| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dennis Westcott[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1917-07-02)2 July 1917 | ||
| Place of birth | Wallasey, England | ||
| Date of death | 13 July 1960(1960-07-13) (aged 43)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Stafford, England | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Wallasey Grocers | |||
| –1936 | Leasowe Road Brickworks | ||
| 1936 | New Brighton | 18 | (10) |
| 1936–1948 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 128 | (105) |
| 1940–1941 | →Liverpool (guest) | 2 | (6) |
| 1943–1944 | →Brentford (guest) | 5 | (6) |
| 1948–1950 | Blackburn Rovers | 63 | (37) |
| 1950–1952 | Manchester City | 72 | (37) |
| 1952–1953 | Chesterfield | 40 | (21) |
| 1953–1957 | Stafford Rangers | ||
| Total | 328 | (185) | |
| International career | |||
| 1940–1943 | England (wartime) | 4 | (5) |
| 1947 | Football League XI | 1 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Dennis Westcott (2 July 1917 – 13 July 1960) was an Englishfootballer, who played forNew Brighton,Wolverhampton Wanderers,Blackburn Rovers,Manchester City andChesterfield as acentre forward.
He was posthumously inducted into the Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Fame in 2017.[2]
Westcott started his career at local clubs Wallasey Grocers and Leasowe Road Brickworks, before failing trials withFootball League clubsEverton and West Ham United.[3] He then joined nearby New Brighton of theThird Division (North) in January 1936 and scored 10 goals in 18 league matches.[1]Wolverhampton Wanderers signed him in July 1936 and gave him a debut againstGrimsby in anFA Cup tie.[4] Westcott scored one of the goals as Wolves won 6–2.[5] He scored 22 goals during the1937–38 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 bySteve Bull.[5] Westcott played in the1939 FA Cup Final, but Wolves were beaten 4–1 byPortsmouth.[6]
In 1939 competitive football was then suspended due toWorld War II, depriving Westcott of several years in his prime.[5] During the war he played four wartime internationals forEngland and scored six goals in five games while guesting withBrentford.[7][8] When competitive football resumed in 1946, Westcott continued his goalscoring exploits, setting another club record with 38 goals in the1946–47 season which made him top-scorer in the league.[5] He scored on his only appearance for theFootball 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 theSecond Division.[1] At Blackburn he scored 37 goals in 63 league appearances.[1] He then signed forManchester City, where he scored 36 goals in 72 league appearances,[1] finishing as the club's top scorer in each of the two full seasons he played.[9][10] He then moved toChesterfield and finished his career withStafford Rangers.[5]
He died fromleukaemia in 1960 one week and four days after his 43rd birthday.[5]