William A. Attley was born in Rathcoole on the 5th of April 1938 and as well as becoming a well-known referee, he was also highly regarded as a trade unionist.

Attley studied at the National College of Industrial Relations before becoming active in the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI), where first he was elected as a branch secretary in 1968, then Deputy General Secretary in 1977, and General Secretary from 1982.

In 1990, he led a merger of the WUI with the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, forming SIPTU (Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union), serving as joint General President until 1994, then as General Secretary until his retirement in 1998.

Attley was also active in the Labour Party and he also had a strong love of football.

He was highly thought of as a football referee which would lead to him working with UEFA to recruit and train referees before becoming the chief referee assessor for the Football Association of Ireland and has served on their council.