FROM ONE LEGEND TO ANOTHER…DENNIS WHEELER  REFLECTS ON THE LATE, GREAT JIMMY DILWORTH

Guisborough Town grounds volunteer Dennis Wheeler was Assistant Manager of Guisborough Town during the team’s trailblazing run in the famous 1979/80 FA Vase competition which led the Priorymen to the final at Wembley in 1980.

Jimmy Dilworth was captain of Guisborough Town at that incredible time in the Club’s history and Dennis remembers him well both from a footballing and personal perspective.

Dennis recalls: “Jimmy was actually a big part of Guisborough Town’s history five years before that Wembley Final when he was instrumental in leading the team to their first major honour in 1975/76 in the then North Riding County Cup when we beat Billingham Social Club 2-1 in the Final at the old South Bank ground.

“Jimmy played left midfield and was an extremely intelligent player, always very constructive in whatever he said and did out on the field. He wasn’t a skipper who shouted and bailed at team-mates either.

“As skipper of the team, he earned lots of respect from his teammates throughout his five or six years at Guisborough by always communicating in a calm and constructive way.

“In those days, we saw the spine of the team as being down the middle from goalkeeper, defence, midfield and then the forwards. So, playing in midfield was the key role for players in any team, and better still when you had a captain in midfield as well.

“So, this is the role that Jimmy fulfilled and he was able to communicate to the players behind him in defence to those around him in midfield through to the forwards up front.  Sounds simple in theory but in practice not always so, but Jimmy was brilliant at it in his role as captain.

“Jimmy had players around him who moved on to greater things like Tony Mowbray to name but one and in time Jimmy’s outstanding talents were noticed by Leicester City who signed him on. Jimmy was the most natural team skipper you could ever wish for, without a shadow of a doubt, ” Dennis concluded.

FOOTNOTE: Talking of Jimmy’s move to Leicester, former league referee Stuart Lowdon, now a KGV regular, recalls refereeing a Guisborough match when they played in the Midland League in the 70’s and 80’s.

“At the end of the game this guy came on to the pitch and asked me who the Guisborough No 10 was. I asked who the man was and why he wanted to know and he replied that he was a Leicester City scout. So, I told him it was Jimmy Dilworth and the scout went over to him and offered him a trial – and the rest as they say is history,” said Stuart, who added that Jimmy was the best player he had ever seen in his refereeing days.