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30 July 2022
 
 

Wilf Mannion

Middlesbrough FC

26 appearances, 11 goals (3 on debut), one penalty missed

P 26 W 18 D 4 L 4 F 84: A 31
77% successful

1946-51

captain: none
minutes played:
2261

Timeline

  Wilfred James Mannion
Birth 16 May 1918, at 31 Napier Street, South Bank, Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire [registered in Middlesbrough, North Riding, June 1918]. To Thomas and Mary (née Duffy), Seventh of nine children.
Attended St. Peter's School, South Bank
Marriage to Bernadette Kathleen Murray [registered in Middlesbrough, March 1948].
Death 14 April 2000 at South Cleveland hospital, Marton Road, Middlesbrough, aged 81 years 334 days [registered in Redcar & Cleveland, April 2000]. Cremated at Teesside Crematorium.

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] &

Biographies Golden Boy: A Biography of Wilf Mannion - Nick Varley (Aurum Press, 2002)
 

x. - A Football Compendium, Peter J. Seddon (1999).

Club Career

When Mannion left school at 14, he became an apprentice welder at Smith's Dock and then worked in a rolling mill. He had become a regular with Smith's Dock's FC (Teesside League) before moving on to South Bank St Peters FC. Wilf then signed amateur forms, then professional forms with Middlesbrough FC in September 1936. He continued to play for the team in the early years of the war while serving in the Auxiliary Fire Service before being called up, he appeared as a guest for both Tottenham Hotspur FC and AFC Bournemouth. He also appeared with the South African club Peninsular of Johannesburg whilst serving in that country.  After returning from the war, Mannion clashed with Boro in 1948 over the contract system which he said chained players to their clubs, often for a pittance. Despite Arsenal FC wanting him, he demanded a move to Oldham Athletic FC, but bosses at the Teesside club put a record £25,000 price tag on him. So Mannion went on strike. He returned to the Middlesbrough side six months later. Wilf announced his retirement from football on 27 June 1954, having played 341 league matches, scoring 99 times. In December that year he returned to the game when he signed for Hull City AFC who paid Middlesbrough, who still held his registration, the then considerable sum of £4,500. He played sixteen league matches, scoring once. After some hard-hitting articles that Mannion wrote in his Sunday newspaper columns,  he was suspended by the Football League who sought to make an example of him but, undeterred, Mannion took his talents into non league football with Poole Town FC in the summer of 1955. He later joined Cambridge United FC (Eastern Counties League) where his presence doubled attendances and before moving on to serve Kings Lynn FC and Haverhill Rovers FC.

Club honours None
Individual honours Football League (seven appearances)
Distinctions He was awarded the Freedom of Redcar and Cleveland.  The South Bank FC ground in Normanby Road is now a Community facility aptly named Golden Boy Green.
Height/Weight 5' 5", 11st. 0lbs [1950].

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].

England Career

Player number One of nine who became the 655th player (662) to appear for England.
Position(s) Inside left/right
First match No. 227, 28 September 1946, Ireland 2 England 7, a British Championship match at Windsor Park, Donegall Avenue, Belfast, aged 28 years 135 days.
Last match No. 265, 3 October 1951, England 2 France 2, a Festival of Britain Celebration match at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, Islington, London, aged 33 years 140 days.
Major tournaments World Cup Finals 1950;
Team honours None
Individual honours England war-time (four appearances), England B (four appearances, 1947-50), Great Britain (one appearance)
England's Top Goalscorer 1946 (6 along with Lawton);
Distinctions Wilf's parents were Irish, so Wilf could have played for the Ireland national team.
The most appearanced Englishman at Middlesbrough FC.

Died 51 days after Stan Matthews.

