Utente:Buzz/traduzioni
Template:Infobox Football biography
Wilf Mannion, all'anagrafe Wilfred James Mannion (Middlesbrough, 16 maggio 1918 – Teesside, 14 aprile 2000), è stato un ex calciatore inglese, di ruolo attaccante, che giocò buona parte della sua carriera nel Middlesbrough Football Club e che partecipò con la maglia della Nazionale inglese al Campionato mondiale di calcio 1950 tenutosi in Brasile.
Considerato una dei più grandi giocatori che abbiano vestito la maglia del Boro, nacque nella comunità industriale di South Bank, nel territorio di Middlesbrough e giocò per diversi anni con la squadra del suo territorio natale, tanto da essere commemorato da una statua fuori dal Riverside Stadium. La stessa dedica è presente anche per un'altra figura importante per il club inglese, George Hardwick.
Carriera
Club
he played in local leagues before he signed professional forms for Middlesbrough on 17 September 1936 at the age of 18.
During the Second World War, Mannion served with the army and was evacuated from Dunkirk. He later served in the Middle East and Italy but was invalided out of the forces with shellshock.
Mannion had stunned Middlesbrough fans in 1947 when it seemed he was set to join lowly Oldham Athletic in the Football League Third Division, Middlesbrough then being in the prestigious First Division. The Lancashire club could not afford the prohibitive price tag Middlesbrough placed on him, and he was soon back at Ayresome Park. For Mannion this was a defeat, as he was attempting to sidestep the league's maximum wage of 10 pounds per week which was in force at the time[1]. His plan had been to play and run a business at the same time, an option not available at a top rank club. His dispute with Middlesbrough over the transfer ultimately led him to refuse to re-sign his contract with the club and after jeopardising his England career, ultimately he continued to play for the club.
After initially retiring as a player in 1954, Mannion joined Hull City on 24 December of that year and decided to play on for another season. However, in a series of articles for newspapers he made several highly contentious statements, including allegations of illegal payments. Challenged to back up these by the Football League, he was banned for life and never played league football again[2]. In 1956 he joined Cambridge United, then in the Eastern Counties League. Just before the end of that season the Football League announced that it was lifting Mannion's life ban, but he decided to stay at Cambridge for a further season.
=Nazionale
He played four times for England in wartime internationals that did not carry full international status and he finally won his first full international cap when selected to play for England's opening post war fixture against Northern Ireland in Belfast on 28 September 1946, scoring a hat-trick. Mannion played his final game for England on 3 October 1951 against France. He had collected 26 caps, scoring 11 times.
Dopo il ritiro
He retired in 1958, and after a spell running a pub in Stevenage returned to Teesside to work for ICI.
He had a joint testimonial match with George Hardwick on 17 May 1983. Hardwick is also commemorated by a statue, facing Mannion across a ceremonial brick walk behind the old iron gates from Ayresome Park, where both played.
On 14 April 2000, Wilf Mannion died in hospital, at the age of 81. Many Middlesbrough fans were greatly saddened at the passing of one of their heroes. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his impact on the English league.
Statistiche
Presenze e reti nei club
Cronologia presenze e reti in Nazionale
| Cronologia completa delle presenze e delle reti in nazionale ― Inghilterra | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data | Città | In casa | Risultato | Ospiti | Competizione | Reti | Note |
| Totale | Presenze | 26 | Reti | 11 | |||
Palmarès
Club
Note
- ^ English Hall of Fame Profile
- ^ Biography at Middlesbrough F.C. website.
Collegamenti esterni
- (EN) Buzz/traduzioni, su National-football-teams.com, National Football Teams.
