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 lea ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Wile played as a central defender for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, although he did not play a

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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

match for them. In 1967–68 he signed for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, 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 (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

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) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

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 status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

. 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. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

after missing out on a similar post at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

a year earlier. He later returned to West Bromwich as

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, 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 men's 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 Men's association football defenders Men's association football player-managers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate men's footballers English Football League players {{England-footy-defender-1940s-stub