THE latest Hometown Hero to be featured by local football history guru is Benarty's Willie Renton.

Born in 1942, Willie was a Lochore lad. He played for Ballingry High and Fife Schools at outside left. At age 15 he worked in the Mary Pit and played in the Fife juveniles for the Mary Colliery Youths side, which was attached to Lochore House Youth Club.

Willie then joined the Welfare. He was just one of the many stars produced by the Welfare in that period.

The young left-half was snapped up by St Johnstone in 1962. He also got married to a Cowdenbeath girl then and moved to Stenhouse Street.

He made a couple of appearances for St Johnstone in the team that won the 2nd Division and then became a regular. Willie became the midfield playmaker in a side which included Alex Ferguson. From 1964 to 1966, he was a fixture in the Saints line up. It was at this time that he started to become known as the new Jim Baxter.

A left half, from Cowdenbeath, with a magic left foot - the parallels were obvious – Willie’s off field approach also sometimes mirrored that of Baxter. Spurs were keeping an eye on him.

In 1966, Scot Symon of Rangers, made his interest known and St Johnstone wanted £15,000 plus a further £10,000 after Willie had made 10 appearances for the Ibrox club plus £5,000 if he achieved international honours. Rangers made a counter-proposal of £12,000 plus Roger Hynd. Then they offered a straight £15,000 but sadly for Willie the deal fell through.

The collapse of the transfer to Rangers saw him move instead to St Mirren where he lined up alongside Archie Gemmill. He captained St Mirren to the 2nd Division title in 1968.

Scottish Cup holders Dunfermline then paid £8,000 to sign him. Willie proved a highly influential player and was to the fore in the Pars’ European Cup Winners Cup run of 1968/69 as they reached the semi-final. In one game Dunfermline beat Celtic 2-1 at East End Park in a league match. Willie Renton and Willie Wallace of Celtic were sent off. Wallace three times fouled Renton and a brawl broke out with players of both sides joining in. Renton was sent off for retaliation and a Celtic fan was arrested in the crowd for throwing a can of beer at Alex Edwards.

The end of the 1960s signalled the end of the great days of Dunfermline Athletic. Willie Renton’s last game for Dunfermline was in the defeat from Cowdenbeath in the 1st Division in September 1970. There was a brief potential flirtation with Australia but Willie was offered a good deal with Barrow who were then still in the Football League.

The Sporting Post reported that Willie had been given a lengthy contract with Barrow at £35 per week. They also reported that Willie patted his now ample girth and said ‘Wonder if I’ll make it!’ He didn’t and left the club in December 1971.

Andy Matthew then gave him a month’s trial at Central Park. He thought a player of Willie’s experience and quality might be an asset as Cowden made their promotion push. It was not to be though and Willie’s football career therefore came to its close at the age of 30. He played 249 senior games for his Scottish clubs and scored 17 goals.

Willie still lives in the Cowden-Gelly area and his son Billy Renton played in the Fife juniors. His grandson Greg was once on the books at Central Park.

Willie was the cousin of Cowdenbeath referee Jim Renton who later was club secretary of Livingston. Jim Renton’s father Jim (senior) was also a Cowdenbeath based referee who took charge of a Junior international and ran the line in 2 Scottish Junior Cup finals.