Dennis Ewart Simpson (1 November 1919 – 10 January 2002) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played on the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Career

Simpson signed with

in May 1939 after being spotted playing for Saleem Baptist. He guested for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

during the war, in 1946. After continuing his career at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

, he scored five goals in 67 Second Division games, as Coventry finished eighth in 1946–47, tenth in 1947–48, 16th in 1948–49, and 12th in 1949–50. Simpson was allowed to leave the club by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Harry Storer and moved on to

in May 1950. He helped the "Royals" to third in the Third Division South in 1950–51, before they moved up to second place in 1951–52 – just five points behind champions

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. Reading then dropped down the league after outgoing manager

Ted Drake Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well ...

was replaced by Jack Smith, finishing 11th in 1952–53, eighth in 1953–54, and 18th in 1954–55. Simpsons scored 31 goals in 172 league goals during his time at

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London and part of the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority f ...

. He joined Third Division South club

in Ma1y 1955, remaining as a part-time professional as he worked as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

. He helped

Norman Dodgin Norman Dodgin (born 1 November 1921 in Gateshead - August 2000) was an English footballer who played between 1947 and 1955. His predominant position was at defence. Dodgin became a player-manager in 1953 while playing for Exeter City, until ...

's "Grecians" to finish 16th in 1955–56 and 21st in 1956–57. He scored four goals in 30 league games during his brief spell at

St James Park St James Park and variants may refer to: Football stadiums * St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, ground of Newcastle United F.C. * St James Park (Exeter), England, ground of Exeter City F.C. * St James Park, ground of Brackley Town F.C., ...

but left the club in February 1957 after refusing to train full-time. He later ended his career at

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

Exmouth Town.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Dennis Footballers from Coventry English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Coventry City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Reading F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Exmouth Town F.C. players English Football League players English engineers 1919 births 2002 deaths 20th-century English sportsmen