Norman Victor Deeley (30 November 1933 – 7 September 2007) was an English professional

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 spent the majority of his league career with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. He scored two goals in the 1960 FA Cup Final, in a performance that won him the Man of the Match award. He also won the league title three times with Wolves and was capped twice by England.

Career

Deeley, who played as a winger, broke into the Wolves team in the early 1950s and went on to win three league titles with the club, before his key role in the FA Cup triumph of 1960. He became a first-choice in the second title-winning season of 1957–58, scoring 23 goals in the process, and following it with 17 more the following year. He had been with the club as an apprentice, making his first team debut on 25 August 1951 in a 2–1 win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Deeley won two caps during his time at Molineux for the England national team, making his debut on 13 May 1959, on a tour of South America against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and winning a second and final cap four days later against

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."Wolves legend's hero send-off"
''ExpressandStar.com'', 20 September 2007 He had earlier also represented his country at schoolboy level — at just tall in 1947, Deeley became the smallest player to play for England schoolboys."Wolves FA Cup hero dies, 73"
''ExpressandStar.com'', 8 September 2007 He lost his place in the team during the 1961–62 season, as the club recruited several new wingers. Deeley quickly moved on after this, joining Leyton Orient in February 1962 and helping the club to promotion to the top flight. He played his final season in league football the following campaign as the London team slipped straight back down. Deeley then moved into non-league football at

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...

, later having spells at Bromsgrove Rovers and

Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Bilston, Walsall, Wednesbury, Willenhall and Tipton. It was historically part of Staffordshire. Topography Darlaston i ...

before his retirement from the game in 1974. He went on to work as manager of a community centre in Walsall before his retirement. He died on 7 September 2007, aged 73, from undisclosed causes. Playing fields in his native Wednesbury were later named after him in tribute. His son Andy Deeley represented

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at international level.

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 1959–60

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deeley, Norman 1933 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Wednesbury English men's footballers England men's international footballers Leyton Orient F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Darlaston Town F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards 20th-century English sportsmen