Career
Shillinglaw served with the King"s Own Scottish Borderers. Rugby union
He was capped five times for Scotland in 1960-1961. He also played for Gala Reconstruction Finance Corporation, for whom he played sixty five times, scoring fourteen tries.
Rugby league
Shillinglaw transferred to Whitehaven in 1961.
He was then signed by Wigan in 1962 for a transfer fee of £5,500. He went on to score 25 tries in 42 appearances for Wigan.
Shillinglaw also played for Leigh. Shillinglaw was a bricklayer by trade, and was offered the sum of £5,000 to defect to rugby league for Whitehaven in 1961.
Shillinglaw died in Borders General Hospital, aged 68.