Wilfred “Tim” McCoy was born in Birmingham in 1921. He was nicknamed Tim, after the Western film star, Tim McCoy and was generally known by that name. His football career appeared to have ended prematurely when the outbreak of the Second World War and a call-up to the Army prevented him from taking up a trial with Bolton Wanderers. However, when he was posted to Preston Barracks in Brighton, he appeared in wartime matches for Brighton & Hove Albion in the 1940–41 season.
After the war, he signed for First Division club Portsmouth. As backup he made just 18 league appearances in two-and-a-half seasons, and moved on to Northampton Town. He captained the team, and helped them finish as Third Division South runners-up in 1949–50. In January 1951, he returned to Brighton & Hove Albion where he was a regular in the team for nearly three years. He left at the end of the 1953-54 season, and went on to play non-league football for Tonbridge.
He then worked as a representative of an electrical appliances company and lived in the Woodingdean area of Brighton. He died in the city in 2005 at the age of 83.