|
|
|
Billy
Wright |
Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC
105 appearances, 3 goals
P 105 W 60 D
24 L 21 F 287: A
147
69% successful
1946-59
captain: 90
minutes played: 9426 |
|
 |
|
Timeline |
| |
Corporal William Ambrose Wright
CBE |
|
Birth |
6 February 1924 at 33 Belmont Road, Ironbridge, Shropshire
[registered in Madeley, March 1924]. Lived at Tettenhall
following the war.
Attended Madeley Senior School. |
|
|
According to the 1939
register, William A. is an assistant groundstaff member at Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC. He is living at 98 Burland Avenue in the Seisdon area of
Wolverhampton, with William and Annie Colley. |
|
Marriage |
to Jocelyn
Carey,
at Poole Registry Office, Sunday, 27 July 1958
[registered in Poole, September 1958]. Joy was born 5
May 1924 as Jocelyn Chinery, married Roger Carocari in 1945, divorced
1950, with whom she had one child, Vincent.
Billy and Joyce 'Joy', singer
with the Beverley Sisters', first child, a daughter, Victoria Anne, was born 5 April
1959 in the London Clinic ('around 7.20am'), the same day Billy was chosen for his one hundredth England appearance. |
"SUMMONSES AGAINST BILLY WRIGHT DISMISSED
"Two summonses against the former England and
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC captain, Billy Wright, of failing to stop and
failing to give his name and address after an accident were dismissed at
Thames court yesterday. Wright, of Lyonsdown Road, East Barnet, was
driving his wife's car in Bow Road on his way to see West Ham United play
Manchester United when he was in a collision with a motor-scooter ridden
by Mr. John Stoneman, of Leytonstone. Mr. Stoneman alleged that after
the collision Wright pulled up a little farther along the road, walked
back and asked, 'Don't you think you're bastard lucky?' Although he
told him he had hurt his shoulder, Mr . Stonehouse alleged that Wright
went back to his car and drove off when he asked him for his name and
address.
"Wright said, however, he was not in a hurry, as it was only
about eleven o'clock. Close to Bow Church a car on his inside pulled out
to the right to avoid a stationary lorry and he followed suit. He
heard a crash, and when he went back he saw Mr. Stoneman and his scooter in
the road. Wright added that he asked Mr. Stoneman if he was all right
and added: 'I am not accustomed to using that particular word he
mentioned.' At no time did Mr. Stoneman ask for his name and address
or say he had hurt his shoulder. Dismissing the summonses, the
Magistrate, Mr. Cecil Campion, said there was a reasonable doubt in the
case."
- The Birmingham Post & Gazette, Wednesday, 5 October 1960. |
|
Death |
3 September
1994 at his home in Barnet, North London, aged
70 years 209 days
[registered in Hendon, September 1994] following a battle with
pancreatic cancer.
He was cremated and his ashes scattered on the
Molineux Ground pitch. |
|
Source |
 Douglas Lammings' An
English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & |
|
Biographies |
The World's My Football Pitch - Billy Wright
(Stanley Paul, November 1953)
One Hundred appearances and all
that - Billy Wright with Byron
Butler (Robert Hale Ltd., London, 1962)
Billy Wright: A Hero for All Seasons
- Norman Giller
(Robson Books, London, 2002) |
| |
x.
- A Football Compendium, Peter J. Seddon (1999). |
|
Playing Career |
|
Club(s) |
Played school
football in Staffordshire before joining the Wolverhampton Wanderers
FC ground staff on 11 July 1938,
turning professional shortly after his seventeenth birthday in February 1941. After guesting for Leicester City
FC during the war, when he was a corporal with the Shropshire Light
Infantry, he made his Wolves debut in an FA Cup tie on 5 January 1946. He announced his retirement on 7 August 1959. |
league honours
490 appearances 13 goals |
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 1946-59
490 appearances, thirteen goals;
debut: |
|
Club honours |
FA Cup winners 1948-49;
Football League Division One runners-up 1949-50, 1954-55, Champions 1953-54, 1957-58, 1958-59;
FA
Charity Shield
shared 1949, 1954, runners-up 1958; |
|
Individual honours |
Football League
(twelve appearances);
FWA Footballer of the Year third place 1948-49,
runner-up 1949-50, 1950-51, 1958-59, winner 1951-52,
fourth 1954-55;
France Football European Footballer of the Year runner-up 1956-57;
Ballon d'Or
runner-up 1957 (by 53 votes), =sixth 1958, =ninth 1956;
Honourary Life
Member of the Football Association 1 May 1959;
Awarded as a
Commander of the British Empire 13
June 1959;
International Football Hall of Fame 1997; Football
League's 100 legends 1998; Football Association England Hall of
Fame 2002; National Football Museum Hall of Fame 2002. |
|
Distinctions |
Appeared on ITV's This Is Your Life
17 January 1990; |
|
Height/Weight |
5'
8", 11st.
