Wilfrid James Mannion (16 May 1918 – 14 April 2000) 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 le ...

who played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, making over 350 senior appearances for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He also played international football for

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 ...

. With his blonde hair, he was nicknamed "The Golden Boy".N. Varley (2002) ''Golden Boy: A Biography of Wilf Mannion'', Aurum Press Ltd,

Early life

Mannion was born on 16 May 1918 in

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

, the son of Irish immigrants Tommy and Mary Mannion, and one of ten children.

Club career

Middlesbrough

Mannion joined his local team

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

in 1936 and went on to make 341

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances for them, scoring on 99 occasions.Football League Career Stats at Neil Brown
/ref> He scored 110 goals in all competitions for Middlesbrough. Mannion fought in France and Italy during

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 opposin ...

,English Hall of Fame Profile
and in Italy his commanding officer was the England cricketer

Hedley Verity Hedley Verity (18 May 1905 – 31 July 1943) was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 ...

. At the end of the 1947–48 season he wanted a transfer, but Middlesbrough refused. In protest he did not play for them for much of the following season but he eventually backed down and started playing for Middlesbrough again.

Later career

After initially retiring as a player in 1954, Mannion subsequently joined

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

. However, the Football League suspended him for articles he had written, He then played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Poole Town and

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

International career

Mannion was capped on 26 occasions by the England national team between 1946 and 1951, and his final appearance came on 3 October 1951. He was a member of the England squad for the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

. Along with Middlesbrough and England teammate

George Hardwick George Francis Moutry Hardwick (2 February 1920 – 19 April 2004) was an English footballer, manager and coach. During his time as an active player, he was a left-sided defender for Middlesbrough. He was also a member of the England national f ...

, he was also part of the Great Britain football team that beat the Rest of Europe 6–1 in 1947. He remains the only Middlesbrough player to score for England at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

After football

Mannion was eventually awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

by Middlesbrough in 1983, alongside former Boro and England colleague

. Mannion died on 14 April 2000 at the age of 81. After his passing, Middlesbrough FC erected a statue of Mannion outside the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

. In 2004 it was announced he was being inducted into the

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...

at the

National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia. The museum was originally b ...

References

External links

Profile at Spartacus Educational
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mannion, Wilf 1918 births 2000 deaths Military personnel from Yorkshire People from South Bank, Redcar and Cleveland England international footballers England wartime international footballers English footballers Association football inside forwards 1950 FIFA World Cup players Hull City A.F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Earlestown F.C. players English Football League players British Army personnel of World War II English Football Hall of Fame inductees English Football League representative players Green Howards soldiers