Beyond England

The Second World War interrupted his career and he went to serve with the Green Howards 7th Battalion in Africa, Italy, Palestine, and then evacuated from Dunkirk. He took employment as a sales representative in Oldham during his strike in 1948. On his retirement in 1954, Boro held on to his registration, Wilf took employment as a columnist with a Sunday newspaper and penned a series of hard hitting articles in which he criticised the England selectors, the Football Association and club directors, opinions which were totally unheard of in the game at that time and, in the view of officialdom, gave more fuel to his rebellious reputation.  He later ran the The Pied Piper pub in Stevenage and worked on an assembly line at Vauxhall Motors plant at Luton, he returned to the game as player manager of Lancashire Combination club Earlestown FC on October 15th 1960. He returned to Teesside a year later who became the a labourer for ICI. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.167.


The Numbers
parties Apps comp. apps starts sub unused minutes goals ave.min comp. goals capt
23 26 11 26 ▲0
▼1
1 2261 11 206 min 8 1 nine none
minutes are an approximation, due to the fact that many matches rarely stick to exactly ninety minutes long, allowing time for injuries and errors.
P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
26 18 4 4 84 31 +53 3 8 3.231 1.192 76.9 +14

Venue Record

Venue P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
Home 11 5 4 2 31 18 +13 1 2 2.818 1.636 63.6 +3
Away 13 12 0 1 51 12 +39 1 5 3.923 0.923 92.3 +11
Neutral 2 1 0 1 2 1 +2 1 1 1.00 0.50 50.0 =0

Shirt Record

Colour P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
White 25 18 4 3 84 30 +54 2 8 3.36 1.20 80.0 +15
Blue 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 1 0 0.00 1.00 0.0 -1

Competition Record

Competition P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L

WCP

1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 0 1 1.00 0.00 100.0 +1
WCF 2 1 0 1 2 1 +1 1 1 1.00 0.50 50.0 =0
World Cup 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 1 2 1.00 0.333 66.7 +1
British Championship 9 6 2 1 27 11 +16 0 3 3.00 1.222 77.8 +5
The 1949-50 records of the World Cup preliminaries and British Championship are duplicated, and one set is deducted from the grand total.
Friendly 15 11 2 2 55 19 +36 2 4 3.667 1.267 80.0 +9
All 26 18 4 4 84 31 +53 3 8 3.231 1.192 76.9 +14

Tournament Matches

World Cup Preliminary Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WCP/BC 1949-50 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 0 1 1.00 0.00 100.0 +1
WCP All 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 0 1 1.00 0.00 100.0 +1
World Cup Final Tournaments
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WCF 1950 2 1 0 1 2 1 +1 1 1 1.00 0.50 50.0 =0
WCF All 2 1 0 1 2 1 +1 1 1 1.00 0.50 50.0 =0
World Cup
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WC/BC 1949-50 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 1 2 1.00 0.333 66.7 +1
WC All 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 1 2 1.00 0.333 66.7 +1

British Championship Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1946-47 3 2 1 0 11 3 +8 0 1 3.667 1.00 83.3 +2
BC 1947-48 2 1 1 0 5 2 +3 0 1 2.50 1.00 75.0 +1
BC/WCP 1949-50 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 0 1 1.00 0.00 100.0 +1
BC 1950-51 3 2 0 1 10 6 +4 0 0 3.333 2.00 66.7 +1
BC All 9 6 2 1 27 11 +16 0 3 3.00 1.222 77.8 +5

All Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WC 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 1 2 1.00 0.333 66.7 +1
BC 9 6 2 1 27 11 +16 0 3 3.00 1.222 77.8 +5
The 1949-50 records of the World Cup Preliminaries and British Championship are duplicated, and one set is deducted from the grand total.
11 7 3 2 29 12 +17 1 4 2.636 1.091 77.3 +5

The England Match History of Wilf Mannion
 
 Club: Middlesbrough F.C. - 26 full appearances (2261 min) 11ᵍ manager: Walter Winterbottom - 26 full appearances (2261 min) 11ᵍx

apps match pic match details comp res. rundown shirt

Age 28
1 227 28 September 1946 - Ireland 2 England 7
Windsor Park, Belfast
BC AW 7 28
61 80
10

one of nine who became the 655th player (662) to appear for England.
one of two to become the fourteenth player from Middlesbrough FC to represent England.
the 120th player to score on his England debut (first to score a hattrick since Oct 1937)
the 38th (first post-war) hattrick scored

