William Atkinson was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional footballer, playing as a winger. He was born in Sunderland.

Atkinson began his professional football career as an apprentice at Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

, turning professional in March 1962. He remained at St. Andrews for a further 2 years, but failed to make a single first team appearance.

In June 1964 he moved to Torquay United

Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

, scoring on his league debut on 12 September 1964 in a 2-2 draw against Stockport County

Stockport County F.C.

Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...

 at Plainmoor

Plainmoor

Plainmoor is a suburb of Torquay, Devon, but is best known as the name of the stadium in which Torquay United Football Club currently play.-History:...

. Despite this start to his Torquay career he was soon out of the team again, although did have a good run in the first team later in the season after replacing Peter Anderson in the side.

In 1966, after only 19 league appearances, in which he scored 7 goals, Atkinson returned to the Midlands, joining non-league side Nuneaton Borough. He retired from Non League Football in 1974 - the last Club he played for was Redditch.

Atkinson started refereeing throughout the Midlands in 1982 for local clubs, also involved with assessing for the B.C.F.A. of which he has been a member for 20 years

For 20 years, during summer months he played cricket for local club Ambleside and Ansley, and later umpired for local clubs in the Midlands area.

Atkinson started his successful family run industrial cleaning business in 1968, which he runs with his son James.

Bill completes 50 years in football this year 2010