James Wheeler (21 December 1933 – 20 February 2020) was an English

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 ...

. He played as striker for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

where he played 406 league games, scoring 147 goals. He later became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

at Reading and then manager of

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

Playing career

Wheeler had a prominent career in schoolboy football and two years as an amateur at

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establish ...

side Huntley & Palmers. He moved to hometown club

where he played for 16 years, scoring 147 goals in 406 league games. He was the club's top scorer for three successive seasons from 1958–59 to 1960–61. He broke his leg at Barnsley in September 1964, which effectively ended his league career. He continued to play and coach Reading reserves and became assistant manager of the club to

Roy Bentley Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (17 May 1924 – 20 April 2018) was an English football player and manager. A former forward, Bentley played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954–55 season. H ...

Managerial career

Wheeler joined

as manager in June 1968. He was the first full-time manager since the death of

Grenville Hair Kenneth Grenville Arthur Hair (16 November 1931 – 7 March 1968) was a footballer who played his entire professional career for Leeds United between 1948 and 1964. He later became the manager of Wellington Town and Bradford City. He died of a ...

in training in March 1968, with coach Jim McAnearney and captain Tom Hallett taking over first-time duties in the intermediate period. Wheeler had instant success at

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they ...

and secured promotion from

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

in 1968–69 which included a record-breaking sequence of 21 games without defeat to come fourth. The following season started well but results tailed off and the team came 10th in

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

. Wheeler had been booked just once during his 16-year playing career, but on 6 December 1969 in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie at home to Lincoln City he fell foul of the FA during a touchline outburst. Wheeler was fined £35 and censured and instead had a direct telephone line installed between his seat in the stand and the bench. In the 1970–71 season, City escaped relegation by just a point with Wheeler's former team Reading occupying the final relegation spot. By the start of the following season, results failed to improve and Wheeler resigned after the fans turned against him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Jimmy 1933 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Reading, Berkshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Reading F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Bradford City A.F.C. managers

Playing career

Managerial career

See also

References

External links