Jesse Pye (22 December 191919 February 1984) 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 in the Football League for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and scored twice in the

1949 FA Cup Final The 1949 FA Cup Final was the 68th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 30 April 1949 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City. Wolves had finished sixth in the First Division that season and had s ...

for the former. Pye's first professional club was

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

whom he joined in 1938. However, the outbreak of

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 opposing ...

and suspension of league football halted his hopes of a league career with the Blades. After war service in North Africa and in Italy, he signed to

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 1945 and played in the transitional league season of 1945-46. At the end of the season, as the Football League prepared to relaunch, he joined First Division

for £10,000. The forward made an instant impact at Molineux, scoring a hattrick on his league debut on 31 August 1946 as Wolves thrashed Arsenal 6–1, and finished the campaign with 21 goals. He continued with his goalscoring exploits the following season, being joint top goalscorer for the club. The next year brought Pye his first taste of silverware as he scored twice in the

, to help Wolves beat

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

3–1. His prowess in front of goal won him a call-up to the England team. He had already played in a

Victory International The term Victory International or Victory Internationals refers to two series of international football matches played by the national football teams of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales at the end of both the First and Second World Wars. The ...

on 19 January 1946, scoring in a 2–0 win over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, but eventually made his full debut on 21 September 1949 in a 2-0 defeat against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

. This game, England's first defeat on home soil to a non-Home Nation opponent, would prove to be his only cap. He suffered a string of injuries during 1950-51, which sidelined him for half the league games, but he recovered to finish as top goalscorer once again the next season. Despite this feat, he was allowed to leave the club at the end of the season, joining

for £5,000. In total, he played 209 times for Wolves, scoring 95 goals. Pye settled well at the Second Division club and netted 24 goals in his first season in 1952-53 as the club finished 3rd, just missing promotion. He added a further 37 goals before stunning the club by moving to fellow second-tier side

in October 1954. Despite Pye's firepower, Derby suffered the drop to the Third Division (North). He played one more season at the Baseball Ground, as the team finished 2nd, narrowly missing out on an immediate return to the Second Division. He left the club in 1957 and became a landlord in

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles ...

, also opening several sweet shops. He was signed up to the local non-league football club Wisbech Town, playing in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

. Pye scored the goal that beat

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

to put Wisbech Town into the second round proper of the

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 ...

for the first time in their history in November 1957. He became player/manager of the club in March 1960 and held the post until resigning in April 1967. The following year he sold his shops in the town and moved to Blackpool to become a hotelier. He died in Blackpool on 19 February 1984 aged 64.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pye, Jesse 1919 births 1984 deaths Footballers from Blackpool People from Treeton English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers English Football League players Notts County F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Wisbech Town F.C. players English Football League representative players Footballers from Yorkshire Sheffield United F.C. players Men's association football forwards British military personnel of World War II