William Patrick Brennan was born in Paisley , Scotland on 13^th January 1934 . He developed his skating and hockey skills as a 13 year-old at the old Paisley Ice Rink at East Lane, firstly with the Pee-Wees and then the junior Wildcats.

 

When the Wildcats lost their ice time at Paisley, Billy joined the junior Glasgow Mohawks at nearby Crossmyloof.

 

A precocious talent, he made his debut in the Canadian-dominated pro Scottish National League as a 17 year-old defenceman – on 21 November 1951 – for Ayr Raiders. (Raiders were hit by injuries, and their Canadian Coach, Keith Kewley, called up the young Brennan, who was still a schoolboy at Glasgow’s St Mungo’s Academy. Billy cites Kewley as the major influence on his hockey career.)

 

Brennan’s first game was in the rink where he learnt to skate, against his home town Paisley Pirates, and he played 10 games for Raiders during 1951-52, collecting 1 assist and one minor penalty. (He was in good company, as Raiders won the Scottish National League and Autumn Cup that season.)

 

Coach Kewley was in charge at Paisley the following year, and helped convert Billy into a winger and establish himself with the Pirates, assisting them to a Scottish League, Autumn Cup and Canada Cup treble in 1953-54.

 

With the collapse of professional hockey in 1960, Billy took charge as player/coach of the amateur Paisley Mohawks in 1961, moulding Paisley into the Grand Slam-winning major force of 1960s British hockey in the old Northern League.

 

An innovative coach, he introduced a varied off-ice fitness programme for his players, allowing maximum use of ice time for skills and tactical development.

 

He also arranged for his Paisley team to undertake short European tours in the 1960s, matching them against Canadian Air Force teams and helping their development by playing quality opposition. A number of the Paisley players he developed went on to achieve international recognition with Great Britain – including his younger brother Alastair (a fellow Hall of Fame inductee), Billy Miller, the late Jackson McBride and Alistair McRae.

 

Billy’s own international career had begun in 1953 when he represented Great Britain in Basel and Zurich at the World Championships aged 19. He would play in a further five World tournaments – 1961 (Pool B silver medallists in Switzerland); 1962 (when Billy captained GB in the Pool A tournament in Colorado Springs, USA); he was Player-Coach of the British side in both the 1965 and 1966 Pool B tournaments (in Finland and Yugoslavia respectively); finally coming out of retirement to play in the 1971 Pool C championships in Holland, when with Glasgow Dynamos. (Billy played on the wing in the 1953 and ’71 World Championships, but was on defence for his other four tournaments.)

 

His playing career ended in 1973, aged 39, when his employment took him south to Birmingham. A draughtsman by profession, he worked for 23 years with Babcock & Wilcox, before moving back north in 1975 to Aberdeen as Sales and Projects Manager with a Norwegian engineering company, retiring as their UK Managing Director in 1999.

 

Billy’s hockey involvement resumed in 1992 with the opening of an ice rink in Aberdeen, and he was invited to assist with the setting-up of its hockey programme.

 

He and his wife live in retirement in Aberdeen, where his sporting activity is now confined to the golf course.