Dennis Woodhead
Encyclopedia
Dennis Woodhead was a professional footballer whose career lasted from 1947 until 1959 during which time he played for Sheffield Wednesday
, Chesterfield
, Derby County
and Southport
. Woodhead was primarily a left winger
who also played as a stand in centre forward
when needed. Throughout his career he made 343 appearances including FA Cup
matches and scored 108 goals.
, was born on 12 June 1925 in the Hillsborough
area of Sheffield
. As a schoolboy he represented Sheffield Boys at both football and cricket
. Upon leaving school he played football for his works team Edgar Allen’s
for whom he worked as a fitter. At the same time he also played for Hillsborough Boys Club, a nursery side for Sheffield Wednesday. In 1941 the 16 year old Woodhead was invited to train with Sheffield Wednesday, however his initial connection with the club was brief, playing just one wartime match, before joining the RAF as a bomber
flight engineer
. Woodhead completed 31 bombing missions during World War II
and was finally de-mobbed
from the RAF in early 1947.
. The following two seasons saw Woodhead miss only eight league matches as he made the left wing position his own. However on the first day of the 1949-50 season (August 20) he broke his right leg in a 3-1 victory over Leicester City
and did not return to the first team until the Christmas Eve
home match against Bradford City
where he scored a late equaliser. The fine form of Walter Rickett kept Woodhead out of the side for much of the remainder of the season although he did return for the vital last few matches of the campaign as Wednesday gained promotion to the First Division
.
Woodhead returned as a regular to the team in the following season in Division One, scoring 14 goals and ending as joint top scorer with Hugh McJarrow and Redfern Froggatt
. Woodhead played the last nine games of the campaign as a stand in Centre Forward, scoring nine goals as Wednesday struggled in attack and were eventually relegated. The start of following season saw Woodhead again playing at centre forward, scoring seven goals in the opening nine games before picking up a bad injury. This allowed Derek Dooley to force his way into the side, scoring an amazing 46 goals in 30 appearances as Wednesday lifted the Second Division championship.
Woodhead remained first choice left winger for the following two seasons in Division One, doing especially well in 1953-54 when he top scored with 21 goals including three in the FA Cup as Wednesday reached the semi-final where they lost to Preston North End
at Maine Road
. The 1954-55 campaign saw Woodhead lose his regular spot in the team as Wednesday had a disastrous season, being relegated by nine points. He was in and out of the team as Alan Finney
and Jackie Marriott
played in the wing positions and limited Woodhead to just ten appearances in his final season at Hillsborough
. Following relegation Wednesday manager Eric Taylor
decided to rebuild the team and brought in 20 year old Albert Broadbent
from Notts County
as a replacement for the 30 year old Woodhead.
for a fee of £2,000 on 9 September 1955 and made a thrilling debut scoring three goals in a 7-2 home win over Rochdale. He was selected to play for the Third Division North team
against the South in 1955/56. However his stay at Saltergate lasted only four months, making 16 appearances in total before joining Derby County
in January 1956 for a fee of £1,500. Woodhead had three good seasons with Derby, helping them to promotion from Division Three North
in 1956-57 when he scored 14 goals. In February 1959 he was sold to Southport
for £750 but the move only lasted four games after it was found that Woodhead had an ongoing knee injury and he was instructed to return to Derby by The Football League
after a month. Woodhead retired from full time League football in May 1959.
football for Frickley Colliery
, Retford Town and Worksop Town
, also acting as player-manager for Frickley and Retford. At the same time he ran a sweet shop for a time before selling insurance. In 1967, he became lottery manager at Chesterfield F.C. then returning to Sheffield Wednesday in 1971 as Commercial Development Officer, replacing Derek Dooley who had moved up to be first team manager. Dennis Woodhead remained in his job with Sheffield Wednesday until 1987 when he took early retirement, he died on 26 July 1995, aged 70.
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
, Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
, Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
and Southport
Southport F.C.
Southport Football Club are an English football club, based in Southport, Merseyside. They are currently in the Conference National, and play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 6,008...
. Woodhead was primarily a left winger
Winger (sport)
In certain sports, such as football, field hockey, ice hockey, handball, rugby union, lacrosse and rugby league, the term winger is the name of a position. It refers to positions on the extreme left and right sides of the pitch . In American football and Canadian football, the analogous position...
who also played as a stand in centre forward
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
when needed. Throughout his career he made 343 appearances including FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
matches and scored 108 goals.
Early life
Woodhead, a grandson of former Wednesday player Billy BettsBilly Betts
William "Billy" Betts was a Sheffield born English football player who played for The Wednesday, as well as the English national side. Betts played as a centre-half and made a total of 143 appearances in two spells for The Wednesday, scoring four goals.-External links:***...
, was born on 12 June 1925 in the Hillsborough
Hillsborough, South Yorkshire
Hillsborough is an electoral ward which includes the districts of Malin Bridge, Owlerton, Wadsley and Wisewood. It is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the northwestern part of the city and covers an area of 4.6 km2...
area of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. As a schoolboy he represented Sheffield Boys at both football and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. Upon leaving school he played football for his works team Edgar Allen’s
Edgar Allen and Company
Edgar Allen and Company was a steel maker and engineer, which from the late 19th century was based at Imperial Steel Works, Tinsley, Sheffield, South Yorkshire...
for whom he worked as a fitter. At the same time he also played for Hillsborough Boys Club, a nursery side for Sheffield Wednesday. In 1941 the 16 year old Woodhead was invited to train with Sheffield Wednesday, however his initial connection with the club was brief, playing just one wartime match, before joining the RAF as a bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
flight engineer
Flight engineer
Flight engineers work in three types of aircraft: fixed-wing , rotary wing , and space flight .As airplanes became even larger requiring more engines and complex systems to operate, the workload on the two pilots became excessive during certain critical parts of the flight regime, notably takeoffs...
