Willy Whitelaw

Despite officiating at two Olympic Games (1948 and 1960) as a hockey umpire, Willy Whitelaw was better known as a cricketer, and was a dual Scottish cricket and hockey international. Whitelaw was also an outstanding administrator at both sports.

Educated at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, then Balliol College, Oxford University, and Edinburgh University, Whitelaw went on to became a lawyer and ended up as the senior partner in the Leith firm of Beveridge and Kellas.

After leaving Oxford in 1928, Whitelaw joined Edinburgh’s Grange Cricket Club and played for them for 45 years, retiring as a player at the age of 67. He was regularly the club’s annual leading wicket-taker and took 877 career wickets for them, the highest by a non-professional player at Grange. Whitelaw won his only Scotland cap in the 58-run defeat by Ireland at Greenock in June 1932. It was his only First-Class Match. Whitelaw served on the Grange committee for many years and was a one-time president of the club. He was appointed president of the Scottish Cricket Union in 1955, and was also president of the Cricket Society of Scotland.

As a hockey player, Whitelaw had a ten-year career with Edinburgh Northern between 1928-37, when recurring ligament trouble forced him to end his playing days. He had won one Scottish cap, however, memorably scoring the winning goal against Wales at Cardiff in April 1932. Just two months later he became a dual hockey/cricket international. Whitelaw later became manager of the Northern team and, as an administrator, was appointed president of the Scottish Hockey Association in 1952 and in 1959 became chairman of the British Hockey Board.