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
Profile
Full name	Wilfred James Mannion
Born	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
Married	to Bernadette Kathleen Murray [registered in Middlesbrough, March 1948].
Died	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.
Height/Weight	5' 5", 11st. 0lbs [1950].
Source	Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & Ancestry.com
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.
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)
Distinctions	Wilf's parents were Irish, so Wilf could have played for the Ireland national team. The most capped Englishman at Middlesbrough FC.
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 lbourer for ICI. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.167.

Wilf Mannion - Career Statistics

Parties

Apps

comp. apps

Starts

Sub on

Sub off

Mins.

Goals

goals ave.min

comp. goals

Pens

Capt.

Disc.

28+

26

11

26

0

1

2261

11

206 min

8

1

none

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.

Match History
 

Club: Middlesbrough F.C. - 26 full appearances (2261 min), 11 goals

manager: Walter Winterbottom - 26 full appearances (2261 min), 11 goalsx

Age 28
1	227	28 September 1946 - Ireland 2 England 7, Windsor Park, Belfast	BC	AW	Start 7,28,61	10
2	228	30 September 1946 - Ireland 0 England 1, Dalymount Park, Dublin	Fr	AW	Start	10
3	229	13 November 1946 - England 3 Wales 0, Maine Road, Manchester	BC	HW	Start 8,65	10
4	230	27 November 1946 - England 8 Netherlands 2, Leeds Road, Huddersfield	Fr	HW	Start 34	10
5	231	12 April 1947 - England 1 Scotland 1, Empire Stadium, Wembley	BC	HD	Start	10
6	232	3 May 1947 - England 3 France 0, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury	Fr	HW	Start 64	10

Age 29
7	233	18 May 1947 - Switzerland 1 England 0, Hardturm Stadion, Zürich	tour	AL	Start	10
1	b	21 May 1947 - Switzerland 0 England 0, Genève		AD	Start	10
8	234	25 May 1947 - Portugal 0 England 10, Estádio Nacional, Lisboa		AW	Start	10
9	235	21 September 1947 - Belgium 2 England 5, Stade du Heysel, Bruxelles	Fr	AW	Start	10
10	236	18 October 1947 - Wales 0 England 3, Ninian Park, Cardiff	BC	AW	Start	10
11	237	5 November 1947 - England 2 Ireland 2, Goodison Park, Liverpool	BC	HD	Start 70 84	10
12	238	19 November 1947 - England 4 Sweden 2, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury	Fr	HW	Start	10

Age 30
13	240	16 May 1948 - Italy 0 England 4, Stadio Comunale di Torino, Torino	tour	AW	Start	10
2	b	19 May 1948 - Switzerland 1 England 5, Stadio Comunale, Bellinzona		AW	Start	8
u/o b		22 May 1948 - FC Schaffhausen 0 England 6, Schaffhausen		AW	Start	8
246		13 May 1949 - Sweden 3 England 1, Råsunda Fotbollstadion, Solna	tour	AL	party member
3	b	15 May 1949 - Finland A 0 England 4, Olympiastadion, Helsinki		AW	Start	10

Age 31
14	247	18 May 1949 - Norway 1 England 4, Ullevål Stadion, Oslo	tour	AW	Start	10
b		18 May 1949 - Netherlands A 1 England 4, Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam		AW	party member
15	248	22 May 1949 - France 1 England 3, Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris		AW	Start	10
16	249	21 September 1949 - England 0 Republic of Ireland 2, Goodison Park, Liverpool	Fr	HL	Start	10
4	b	22 February 1950 - England 1 Netherlands A 0, St James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne	Fr	HW	Start	8
17	253	15 April 1950 - Scotland 0 England 1, Hampden Park, Glasgow	WCP /BC	AW	Start	8
b		11 May 1950 - Italy 5 England 0, Stadio San Siro, Milano	tour	AL	party member
18	254	14 May 1950 - Portugal 3 England 5, Estadio Nacional, Lisboa		AW	Start	10

Age 32
b		17 May 1950 - Netherlands A 3 England 0, Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam	tour	AL	party member
19	255	18 May 1950 - Belgium 1 England 4, Stade du Heysel, Bruxelles		AW	Start 84	10
b		21 May 1950 - Luxembourg 1 England 2, Stade Municipal, Stad Lëtzeburg		AW	withdrawn party member

20	256	25 June 1950 - England 2 Chile 0, Estádio Municipal, Rio	WCF	NW	Start 51	8
21	257	29 June 1950 - USA 1 England 0, Estádio Independência, Belo Horizonte		NL	Start	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	Start	8
23	260	15 November 1950 - England 4 Wales 2, Roker Park Ground, Sunderland	BC	HW	Start 66	8
24	261	22 November 1950 - England 2 Yugoslavia 2, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury	Fr	HD	Start	8
25	262	14 April 1951 - England 2 Scotland 3, Empire Stadium, Wembley	BC	HL	Start inj. 11	8

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

Notes

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