William Ambrose Wright was born in Ironbridge, Shropshire, in 1924.
Aged fourteen, and encouraged by a school teacher, he responded to an advertisement that saw him taken on by Wolverhampton Wanderers as a member of the ground staff.
The manager at the time, Major Frank Buckley, initially told Billy that he was too small to make it as a player, but he did go on to change his mind about that!
The outbreak of World War II affected his playing career and it was only afterwards, when things got back to where they were before, that he began to develop fully.