Willie Young was born in Girvan, Ayrshire, He was, until he retired in 2014, Chairman of leading Scottish legal firm Brechin Tindal Oatts

Willie is currently on the UEAFA referee observers' panel.  He is married to Margot, who is a teacher.

Willie was a top class football referee for 15 seasons, during which time he referee-ed over 500 Scottish senior matches, including the Scottish Cup Final, the Scottish League Cup Final, the Bells Challenge Cup Final and the Scottish Women's FA Cup Final.
Before age defeated him, Willie was on the FIFA list of international referees and officiated in 27 different countries at a total of 71 European and world matches, including as 4th official at the 1999 UEFA Cup Final.

He was presented with a Bells' Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, when he hung up his whistle.

Paulo di Canio of Celtic, once asked him during a game, if he ''wanted to be manager of Rangers?'' and Dick Advocaat of Rangers once accused him, during a game, of being ''a Celtic supporter''. These comments tend to suggest that he was fairly impartial.

Willie Young is one of the few referees ever to send off Ally McCoist but it was in the Robert Duvall film ''A Shot At Glory''.

A successful lawyer and former referee, Willie is an accomplished wit, raconteur and established after dinner speaker.

He is in demand for engagements all over the UK. Willie has spoken at numerous business and sporting dinners and at scores of Burns suppers large and small, from Cumnock to Cairo. He has delivered Immortal Memories in places as diverse as Kenya, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.