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Wilf Mannion
| Category: | Male Player |
| Year Inducted: | 2004 |
Profile by Football's Greatest Heroes author Robert Galvin, the official National Football Hall of Fame book:
Wilf Mannion, the inside-forward nicknamed ‘Golden Boy' during the 1940s on account of his mop of blond hair and precocious talent, was once described by England team-mate Alf Ramsey as the ‘greatest soccer brain in modern football'.
Idolised by the supporters of Middlesbrough, his hometown club, Mannion was a member of the celebrated post-war England forward line, alongside Tom Finney, Stan Mortensen, Tommy Lawton and Stanley Matthews.
Stanley Matthews once said of Mannion, the winner of 26 caps between 1946 and 1951: ‘Wilf is my idea of a perfect inside partner.' Ramsey said: ‘He was in a class of his own as a skilful strategist.'
One Boro supporter who adopted Mannion as a hero was Brian Clough. ‘Wilf played football the way Fred Astaire danced,' he recalled.
When England were struggling for form during the World Cup in Sweden in 1958, Walter Winterbottom told journalists: ‘I would give a lot for another Wilf Mannion right now.
A front-line soldier in France and Italy during the Second World War, Mannion was weakened and traumatised by his experiences in combat.
In Sicily , his company was pinned down. ‘We lost half of our men that day,' he recalled. Physically, Mannion suffered jaundice and then malaria, suffering 10 relapses.
Only gradually did he regain sufficient stamina to play for Wanderers, the Army team that entertained troops. But the strain on his mind and body had been enormous.
On his return home Mannion fell into dispute with Middlesbrough . His determination to play elsewhere was matched by their insistence that he must stay. ‘Even if we were given a cheque for £50,000 we would not transfer Mannion,' the Boro manager said. ‘Why should we let the best player in Britain go?'
It was their choice; the rules governing the registration of players allowed clubs to retain an out-of-contract player against his wishes. ‘Against this soccer serfdom, even the Army seemed to be a haven of freedom,' Mannion recalled.
Relations deteriorated, and in 1948 Mannion staged a one-man strike in a bid to force the issue, refusing to sign a new contract. It meant that he was ineligible to play for England .
The directors still refused to budge. Mannion was now idle, a football outcast. Boro had made their ultimatum: either play for us or don't play at all. The stand-off dragged on, sapping his resolve. Eventually, Mannion backed down.
Playing for England had its problems, too. After playing against Scotland at a packed Hampden Park , Mannion was forced to stand all the way between Glasgow and Darlington . The train was full, and the FA hadn't bothered to book him a seat.
On the pitch, at least, he was highly valued. In the late 1950s Winterbottom rated Mannion as the ‘greatest of our inside-forwards since the end of the war in 1945, an artist reliant exclusively on sheer skill'.
‘The most notable partnership over the past dozen years for England has been that of Wilf Mannion and Tom Finney, reaching its sublimation in the famous 10-0 win against Portugal in 1947,' Winterbottom said. ‘Wilf had stunning ball-control and high deftness of touch.
‘He was always prepared to fit in with Finney, a clear indication of his greatness. When a super player in his own right is prepared to subordinate himself to the optimum needs of the team, he puts severe stresses on his own inclinations. But in doing it he confirms his own greatness.'