John David Wile (born 9 March 1947) is an English former

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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. Wile played as a central defender for Sunderland, although he did not play a Football League match for them. In 1967–68 he signed for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, having had a trial there first. He made 130 senior appearances for The Posh between 1967 and 1970. Wile then joined

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in December 1970. He spent more than 12 years at Albion, and was club captain during and after

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nic ...

s spell as manager. Wile made a total of 619 senior appearances for Albion. His most famous moment came when he played with blood pouring from a headwound during the 1978 FA Cup semi-final against

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

. After leaving Albion in June 1983, Wile returned to Peterborough as

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 ...

after missing out on a similar post at Bolton Wanderers a year earlier. He later returned to West Bromwich as

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, a position he occupied from 1997 through to 2002. In 2004, he was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest players, in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations.

References

1947 births Living people Footballers from County Durham English footballers English football managers Sunderland A.F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers Peterborough United F.C. managers West Bromwich Albion F.C. non-playing staff Association football defenders Association football player-managers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada English expatriate footballers {{England-footy-defender-1940s-stub