.
Bill went to Rhyl grammar school. As a result of his sporting and academic talents he was awarded one of only two national bursaries, which funded his degree in geography and German at University College Wales, Aberystwyth (now Aberystwyth University). He followed this with a one-year teacher training course at Loughborough College, Leicestershire (now Loughborough University), focusing on language teaching.
Simultaneously with his university studies and afterwards, when he started teaching, Bill was a serious footballer and an athlete – he ran for Welsh Universities against Roger Bannister, then at the peak of his career, in 1954.
Remaining an amateur allowed him freedom of movement between football clubs, including Bangor City, Rhyl and Manchester City reserves. In 1957 he scored the first goal, for Bishop Auckland, in the Amateur Cup final at Wembley in front of a crowd of 90,000, helping his team win the trophy.
Soon afterwards he signed for Sheffield United and, over six seasons, made 175 appearances, scoring 75 goals and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in 1961. He also won four England caps as an amateur.
Alongside his football career, Bill pursued a parallel academic path, teaching languages at several schools around Manchester. After retiring from football in 1970, having also played for Bolton Wanderers, Rochdale, Scarborough and Chorley, he became head of languages at South Trafford Further Education College in Altrincham (now Trafford College). There, he met Cathie Cornish, who in 1994 became his second wife.
The following year he retired from teaching, but nearly 20 years later one of his former students contacted the “thank you” slot on Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme to acknowledge how Bill’s teaching had changed her life by helping her get into university. The fact that many old students kept in touch is another testament to his dedication.
Bill returned to north Wales after his retirement, living in Dyserth, near Rhyl, where he was known for his hospitality. He then had more time to complete the Guardian’s cryptic crossword every day and to add Welsh to his German and Russian, the Spanish and Italian he learned at evening classes, and self-taught Swedish.
Bill is survived by Cathie, his daughter, Mandy, from his first marriage, to Deirdre (nee Barnett), which ended in divorce, and by his grandchildren, Freddie and Max.
