Glenton Edward Wilson (2 July 1929 – 8 November 2005) was an English professional footballer who played as a

left half 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 ...

. He made 445 appearances in the

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 Engla ...

, most of which were with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Life and career

Wilson was born in 1929 in Winlaton, which was then in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He attended High Spen Senior School and was capped by England at schoolboy level during the Second World War. He joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in 1945, but was soon called up for National Service with the REME based in Hampshire. While there, he was spotted by Brighton & Hove Albion and turned professional with that club in September 1949. His older brother Joe had recently come to the end of a long playing career with Albion and was on the coaching staff. Wilson made his debut later that month, became a regular in the side during the 1950–51 season, and remained a regular for the next ten years. He was rated highly enough to represent the Third Division South three times in the annual fixture against the Northern Section, and attracted interest from the likes of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He captained Albion to the 1957–58 Third Division South title and played on for two seasons in the Second Division before joining Exeter City as player-manager in June 1960. The club struggled both on and off the pitch, and Wilson's tenure lasted less than two seasons. He and wife Joan returned to Brighton where they ran a pub before he rejoined Albion's backroom staff in 1966. He was briefly

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

in October 1973, and was on the staff until a cost-cutting exercise ended his career in 1986. He remained in the Brighton area, where he died of a heart attack in 2005 at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Glen 1929 births 2005 deaths People from Winlaton Footballers from Tyne and Wear Footballers from County Durham English footballers England schools international footballers Association football wing halves Newcastle United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Exeter City F.C. managers English Football League managers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. non-playing staff Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers soldiers