Bill Attley

{{Short description|Irish trade unionist and football referee}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Bill Attley

| nationality = Irish

| otherparty = Labour Party (Ireland)

| occupation = Unionist and referee

| alma_mater = National College of Industrial Relations

}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2022}}

William A. Attley (born 5 April 1938) is a former Irish trade unionist and football referee.

Born in Rathcoole, County Dublin, Attley studied at the National College of Industrial Relations. He became active in the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI), being elected as a branch secretary in 1968, then Deputy General Secretary in 1977 and General Secretary from 1982.Louis McRedmond, Modern Irish lives: dictionary of 20th-century Irish biography, p.6 In 1990, he led a merger of the WUI with the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, forming SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union), serving as joint General President until 1994, then as General Secretary until his retirement in 1998.Gerald Flynn, "[http://www.independent.ie/business/tough-union-battle-to-replace-attley-26192218.html Tough union battle to replace Attley]", Irish Independent, 5 March 1998

Outside trade unionism, Attley was active in the Labour Party, and was a keen football referee, ultimately working with UEFA to recruit and train referees, and in his retirement becoming chief referee assessor for the Football Association of Ireland.Martin Fitzpatrick, [http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/billy-attley-26221343.html "Billy Attley"], Irish Independent, 6 June 2004