Norman Wilkinson (9 June 1910 – 18 May 1975) 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 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 ...

for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Career

Born in

Tantobie Tantobie is a former colliery village in County Durham, England. It is situated 2 miles to the northwest of Stanley and the same distance to the north of Annfield Plain. Older maps of the area show the village under the name "Tantovy". The etymo ...

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 ...

, on 9 June 1910, Wilkinson a collier, began with junior side Tanfield Lea as a centre-half. He then played for

West Stanley South Moor is a village in County Durham, in England. It is located to the south-west of Stanley on the northern slope of the Craghead valley. It is a well-developed village, yet still semi-rural, containing a main street (Park Road) of around ...

on the

Durham Coalfield The Durham Coalfield is a coalfield in north-east England. It is continuous with the Northumberland Coalfield to its north. It extends from Bishop Auckland in the south to the boundary with the county of Northumberland along the River Tyne in the ...

where he began to play as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. At the age of twenty he signed for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

, where he played second fiddle to England international Hugh Turner.

Bob McGrory Robert Gerald McGrory (17 October 1891 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager. McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joining ...

wary of Stoke's lack of a decent goalkeeper signed Wilkinson from Huddersfield's reserves for just £100 in July 1935. At and just Wilkinson had a slightly sullen look, with heavy eyebrows and a balding pate and would often walk around his penalty area nervously pulling up his woollen gloves. Although he did not inspire confidence he proved to be a fine shot stopper. His main weakness was a penchant for dropping crosses when under pressure from centre forwards. He remained first choice until

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 ...

when he returned to the north east and guested for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. On being

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

Wilkinson had suffered hardship having seen action in France and was in poor physical condition. This led to the Stoke directors attempting to terminate his employment. Wilkinson protested to

the FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and ...

and the law stated that all returning service men would be entitled to their old job. He won his case and Stoke made him fourth choice 'keeper behind

Dennis Herod Dennis John Herod (27 October 1923 – 16 December 2009) was an English footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for Stockport County and Stoke City, both members of the Football League. Playing career Herod was born in Basford and joined ...

, Emmanuel Foster and Arthur Jepson. He seemed to be drifting to retirement but due to Herod being injury prone Wilkinson was handed a last chance against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on the penultimate fixture of the 1948–49 season. He produced a fine display including a ''wonder save'' from City legend

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

as Stoke won 3–2. His final appearance for Stoke came against his old club Huddersfield Town and Wilkinson kept a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw. He was aged 41 years and 275 days the fourth oldest player to appear for Stoke.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Norman 1910 births 1975 deaths Military personnel from County Durham People from Tantobie Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players West Stanley F.C. players Oswestry Town F.C. players British military personnel of World War II