. Woodhead completed 31 bombing missions during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was finally de-mobbed
Demobilization
Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...
from the RAF in early 1947.
Sheffield Wednesday
Woodhead had signed full professional terms with Sheffield Wednesday in April 1945 whilst still on active war service and he made his debut for the club on 24 May 1947 shortly after leaving the RAF. He played the last three games of that 1946-47 season as Wednesday managed to avoid relegation from Division TwoFootball League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
. The following two seasons saw Woodhead miss only eight league matches as he made the left wing position his own. However on the first day of the 1949-50 season (August 20) he broke his right leg in a 3-1 victory over Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
and did not return to the first team until the Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
home match against Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
where he scored a late equaliser. The fine form of Walter Rickett kept Woodhead out of the side for much of the remainder of the season although he did return for the vital last few matches of the campaign as Wednesday gained promotion to the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
.
Woodhead returned as a regular to the team in the following season in Division One, scoring 14 goals and ending as joint top scorer with Hugh McJarrow and Redfern Froggatt
Redfern Froggatt
Redfern Froggatt was a footballer for Sheffield Wednesday and England.Redfern was the son of former Sheffield Wednesday captain Frank Froggatt, and the cousin England international Jack Froggatt. In 1942 'Red' was signed from Sheffield YMCA but did not become a regular in the Wednesday side until...
. Woodhead played the last nine games of the campaign as a stand in Centre Forward, scoring nine goals as Wednesday struggled in attack and were eventually relegated. The start of following season saw Woodhead again playing at centre forward, scoring seven goals in the opening nine games before picking up a bad injury. This allowed Derek Dooley to force his way into the side, scoring an amazing 46 goals in 30 appearances as Wednesday lifted the Second Division championship.
Woodhead remained first choice left winger for the following two seasons in Division One, doing especially well in 1953-54 when he top scored with 21 goals including three in the FA Cup as Wednesday reached the semi-final where they lost to Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
at Maine Road
Maine Road
Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England that was home to Manchester City F.C. from its construction in 1923 until 2003...
. The 1954-55 campaign saw Woodhead lose his regular spot in the team as Wednesday had a disastrous season, being relegated by nine points. He was in and out of the team as Alan Finney
Alan Finney
Alan Finney is a former footballer who played for Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers, featuring in over 500 games during his time at Hillsborough and the consistency of his performances made a popular member of the team among the Club's supporters.-Football career:Alan Finney joined...
and Jackie Marriott
Jackie Marriott
John Leonard "Jackie" Marriott is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as an outside right for Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town and Scunthorpe United.-External links:...
played in the wing positions and limited Woodhead to just ten appearances in his final season at Hillsborough
Hillsborough Stadium
Hillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club, Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,812 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the...
. Following relegation Wednesday manager Eric Taylor
Eric Taylor (football manager)
Eric Taylor was an English football manager most notable for his spell in charge of Sheffield Wednesday from 1942 to 1958....
decided to rebuild the team and brought in 20 year old Albert Broadbent
Albert Broadbent
Albert Henry Broadbent was an English footballer who played on the left wing.-Career:Born in Dudley, Worcestershire, Broadbent commenced his career with Dudley Town before joining Notts County in March 1952...
from Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
as a replacement for the 30 year old Woodhead.
Latter career
Woodhead was signed by Chesterfield manager Teddy DavisonTeddy Davison
Teddy Davison was an English footballer and manager who had a long and successful association with the football clubs of Sheffield, playing for Sheffield Wednesday for 18 years and later managing Sheffield United for 20 years. His fairness and diplomacy earned him the nicknames of "The George...
for a fee of £2,000 on 9 September 1955 and made a thrilling debut scoring three goals in a 7-2 home win over Rochdale. He was selected to play for the Third Division North team
Football League Third Division North vs. South Representative Games
The Third Division North and Third Division South of The Football League was a level in English association football, which ran from 1921 to 1958.From 1954–55 season until 1957–58 season, there was a series of games between teams representing the Third Division North and the Third Division South.-...
against the South in 1955/56. However his stay at Saltergate lasted only four months, making 16 appearances in total before joining Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
in January 1956 for a fee of £1,500. Woodhead had three good seasons with Derby, helping them to promotion from Division Three North
Football League Third Division North
The Third Division North of The Football League was a tier in the English association football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran parallel to Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to one or the other according to geographical position...
in 1956-57 when he scored 14 goals. In February 1959 he was sold to Southport
Southport F.C.
Southport Football Club are an English football club, based in Southport, Merseyside. They are currently in the Conference National, and play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 6,008...
for £750 but the move only lasted four games after it was found that Woodhead had an ongoing knee injury and he was instructed to return to Derby by The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
after a month. Woodhead retired from full time League football in May 1959.
After playing
After finishing as a professional, Woodhead played non-leagueNon-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
football for Frickley Colliery
Frickley Athletic F.C.
Frickley Athletic F.C. are a football club based in South Elmsall, in West Yorkshire, England. They were established in 1910 as Frickley Colliery F.C., and changed to their present name in 1974.-History:...
, Retford Town and Worksop Town
Worksop Town F.C.
Worksop Town Football Club are a semi-professional English football club from Worksop, Nottinghamshire who play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division...
, also acting as player-manager for Frickley and Retford. At the same time he ran a sweet shop for a time before selling insurance. In 1967, he became lottery manager at Chesterfield F.C. then returning to Sheffield Wednesday in 1971 as Commercial Development Officer, replacing Derek Dooley who had moved up to be first team manager. Dennis Woodhead remained in his job with Sheffield Wednesday until 1987 when he took early retirement, he died on 26 July 1995, aged 70.