Norman Victor Deeley (30 November 1933 – 7 September 2007) 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, rugb ...

, who spent the majority of his league career with

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' ...

. He scored two goals in the

1960 FA Cup Final The 1960 FA Cup Final was the 79th final of the world's oldest domestic football cup competition, the FA Cup. It took place on 7 May 1960 at Wembley Stadium in London. The match was contested by Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers. ...

, in a performance that won him the Man of the Match award. He also won the league title three times with Wolves and was capped twice by England.

Career

Deeley, who played as a winger, broke into the Wolves team in the early 1950s and went on to win three league titles with the club, before his key role in the FA Cup triumph of 1960. He became a first-choice in the second title-winning season of 1957–58, scoring 23 goals in the process, and following it with 17 more the following year. He had been with the club as an apprentice, making his first team debut on 25 August 1951 in a 2–1 win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. Deeley won two caps during his time at Molineux for the England national team, making his debut on 13 May 1959, on a tour of South America against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and winning a second and final cap four days later against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

."Wolves legend's hero send-off"
''ExpressandStar.com'', 20 September 2007 He had earlier also represented his country at schoolboy level — at just tall in 1947, Deeley became the smallest player to play for England schoolboys."Wolves FA Cup hero dies, 73"
''ExpressandStar.com'', 8 September 2007 He lost his place in the team during the 1961–62 season, as the club recruited several new wingers. Deeley quickly moved on after this, joining

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

in February 1962 and helping the club to promotion to the top flight. He played his final season in league football the following campaign as the London team slipped straight back down. Deeley then moved into non-league football at Worcester City, later having spells at

Bromsgrove Rovers Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. was a non-League football club from the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. The peak of the club's success was in 1993 when Rovers finished runner-up in the Football Conference. They went into administration during the ...

and

Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall. Topography Darlaston is situated between Wednesbury and Walsall in the valley of the Riv ...

before his retirement from the game in 1974. He went on to work as manager of a community centre in Walsall before his retirement. He died on 7 September 2007, aged 73, from undisclosed causes. Playing fields in his native Wednesbury were later named after him in tribute. His son Andy Deeley represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

at international level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deeley, Norman 1933 births 2007 deaths Sportspeople from Wednesbury English footballers England international footballers Leyton Orient F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Darlaston Town F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards FA Cup Final players