He represented his country at the IAAF World Indoor Championships on two occasions and England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

[3][4] His major senior debut followed at the 1984 European Athletics Indoor Championships, where he narrowly missed a medal in fourth place behind fellow Briton Phil Norgate.

[5][6] He achieved his personal best of 1:44.65 minutes that year, but was overlooked for the British Olympic team for the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

[10][11] He represented Great Britain at the Universiade and claimed the silver medal behind Finland's Ari Suhonen.

[13] The last major outing of Billy's career was the 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships but he was far from his best form, being eliminated in the heats with a time of 1:49.09 minutes.