Harold Joseph Wheatley (born 9 May 1920) 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 le ...

who played for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and Shrewsbury Town.

Career

Wheatley played for Ellesmere Port Town before joining

as an amateur in March 1938, and signing as a professional player the following month. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at

Clapton 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 profess ...

on 8 September 1938, but only played one more

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

game before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

brought on the cancellation of football and the onset of the war leagues. He played two league and two cup games during the war and also guested for old club Ellesmere Port when Port Vale shut down due to war strains. He returned to Vale in the summer of 1944 as they commenced regular football, only playing the odd game as he also guested for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Stockport County and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. He was transferred to Shrewsbury Town in the summer of 1946. He made 182 appearances in the Midland League and played in Salop's first seven

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 ...

matches.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheatley, Joe People from Eastham, Merseyside Footballers from Merseyside Sportspeople from Wirral English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Port Vale F.C. players Wrexham F.C. wartime guest players Stockport County F.C. wartime guest players Chester City F.C. wartime guest players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players 1920 births Year of death missing