Glenton Edward Wilson (2 July 1929 – 8 November 2005) 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 half. He made 445 appearances in the Football League, most of which were with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Life and career

Wilson was born in 1929 in

Winlaton Winlaton is a village situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Once in County Durham, it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and Borough of Gateshead in 1974. In 2011 the village was absorbe ...

, which was then in County Durham. He attended High Spen Senior School and was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

by England at schoolboy level during the Second World War. He joined Newcastle United in 1945, but was soon called up for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

with the

REME The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

based in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. While there, he was spotted by

and turned professional with that club in September 1949. His older brother

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

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 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 ...

three times in the annual fixture against the Northern Section, and attracted interest from the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa. He captained Albion to the 1957–58 Third Division South title and played on for two seasons in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

before joining

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

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 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 A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

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