Billy Hartill

Who was Billy Hartill?

William "Billy" John Hartill was a professional footballer, who spent the majority of his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He stands as the club's third-highest goalscorer in their history with 170 goals.

Nicknamed 'Artillery' after a stint serving as a bombardier in the Royal Horse Artillery after leaving school, Hartill joined then-Second Division Wolves as a semi-professional in August 1928, making his league debut on November 24, 1928 at Bradford City. The following year, his first full season as a professional, he scored 33 goals in 36 games to finish as the club's top goalscorer. He repeated this feat in the next three successive seasons, helping the club regain their top flight status as Second Division champions in 1931–32.

He remained at Molineux until summer 1935, when he was sold to Everton. His overall tally of 170 goals made him the club's all-time leading goalscorer at the time, a record which stood until April 1980 when broken by John Richards. He twice scored 5 goals in a single match, a record never bettered by a Wolves player, and scored a then club record 16 hat-tricks.