Willie Hamilton was also actually born in Hamilton on 1 September 1918. He joined Preston in September 1937 for a fee of £150 from Scottish Junior side Blantyre Victoria.
He played in the wing-half position but had to wait until after the war to make his Preston league debut, although he had made 71 war time appearances for the Lilywhites.
He made his debut on 21 September 1946 in a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough and played in the remaining 36 matches of the 1946/47 season as he took over the number 6 shirt from Willie Watson. Although he didn’t find the net in a league match he did score in the 6-0 victory over Barnsley in the FA Cup Fourth Round on 25 January 1947.
The final game of the season was his last game for the club as PNE drew 1-1 at home against Derby on 26 May, with the club finishing seventh in Division One.
The start of the 1947/48 season saw him replaced in the side with Ken Horton and was transferred to Queen of the South for a fee of £1,000 in February 1948.
After a spell as player-manager of Hamilton he emigrated to Canada in 1955 and took over the player-manager role of Victoria.
On retirement from the game he moved into building construction.