BILLY McEWAN was part of a £15,000 double signing made by Brian Clough in his brief reign as manager of the Albion in the 1973-74 season.

Together with gritty defender Paul Fuschillo, McEwan arrived on the south coast from Blackpool in February 1974.

Born in Cleland, a village near Motherwell and Wishaw in Lanarkshire, on 20 June 1951, McEwan had begun his career at Pumpherston Juniors in his home country and played 60 times for Hibernian (see Shoot! picture below) before moving to Blackpool to join his younger brother Stan. But he only managed four games for the Tangerines before Clough came calling.

Albion were flirting dangerously close to the relegation places as Clough struggled to find the right formula with players nowhere near the quality he had been used to working with at Derby.

McEwan recalled in his programme notes when managing Sheffield United against Albion in 1986: “Brian Clough bought me because he said he wanted some Scottish steel in the side.”

He featured in only 27 games for the Albion, getting on the scoresheet on three occasions, all at the Goldstone, but he was also made captain as Clough chopped and changed the line-up.

In the way players were traded like horses in those days, just nine months after his arrival he was moved on to Chesterfield (together with Ronnie Welch) in exchange for the right back Ken Tiler. Tiler himself would subsequently leave Albion for a £15,000 fee in 1979 – to join Rotherham.

From Chesterfield, a £15,000 fee took McEwan to Mansfield Town in January 1977, and he helped them to win the Division Three title that season.

Next up was Peterborough United, where one of his teammates for half a season was Lammie Robertson (pictured together below) before he moved to Rotherham for £30,000 in July 1979. A serious spinal injury forced him to miss the whole of the 1980-81 season but he finishing his playing career having scored 10 goals in 95 games for the Millers between 1979 and 1983.

He moved onto the coaching staff at Millmoor and subsequently managed the side between 1988 and 1991. In his first season in charge (1988-89) he guided them to the old 4^th division championship with a side featuring Tony Grealish in midfield.

In fact the 141 games they played under his stewardship proved to be his longest managerial reign, and McEwan was well known in football circles in Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

Remarkably he was a coach at Derby County under five different managers. Inevitably he was caretaker manager there too – on two separate occasions, seven years apart.

The first was on the final day of the 1994-95 season for an away game at Watford, following Roy McFarland’s departure the previous weekend.  He also had a spell in charge in the 2001- 02 Premier League season, for a home game against Ipswich Town and a trip to Charlton Athletic, after Colin Todd’s departure and before John Gregory was appointed.

“Derby are a great club, playing in a  great stadium with a wonderful fan base,” McEwan told Stuart Clarkson of themillers.co.uk. “Since John Gregory arrived I have been promoted to assist him in rebuilding and guiding the team back to the Premier League. Football is my life and I still appreciate getting paid for doing something that I love.”

His most successful time as a manager (in terms of wins ratio) was in charge of Conference side York City but his last league spell as a boss, with Mansfield Town in 2008, was somewhat ignominious and lasted only five months.

In March 2010, McEwan was appointed technical director of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association and he was later manager of Antigua Barracuda FC, a position he held until March 2011.

It was reported McEwan was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2014 and he died aged 70 on 17 February 2022.

Seagulls.co.uk revealed in April 2015 that Albion ‘keeper David Stockdale began his career under McEwan at York – only to be released!

It didn’t damage his career though and Stockdale later had eight games on loan to the Millers from parent club Fulham.

• Pictures from my scrapbook, Albion matchday programmes and online sources.