William Steel (1 May 1923 – 13 May 1982) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for St Mirren, Morton, Derby County, Dundee and the Scotland national team. One of Scotland's greatest inside forwards, Billy Steel combined a brilliant footballing brain with a busy work ethic and explosive shot. Steel was the subject of two record transfer fees during his career. As well as receiving 30 caps for Scotland, Steel made four appearances with the Scottish League, was a Scottish Cup finalist in 1952, and was a Scottish League Cup winner in 1952 and 1953. He scored a memorable goal for a Great Britain XI against the Rest of Europe in 1947. He was inducted into Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2006. Early career Steel began his career at local juvenile side Dunipace Thistle, signing for Junior side Bo'ness Cadora in the summer of 1938, whilst still 15 years of age. He played several games at inside-left before being developed into a winger by Cadora. Leicester City manager Frank Womack was determined to get his man halfway through the season and took him on to the Filbert Street ground staff at the end of 1938; things did not work out as the boss was sacked and nobody remembered to renew his contract. While still contracted to Morton, Steel played for the British Army of the Rhine, (BAOR) who, in 1944 to 1946, were re-establishing footballing connections with other teams on the Continent. The team "visited" France, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, the Channel Islands and Germany, and Steel played along with such notables as Leslie Compton, Eddie Hapgood, and Matt Busby. Demobbed in December 1946 he returned to Morton. Derby County His £15,500 transfer from Morton to Derby County in 1947 was a then British transfer record. He was brought to Derby County after playing just a few first team games for Morton and was a good buy, going on to play for three seasons at the Baseball Ground. In that time he made 124 appearances, scoring 35 goals. Steel was not always popular at Derby, especially among his fellow professionals: one dressing room incident ended in Steel being threatened with being hung on a cloakroom peg by a member of his own team. Players often accused Steel of saving his best performances for when the Rams travelled down to play the London teams. He was further disliked for his