Johnny Wheeler

Johnny Wheeler
Personnel
Surname	John Edward Wheeler
birthday	July 26, 1928
place of birth	Crosby ,  England
date of death	16th November 2019
position	External rotor (right)
Juniors
Years	station
	Carlton
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1946-1951	Tranmere Rovers	101 0(9)
1951-1956	Bolton Wanderers	189 (18)
1956-1963	Liverpool FC	164 (21)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1952-1956	England B	5 0(0)
1954	England	1 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

John Edward "Johnny" Wheeler (born July 26, 1928 in Crosby ; † November 16, 2019 ) was an English football player . As a right wing runner , who could also be used as a half-forward, he was a regular at the first division side Bolton Wanderers at the beginning of the 1950s , before moving to the then second division Liverpool FC in 1956, where he was promoted to team captain two years later.

Athletic career

Wheeler began his professional career with the English third division club Tranmere Rovers , who was coached by Bill Ridding at the time of his arrival . After more than 100 league games for the Rovers, this Ridding made it possible for him to make the leap to the top English division and signed him for the Bolton Wanderers in February 1951 . The transfer fee was 15,000 pounds and as a right outside runner who could also be used as a half-striker , he established himself there in more than five years. The greatest moment was reaching the 1953 final against Blackpool FC in the FA Cup , which became known as the "Matthews Final". This was preceded a few months earlier against the same opponent a 4-0 win, to which Wheeler had contributed a hat trick as a center forward . When they met again in the final, Bolton and Wheeler gambled away their 3-1 lead and Blackpool - driven by Stanley Matthews - turned the match into a 4-3 victory. More than a year later, Wheeler completed his first and only A international match for the English national team against Northern Ireland . The game ended after goals from Johnny Haynes and Don Revie 2-0 for England and Wheeler was then only used for the B national team, for which he appeared five times.

When he moved to Liverpool for the 1956/57 season, this meant that Wheeler only played in the second division. The "Reds", however, showed great ambitions to return to excellence. The new coach Phil Taylor , who had recently taken over the "hot seat" from Don Welsh , was told that Wheeler wanted to move back to his old Liverpool home. He then took the chance and presented it as the first “big” transfer of his term of office. The transfer fee was said to have been around £ 9,000 (more realistic estimates were £ 12,000), which was considered a "bargain", but the change also included a risk as Wheeler had previously been on long pause due to an ankle injury. Together with his cousin Ronnie Moran , who had been with the "Reds" since his youth, the newcomer fit in well with the team and on November 3, 1956 he succeeded in a 4-1 win against Port Vale between the 81st and 85th minute of the game one of the fastest hat tricks in English football history. The longed-for promotion did not materialize, however, and a third place in the debut season was followed by a fourth place in the following year . For the 1958/59 season Taylor appointed him the new team captain, but a fourth place again ensured that Taylor was replaced by Bill Shankly . Under Shankly he lost his place in the team from the 1960/61 season more and more often to the young Gordon Milne and in the 1961/62 promotion season he contributed a single league game against Plymouth Argyle (2-1).

In May 1963 Wheeler was hired as a player-coach of the AFC New Brighton . However, he did not take up this activity and instead worked as an assistant at Bury FC until 1969 . Long after his playing days, Wheeler was still highly valued in Bolton and Liverpool and a street in Liverpool was named after him (the "Wheeler Drive", into which Liddell Avenue joins). He was honored as the oldest living captain of Liverpool FC well into old age and finally died at the age of 91 in November 2019.

Web links

• Johnny Wheeler in the barryhugmansfootballers.com database
• Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League AZ Player's Database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Liverpool FC Scouse Captains: Johnny Wheeler - Last gasp hat-trick hero of the Kop (This is Anfield)
2. ↑ Players - Johnny Wheeler (LFCHistory.net)
3. ^ Tributes paid to Liverpool's oldest living captain, Johnny Wheeler, who has died aged 91 (Liverpool Echo)