Dennis Wilshaw

Wilshaw joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 1944 after being spotted playing for Packmoor Boys' Club in his youth, where he scored ten goals in a 16–0 win. The war made guesting a common occurrence. So he played a game for Port Vale on 5 May 1945, a 6–0 Potteries derby thumping at the Victoria Ground. He began guesting at Harry Hibbs's Walsall. He had an extended loan spell at the Third Division South side, making 82 appearances and scoring 31 goals, before returning to top flight Wolves in September 1948. He built an effective partnership with Doug Lishman. He also continued his education to become a qualified teacher during this time. He finished as the "Saddlers" top-scorer in 1946–47 with 21 goals in 39 games. He hit nine goals in 40 appearances in 1947–48, and also appeared at Fellows Park in the first few games of the 1948–49 campaign. He made his Wolves debut on 12 March 1949, scoring a hat-trick over Newcastle United, and went on to score ten goals in eleven league games that season. However, he was not selected for the side that competed in the 1949 FA Cup final against Leicester City at Wembley. Wolves finished second in the league in 1949–50. However, they struggled in the lower half of the table in 1950–51 and 1951–52. Thanks to greats such as Jesse Pye and Roy Swinbourne, it took until the 1952–53 for Wilshaw to establish himself in the first-team; he bagged 18 goals in 30 games that season. He was a part of the Wolves side that won the league in 1953–54.…

Wilshaw earned 12 caps for England, five of which were friendlies and seven were competitive fixtures. He scored twice on his debut on 10 October 1953 against Wales, in a 4–1 British Home Championship victory at Ninian Park. His next game was in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, where he scored a goal against the hosts Switzerland in a 2–0 win at the Wankdorf Stadium. He also appeared in the competition's quarter-finals, as England lost 4–2 to Uruguay. His fourth cap was in the 1955 British Home Championship, in which he bagged four goals in a 7–2 win over Scotland at Wembley – this remains both the only occasion an opposing player has scored four times in a match against Scotland and the highest individual goal tally for either team in the then-annual fixture. It was the 18th instance of an England player scoring at least four in a match. After caps against France, Spain, Portugal and Wales, both his eighth and ninth goals came against Northern Ireland in a 3–0 win. His final goal came against Finland in Helsinki on 20 May 1956 in a 3–0 victory. Following a friendly against West Germany, he made his final international appearance at Windsor Park, in a 1–1 draw with Northern Ireland in the 1957 British Home Championship.

Brian Glanville described him as: "Slim but strong, at 5 ft 10 in and 10 st 7 lb, Wilshaw was quick and direct, with a powerful shot... Essentially left-footed but effortlessly versatile, Wilshaw could play with equal success at outside-left, inside-left, or even centre-forward." Another journalist, Ivan Ponting, wrote that: "Wilshaw was strong, resilient and direct, an awkward customer for any opponent to control, and thus was perfectly suited to Stan Cullis's formidable all-action Wolves side... He was capable of sudden bursts of searing acceleration, which equipped him ideally to exploit gaps in opposition defences. His shooting was explosively powerful, especially with his left foot, and he was combative in the air."

Dennis James Wilshaw was born on 11 March 1926 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire to John Thomas, a light lorry driver, and Daisy (née Mollart). He married Mary Chester in 1948. After retiring as a player, Wilshaw stayed with Stoke City as a scout and also became a qualified FA coach and sports psychologist. He also took up his old career as a schoolteacher and eventually became head of a school in his native Stoke. Later he joined the Social and Community Studies department at Crewe and Alsager College of Education. He died of a heart attack on 10 May 2004 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.