John Wile

John Wile
Personal information
Full name John David Wile
Date of birth (1947-03-09) 9 March 1947 (age 77)
Place of birth Sherburn, County Durham, England
Position(s) Centre-half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966?–1967 Sunderland 0 (0)
1967–1970 Peterborough United 118 (7)
1970–1983 West Bromwich Albion 500 (24)
1982 → Vancouver Whitecaps (loan)[1] 23 (0)
1983–1986 Peterborough United 87 (3)
Total 728 (34)
Managerial career
1977–1978 West Bromwich Albion (caretaker)
1983–1986 Peterborough United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John David Wile (born 9 March 1947) is an English former footballer and manager.

Wile played as a central defender for Sunderland, although he did not play a Football League match for them.[2] In 1967–68 he signed for Peterborough United, having had a trial there first.[3] He made 130 senior appearances for The Posh between 1967 and 1970.[3]

Wile then joined West Bromwich Albion in December 1970. He spent more than 12 years at Albion, and was club captain during and after Ron Atkinsons spell as manager. Wile made a total of 619 senior appearances for Albion.[4]

His most famous moment came when he played with blood pouring from a headwound during the 1978 FA Cup semi-final against Ipswich at Highbury. After leaving Albion in June 1983, Wile returned to Peterborough as player-manager after missing out on a similar post at Bolton Wanderers a year earlier. He later returned to West Bromwich as managing director, 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.[5]

References

  1. ^ "NASL-John Wile".
  2. ^ "John Wile". Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b "John Wile: Career History". Peterborough United Database. Up the Posh. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  4. ^ "John Wile". Superstars in Stripes. West Bromwich Albion. 14 May 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  5. ^ "The wraps come off 125th anniversary mural". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 4 August 2004. Archived from the original on 2 February 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008.


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