Billy Horner

{{short description|English footballer and manager}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}

{{more footnotes needed|date=June 2018}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Billy Horner

| fullname = William Horner

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1942|9|7|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cassop, England

| position = Central defender

| years1 = 1960–1969 | years2 =1969–1975

| clubs1 = Middlesbrough | clubs2 =Darlington

| caps1 = 187 | goals1 = 11 | caps2 = 218 | goals2 = 5

| manageryears1 = 1974–1975 | manageryears2 = 1976–1983 | manageryears3 =1984–1986

| managerclubs1 = Darlington | managerclubs2 = Hartlepool United | managerclubs3 =Hartlepool United

}}

William Horner (born 7 September 1942 in Cassop, England) is an English footballer and manager.

Horner played at Middlesbrough from 1960 to 1969, primarily as a defender. He moved on to Darlington where he played until 1975.

He joined York City as a coach in 1971 under Tom Johnston and was released in January 1972 following a behind the scenes player's dispute.{{Cite book

| last = Batters

| first = Dave

| title = York City: The Complete Record

| year = 2008

| publisher =Breedon Books

| isbn = 978-1-85983-633-0

| page = 221}}{{cite web |title=1972 YCFC player dispute |url= http://www.yorkcitysouth.co.uk/xdb-jonesc.htm}}

He was player-manager of Darlington during the 1974–75 season, in which the club had to apply for re-election. He left the club at the end of the season and was appointed as coach to Darlington's arch-rivals Hartlepool. In October 1976, he took over as manager, and had two separate spells in this role: one from 1976 to 1983 and the other from 1983 to 1986. Although Hartlepool applied for re-election to the League on three occasions, Horner also guided the club to a respectable 9th-place finish in 1980–81, during which the club had been promotion contenders. In his second spell at the club, Hartlepool finished 7th in 1985–86, in which they had also been a promotion contender for much of the season.