William John Wheeler (13 July 1919 – 10 January 2009) was a professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Cheltenham Town,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

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. Th ...

and Kettering Town. He helped Huddersfield Town to

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to the First Division, and played more than 150 matches in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for the club. After his playing career finished, he spent more than 25 years with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

, in a variety of roles including coach, trainer, caretaker manager and scout.

Personal

Wheeler was born in North Littleton, near Evesham, Worcestershire. He died in

Queen's Medical Centre The Queen's Medical Centre (popularly known as QMC, Queen's Med or Queen's) is a teaching hospital situated in Nottingham, England. Until February 2012, when it was surpassed by the Royal London Hospital, it was the largest hospital in the Unit ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

on 10 January 2009 at the age of 89. A minute's applause was observed before

's League Two game with

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 ...

later the same day.

Playing career

Wheeler started playing in village and mid week football in the Evesham area for teams such as Cleeve Prior Amateurs and Evesham Early Closers, he also played in the Evesham Town reserve team before returning to mid week football. While at Evesham Early Closers he had a trial with Coventry City. He joined Cheltenham Town in the summer of 1937 and played for them in the Southern League before joining First Division

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

as a professional in 1938. He was signed as understudy and potential successor to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

goalkeeper Harry Hibbs, but played only five first-team matches – as the youngest goalkeeper in the First Division – before the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

interrupted his career. During the war he served in the 6th Armoured Division in North Africa and Italy, but when he returned to his club, future England international Gil Merrick had established himself as first-choice goalkeeper. Wheeler played six matches in the renamed Birmingham City's

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 ...

championship-winning 1947–48 season when Merrick was injured, but before the next season started he was transferred to

. Wheeler had to spend some time in the reserves before becoming a first-team regular at Huddersfield. They were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in 1952, but promoted back to the First Division in the following season. Wheeler and the five

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

in the side ( Ron Staniforth, Laurie Kelly, Bill McGarry,

Don McEvoy Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

and Len Quested) shared the distinction of playing every game of the club's 42-match promotion campaign, a league record. In 1956 he joined Southern League club Kettering Town, where the former

international

Tommy Lawton Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy. Born in F ...

was

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 ...

. Though the club had struggled the previous season, Wheeler helped them win the Southern League title in 1956–57, playing 47 matches in all competitions. When Lawton took over as manager of

at the end of that season, he asked Wheeler to come with him as coach and trainer.

Notts County

Between joining the club in 1957 and retirement enforced by arthritis in the hip in 1983, during which time he filled numerous roles including trainer, coach, caretaker manager and scout, Wheeler never missed a first-team match – 1,152 consecutive games. In recognition of such service, the club awarded him life membership and a permanent seat in the

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017. It currently h ...

directors' box, and had announced plans to rename their clubhouse "Wheeler's" in his honour.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Jack 1919 births 2009 deaths People from Evesham English footballers Association football goalkeepers Cheltenham Town F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football managers Notts County F.C. managers English Football League managers Sportspeople from Worcestershire British Army personnel of World War II