6lbs [1950]. |
|
Source |
Douglas Lammings' An English
Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990]. |
|
Management
Career |
|
Club(s) |
Originally chosen as Walter Winterbottom's assistant manager for the 1962
World Cup Finals, but following his appointment as Arsenal FC manager on
16 March 1962, he
was replaced with Jimmy Adamson. |
|
England Career |
|
Player number |
One of nine
players who were the 655th player (658) to appear for England. |
|
Position(s) |
Right/left/centre-half |
|
First match |
No. 227, 28 September 1946, Northern Ireland
2 England 7, a British Championship match at Windsor Park, Donegall
Avenue, Belfast, aged 22 years
234 days. |
|
Hundredth match |
No. 329, 11 April 1959, England 1 Scotland 0,
a British Championship match at The Empire Stadium, Wembley, London, aged
35 years 64 days. captain |
|
Last match |
No. 334, 28 May 1959, United States 1 England 8, a
friendly match at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, aged 35 years 111 days.
captain |
|
Major tournaments |
World Cup
Finals 1950, 1954, 1958;
British Championship 1946-47,
1947-48, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1953-54, 1954-55,
1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59; |
|
Team honours |
British
Championship winners 1946-47, 1947-48, 1949-50, 1953-54, 1954-55,
1956-57, shared 1951-52, 1952-53, 1955-56, 1957-58, 1958-59. |
|
Individual honours |
England victory
(four appearances, 1946);
England B (two appearances, one
goal, 1947-48);
Rest of the United Kingdom against Wales,
3 December 1951, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the FA of Wales; |
|
Distinctions |
The fifteenth
Shropshirian to represent England
First player in the world to
win one hundred appearances and one of only nine England players to have done so.
Captained his country in a then world record ninety matches, shared with Bobby Moore.
Played for his country in a world record
seventy successive matches, all as captain. Missed only three matches in 13
seasons as an England player, all in 1950-51. |
|
Beyond England |
Member of the Pilkington Commission
on broadcasting in 1960. Became a sports reporter for a Midlands TV
company after relinquishing the Arsenal managership. The
Trinidad FA courted Billy Wright to become their coach in 1967. -
An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who.
Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.279.
|
|
The Numbers |
|
Parties |
Apps |
comp. apps |
minutes |
 |
goals ave.min |
comp. goals |
 |
captain |
|
76 |
105 |
52 |
9426 |
3 |
3142 min |
1 |
six |
90 |
|
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 |
|
105 |
60 |
24 |
21 |
287 |
147 |
+140 |
13 |
28 |
3.333 |
1.4 |
68.6 |
+39 |
Venue Record
|
Venue |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS
|
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
Home |
41 |
28 |
8 |
5 |
132 |
58 |
+74 |
1 |
12 |
3.22 |
1.415 |
78.0 |
+23 |
|
Away |
55 |
31 |
12 |
12 |
143 |
74 |
+69 |
8 |
14 |
2.60 |
1.345 |
67.3 |
+19 |
|
Neutral |
9 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
15 |
-3 |
4 |
2 |
1.333 |
1.667 |
33.3 |
-3 |
Shirt Record
|
Colour |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS
|
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
White |
98 |
55 |
24 |
19 |
269 |
134 |
+135 |
12 |
28 |
2.745 |
1.367 |
68.4 |
+36 |
|
Blue |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
-4 |
1 |
0 |
0.50 |
2.50 |
0.00 |
-2 |
|
Red |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
8 |
+9 |
0 |
0 |
3.40 |
1.60 |
100.0 |
+5 |
Competition Record
|
Competition |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
WCP
|
10 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
40 |
12 |
+28 |
0 |
1 |
4.00 |
1.20 |
95.0 |
+9 |
|
WCF |
10 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
15 |
-1 |
4 |
3 |
1.40 |
1.50 |
40.0 |
-2 |
| World Cup |
20 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
54 |
27 |
+27 |
4 |
4 |
2.70 |
1.35 |
67.5 |
+7 |
|
British Championship |
38 |
25 |
9 |
4 |
110 |
47 |
+63 |
0 |
11 |
2.895 |
1.237 |
77.6 |
+21 |
The 1949-50 and 1953-54 records of the
World Cup preliminaries and British Championship are
duplicated, and one set is deducted from the grand total.
