William Egan

William Egan may refer to:

William Egan (footballer)

Thomas William Egan (1872–1946) was a Welsh professional association footballer who played as an inside forward. Egan played in the Football League for Ardwick, Burnley, Sheffield United and Lincoln City. He was awarded one cap for the Wales national football team for the match against Scotland on 26 March 1892.

He started his career with his local side, Chirk F.C. as a teenager and graduated to the first team in 1891. Shortly afterwards, he moved to Manchester to join Fairfield. In the summer of 1893, he joined Ardwick before moving on to Burnley. After a month with Ashton North End in May 1895, he joined Sheffield United in November, where he replaced his former Chirk team-mate, Joe Davies. Described as a "tricky player" who had a "fine shot at goal", Egan could play in any of the forward positions.

After a season in Sheffield, in which he scored four goals from 15 league appearances, Egan moved on to Lincoln City before dropping into non-league football in 1897. After a further four years, in which he played for five clubs, he retired to return to his home town.

William Egan (gangster)

William Egan (June 7, 1884 - October 31, 1921) was a St. Louis politician and organized crime figure involved in bootlegging and illegal gambling. His brother was the namesake of the infamous Egan's Rats.

The son of a tough Irish-American saloonkeeper, Egan was born and raised in the Kerry Patch, then known as the riverfront Irish ghetto of St. Louis. By his teens, Willie had followed his older brother Thomas into the Kinney Gang. By the time Tom took over the street gang in 1904, nineteen-year-old Willie was one of his best men. The Rats, at this point in time, specialized in political terrorism, armed robbery, extortion, and bootlegging. With the murder of Egan gangster Sam Young on April 4, 1909, Willie Egan inherited his saloon at the corner of Fourteenth and Franklin streets, which would remain a gang headquarters for over ten years.

Generally quiet and reserved, Willie was nonetheless a tough street fighter who proved himself time and time again in action. However, Willie wasn't as passionate and gregarious as his older brother Tom was. When original Egan's Rat William "Skippy" Rohan was gunned down in Tom's saloon on January 8, 1916, Tom Egan made plans to kill the shooter, Rat gangster Harry "Cherries" Dunn. Willie successfully argued from Dunn's life, only to have "Cherries" go berserk later that year, killing Egan allies for trivial reasons. Willie tracked his former pal to the Typo Press Club on the night of September 19, 1916 and watched as two of his men shot and killed Dunn. This touched off a gang war with the remnant of the old Bottoms Gang, a longtime rival of the Egan's Rats. The Egans would ultimately prevail, eliminating the Bottoms Gang once and for all.