David Wagstaffe (5 April 1943 – 6 August 2013) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Wagstaffe made over 500 league appearances throughout his career, which saw him represent Manchester City,

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

and Blackpool in England and briefly the Los Angeles Wolves in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He was notably the first player to be shown a red card in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

, sent off for Blackburn during a 1-0 draw against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

on 2 October 1976.

Career

Born in Openshaw,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Wagstaffe played in England and the United States for Manchester City,

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, Los Angeles Wolves,

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and Blackpool. Having signed for Wolves on Boxing Day in 1964, Wagstaffe went on to play 404 league and cup games for the club, placing him in the top 15 all-time appearance makers for Wolves. Although not a prolific goal scorer, he won Match of the Day's goal of the month in 1971 for a 35-yard shot as Wolves went on to beat Arsenal 5–1, as well as scoring in the second leg of the UEFA Cup Final against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

the same year. Wagstaffe featured in the Wolves side that were competing in the United States of America in the inaugural

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

league as Los Angeles Wolves in 1967. The LA Wolves went on to win the Western Division, finally beating the

Washington Whips The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association ( USA). The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington Whips were the Aberdeen F.C. from Scotland. Th ...

(represented by

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

) in the final. During his time in the United States, Wagstaffe was visited by boyhood friend Davy Jones, lead singer of

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...

who he had played street football with as a boy.

Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...

, a cable television entrepreneur and owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team who had bought the LA Wolves franchise for $250,000, asked Wagstaffe to move to the United States and join his potential business as potential face of American soccer, but after returning to Wolverhampton, Wagstaffe decided against pursuing the opportunity. Whilst at Blackburn Rovers on 2 October 1976, Wagstaffe was the first player in English football to receive a red card. Despite Wagstaffe's talent, he was never capped for England, though he was selected to play on the left wing in the Football League versus the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

match at Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough, in 1972.

Later life and death

After retiring from football, Wagstaffe ran the Queenscliffe Hotel and became steward of the Bispham Conservative Club in Blackpool, before returning to

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

and running the Butler's Arms in

Bushbury Bushbury is a suburban village and ward in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England. It lies two miles north-east of Wolverhampton city centre, divided between the Bushbury North and Bushbury South and Low Hill wards. Bushbury ...

, the Old Wulfrunians Club in

Castlecroft Castlecroft is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, located on the edge of the city, WSW of the city centre. It is situated where the Merry Hill, and Tettenhall Wightwick wards meet, and also borders South Staffordshire. History The na ...

, Hednesford Ex-Servicemens Club and Waggy's Bar in the Stan Cullis Stand at Molineux. In January 2013, Wagstaffe was inducted into Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hall of Fame. Wagstaffe suffered a heart attack in April 2013, and died at his home in Wolverhampton on 6 August 2013 after a short illness, aged 70. His funeral, attended by hundreds of fans, took place at Wolverhampton's St Peter's Collegiate Church on 22 August 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagstaffe, David 1943 births 2013 deaths English footballers Manchester City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Los Angeles Wolves players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players English Football League players United Soccer Association players Footballers from Manchester Association football wingers English Football League representative players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers Outfield association footballers who played in goal