| Friendly |
53 |
30 |
10 |
13 |
148 |
80 |
+68 |
9 |
14 |
2.792 |
1.509 |
66.0 |
+17 |
Tournament Record
|
World Cup Preliminary Competition |
|
Type |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
WCP/BC
1949-50 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
3 |
+11 |
0 |
1 |
4.667 |
1.00 |
100.0 |
+3 |
|
WCP/BC
1953-54 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
4 |
+7 |
0 |
0 |
3.667 |
1.333 |
100.0 |
+3 |
| WCP
1956-58 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
15 |
5 |
+10 |
0 |
0 |
3.75 |
1.25 |
87.5 |
+3 |
| WCP All |
10 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
40 |
12 |
+28 |
0 |
1 |
4.00 |
1.20 |
95.0 |
+9 |
|
World Cup Finals Competition |
|
Type |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
WCF 1950 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
=0 |
2 |
1 |
0.667 |
0.667 |
33.3 |
-1 |
|
WCF 1954 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
8 |
=0 |
0 |
1 |
2.667 |
2.667 |
50.0 |
=0 |
|
WCF 1958 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
-1 |
2 |
1 |
1.00 |
1.25 |
37.5 |
-1 |
| WCF All |
10 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
15 |
-1 |
4 |
3 |
1.40 |
1.50 |
40.0 |
-2 |
|
World
Cup |
|
Type |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
WC 1949-50 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
16 |
5 |
+11 |
2 |
2 |
2.667 |
0.833 |
66.7 |
+2 |
|
WC 1953-54 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
19 |
12 |
+7 |
0 |
1 |
3.167 |
2.00 |
75.0 |
+3 |
|
WC 1956-58 |
8 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
19 |
10 |
+9 |
2 |
1 |
2.375 |
1.25 |
62.5 |
+2 |
| WC All |
20 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
54 |
27 |
+27 |
4 |
4 |
2.70 |
1.35 |
67.5 |
+7 |
|
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 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
+5 |
0 |
2 |
2.333 |
0.667 |
83.3 |
+2 |
|
BC
1948-49 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
+3 |
0 |
1 |
2.667 |
1.667 |
66.7 |
+1 |
|
BC/WCP 1949-50 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
3 |
+11 |
0 |
1 |
4.667 |
1.00 |
100.0 |
+3 |
|
BC 1950-51 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
+2 |
0 |
0 |
3.00 |
2.00 |
50.0 |
=0 |
|
BC
1951-52 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
+3 |
0 |
1 |
1.667 |
0.667 |
66.7 |
+1 |
|
BC
1952-53 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
9 |
6 |
+3 |
0 |
0 |
3.00 |
2.00 |
66.7 |
+1 |
|
BC/WCP
1953-54 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
4 |
+7 |
0 |
0 |
3.667 |
1.333 |
100.0 |
+3 |
|
BC
1954-55 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
4 |
+8 |
0 |
1 |
4.00 |
1.33 |
100.0 |
+3 |
|
BC
1955-56 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
+2 |
0 |
1 |
1.667 |
1.00 |
50.0 |
=0 |
|
BC
1956-57 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
+3 |
0 |
0 |
2.00 |
1.00 |
83.3 |
+2 |
|
BC
1957-58 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
3 |
+7 |
0 |
2 |
3.333 |
1.00 |
66.7 |
+1 |
|
BC
1958-59 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
+1 |
0 |
1 |
2.00 |
1.667 |
66.7 |
+1 |
|
BC All |
38 |
25 |
9 |
4 |
110 |
47 |
+63 |
0 |
11 |
2.895 |
1.237 |
77.6 |
+21 |
|
All Competition |
|
Type |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
| WC |
20 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
54 |
27 |
+27 |
4 |
4 |
2.70 |
1.35 |
67.5 |
+7 |
|
BC |
38 |
25 |
9 |
4 |
110 |
47 |
+63 |
0 |
11 |
2.895 |
1.237 |
77.6 |
+21 |
The 1949-50
and 1953-54 records of the World Cup preliminaries and British Championship are
duplicated, and one set is deducted from the grand total.
|
52 |
30 |
14 |
8 |
139 |
67 |
+72 |
4 |
14 |
2.673 |
1.288 |
71.2 |
+22 |
Match
History
|
apps |
match |
|
match details |
comp |
res. |
rundown |
shirt |
|
Retired from playing 7 August 1959. |
|
|
England
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