Dennis Wright was an English football goalkeeper

Goalkeeper (football)

In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

 who played for Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...

.

A native of Boythorpe

Boythorpe

Boythorpe is a small suburb to the south-west of Chesterfield town centre in Derbyshire. It also borders Birdholme to its east, and Walton to its west. The area is largely made up of social housing although Chesterfield's largest park, Queens' Park, is located in Boythorpe. The area also has a...

 near Chesterfield

Chesterfield

Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...

, Wright initially joined Mansfield in March 1939, shortly before the outbreak of 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...

. However, due to the hostilities, he had to wait until 1946 before he made his debut for the club in a competitive game. During the war years, Wright served in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, and was stationed in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 most of that time. He guested for Glenavon

Glenavon F.C.

Glenavon F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1889, hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park...

 during the war, and also turned out for Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

 during the wartime competition.

After the war had ended, he returned to Mansfield, and made his debut on 12 October 1946 against Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient F.C.

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

. He remained Mansfield's first-choice goalkeeper for the next decade, and played a total of 399 first-team matches for the club, which was a club record at the time of his retirement from the game in 1957. He died in 1993, aged 73.