Dennis Westcott
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox football biography
Dennis Westcott (2 July 1917 – 13 July 1960) was an English footballer, who played for New Brighton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Chesterfield as a centre forward.
He was posthumously inducted into the Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Fame in 2017.[1]
Career
Westcott started his career at local clubs Wallasey Grocers and Leasowe Road Brickworks, before failing trials with Football League clubs Everton and West Ham United.[2] He then joined nearby New Brighton of the Third Division (North) in January 1936 and scored 10 goals in 18 league matches.[3] Wolverhampton Wanderers signed him in July 1936 and gave him a debut against Grimsby in an FA Cup tie.[4] Westcott scored one of the goals as Wolves won 6–2.[5] He scored 22 goals during the 1937–38 season, making him the club's top scorer.[5] The following season, he scored 43 goals in 43 appearances, setting a club record which stood for 50 years until it was broken by Steve Bull.[5] Westcott played in the 1939 FA Cup Final, but Wolves were beaten 4–1 by Portsmouth.[6]
In 1939 competitive football was then suspended due to World War II, depriving Westcott of several years in his prime.[5] During the war he played four wartime internationals for England and scored six goals in five games while guesting with Brentford.[7][8] When competitive football resumed in 1946, Westcott continued his goalscoring exploits, setting another club record with 38 goals in the 1946–47 season which made him top-scorer in the league.[5] He scored on his only appearance for the Football League XI in March 1947.[8] In 1948 he was released by Wolves and signed for Blackburn Rovers during the month prior to the club's relegation to the Second Division.[3] At Blackburn he scored 37 goals in 63 league appearances.[3] He then signed for Manchester City, where he scored 36 goals in 72 league appearances,[3] finishing as the club's top scorer in each of the two full seasons he played.[9][10] He then moved to Chesterfield and finished his career with Stafford Rangers.[5]
Personal life
He died from leukaemia in 1960 one week and four days after his 43rd birthday.[5]
Honours
- Football League War Cup: 1941–42[4]
- Football League Second Division runner-up: 1950–51[11][12]
References
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- Pages with reference errors
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- 1917 births
- 1960 deaths
- English men's footballers
- England men's wartime international footballers
- English Football League players
- First Division/Premier League top scorers
- Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
- Chesterfield F.C. players
- Manchester City F.C. players
- New Brighton A.F.C. players
- Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
- Stafford Rangers F.C. players
- Watford F.C. wartime guest players
- English Football League representative players
- Brentford F.C. wartime guest players
- Liverpool F.C. wartime guest players
- Deaths from leukemia in England
- Men's association football forwards
- Footballers from Wallasey