[2][3][4] Born in Epping, Essex, Lansdowne began his career with West Ham United, making his professional debut for the club on 28 April 1979.
[5] Lansdowne later played for Charlton Athletic and Gillingham, and made a total of 47 appearances in the Football League for all three clubs.
[6] Lansdowne later spent six seasons with Swedish club Kalmar FF and was joint-top scorer in the Allsvenskan in 1985 with 10 goals.
[10] Lansdowne's father Bill was also a professional footballer who played for West Ham United.
[11] His son, Billy Jr, played for Nybro IF, IFK Berga and Lindsdals IF, in the lower levels of Swedish football.