Harry Wake

Henry Williamson Wake (born 21 January 1901 — 1981) was an English professional footballer. He is most famous for playing for Cardiff City in the 1925 FA Cup Final and being part of the team that won the 1927 FA Cup, although he missed the final through injury.

Harry Wake
Personal information
Full name Henry Williamson Wake
Date of birth (1901-01-21)21 January 1901
Place of birth Seaton Delaval, England
Date of death 1981 (aged 79–80)
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Right Half / Inside Right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
?–1919 Bigges Colliery
1919–1923 Newcastle United 3 (0)
1923–1931 Cardiff City 149 (9)
1931–1932 Mansfield Town 20 (0)
1932 Gateshead 0 (0)
1932–? Wigan Athletic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Born in Seaton Delaval, Wake began his career playing local football for Bigges Colliery before turning professional to join Newcastle United in 1919. He moved on to Cardiff City in 1923, making his debut in February 1924 in a 1–1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. In 1925 he was a major part of the team that reached the final of the 1925 FA Cup, playing in all of the club's seven games leading up to the final.[2]

The final took place on 25 April with Cardiff losing 1–0 to Sheffield United. It was a mistake from Wake that cost his team the match. United defender Harry Pantling hit a long pass down the pitch towards an area of the field Wake was covering but he hesitated and failed to cut out the pass, leaving the ball to fly past him to Fred Tunstall who scored the only goal of the game.[3] Following the match Wake was chastised in the Welsh media with headlines such as "Wake Not Awake" on newspapers across the country and it took several years for him to live down his mistake.[4]

He went on to reach a second final for Cardiff two years later in 1927 when they went on to win the match 1–0 against Arsenal. Wake scored one of Cardiff's goals in a 3–0 semi-final win over Reading however he went on to miss the final as he suffered damage to his kidneys in a 3–2 win against Sheffield Wednesday in a league match. Despite one London newspaper reporting his death, he went on to play for Cardiff until 1931 when he joined Mansfield Town, playing in the Stags first ever league match.[2] He also played in the first ever match played by Wigan Athletic in 1932 following the club's founding after the collapse of the previous club, Wigan Borough.[5]

References
  1. "Cardiff City". Athletic News. 24 August 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 13 November 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 193. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
  3. "1925 FA Cup final" facupfinals.co.uk Retrieved on 17 March 2008
  4. "Wigan Athletic history" Archived 17 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine Wigan Borough Retrieved on 17 March 2008
  5. "The first game" Archived 12 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Ultimate Wigan Athletic Website Retrieved on 17 March 2008
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