2 228 30 September 1946 - Ireland 0 England 1
Dalymount Park, Dublin
Fr AW 82 10
3 229 13 November 1946 - England 3 Wales 0
Maine Road, Manchester
BC HW 8 39
65
10
4 230 27 November 1946 - England 8 Netherlands 2
Leeds Road, Huddersfield
Fr HW 32 10

his six goals in 1946 makes him the top goalscorer (along with Tommy Lawton) for the year

5 231 12 April 1947 - England 1 Scotland 1
Empire Stadium, Wembley
BC HD 56 10
6 232 3 May 1947 - England 3 France 0
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Fr HW 64
overhead kick
10

Age 29
7 233 18 May 1947 - Switzerland 1 England 0
Hardturm Stadion, Zürich
tour AL   10
B  
one appearance - Switzerland 21 May 1947
8 234 25 May 1947 - Portugal 0 England 10
Estádio Nacional, Lisboa
  AW   10
9 235 21 September 1947 - Belgium 2 England 5
Stade du Heysel, Bruxelles
Fr AW   10
10 236 18 October 1947 - Wales 0 England 3
Ninian Park, Cardiff
BC AW 15 10
11 237 5 November 1947 - England 2 Ireland 2
Goodison Park, Liverpool
BC HD 70 saved
84
10

the eleventh penalty kick missed (21st taken overall)

12 238 19 November 1947 - England 4 Sweden 2
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Fr HW 12 10
 

Age 30
13 240 16 May 1948 - Italy 0 England 4
Stadio Comunale di Torino, Torino
tour AW 72 10
B  
one appearance - Switzerland 19 May 1948; unofficial - FC Schaffhausen 22 May 1948;
 

246 13 May 1949 - Sweden 3 England 1, Råsunda Fotbollstadion, Solna tour AL party member
B  
one appearance - Finland A 15 May 1949
Age 31
14 247 18 May 1949 - Norway 1 England 4
Ullevål Stadion, Oslo
tour AW 5 10
B  
party member - Netherlands A 18 May 1949
15 248 22 May 1949 - France 1 England 3
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris
  AW   10
16 249 21 September 1949 - England 0 Republic of Ireland 2
Goodison Park, Liverpool
Fr HL   10
 

B  
one appearance - Netherlands A February 1950

17 253 15 April 1950 - Scotland 0 England 1
Hampden Park, Glasgow
WCP
/BC
AW   8

B  
party member - Italy 11 May 1950
18 254 14 May 1950 - Portugal 3 England 5
Estadio Nacional, Lisboa
tour AW 15 10
Age 32 B  
party member - Netherlands A 17 May 1950
19 255 18 May 1950 - Belgium 1 England 4
Stade du Heysel, Bruxelles
tour AW 84 10
B  
withdrawn party member - Luxembourg 21 May 1950
 
WCF
inside rightx
20 256 25 June 1950 - England 2 Chile 0
Estádio Municipal, Rio
NW 51 8

oldest World Cup Finals player & goalscorer so far
the 21st player to reach the twenty appearance milestone

21 257 29 June 1950 - United States 1 England 0
Estádio Independência, Belo Horizonte
  NL   8
258 2 July 1950 - Spain 1 England 0, Estádio Municipal, Rio NL party member
22 259 7 October 1950 - Ireland 1 England 4
Windsor Park, Belfast
BC AW   8
23 260 15 November 1950 - England 4 Wales 2
Roker Park Ground, Sunderland
BC HW 66 8
24 261 22 November 1950 - England 2 Yugoslavia 2
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Fr HD   8
25 262 14 April 1951 - England 2 Scotland 3
Empire Stadium, Wembley
BC HL (0-0) 11 8
 

Age 33
26 265 3 October 1951 - England 2 France 2
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Fr HD 32 8
 
268 28 November 1951 - England 2 Austria 2, Empire Stadium, Wembley Fr HD injured
unused sub
 




   

 
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