Billy Wright (6 February 1924 – 3 September 1994) was an English defender, who captained England in three World Cup campaigns and led Wolves during the club's golden age during the 1950s.   Wright compensated for his lack of height, he was only 5 feet 8 inches tall, with his intelligence and considerable jumping power. He joined Wolves in 1938 but the club intended to release him the following year because of his size,; he was so upset that it rescinded the decision. Wright became captain of Wolves after the Second World War and led them to victory in the 1949 FA cup final and to Football League championships in 1954, 1958, and 1959. He was footballer of the year award in 1952. Over 20,000 people came to see his final match, a pre-season training game on 8 August 1959 between the Wolves first team and their reserve side.For most of his career he was a right-half, but in 1954 injuries to colleagues, first in the England side and then at club level, saw him forced to convert to centre-half.  On 27 July 1958 he married Joy Beverley, pop singer, the eldest of the three Beverley Sisters.   Wright's England career began in a ‘victory’ match against Belgium in 1946, and he made his first appearance in an official international in a 7–2 defeat of Northern Ireland in September 1946. He became England captain in 1948 and, apart from a brief spell out of favour in 1951, was a virtually automatic choice until his retirement.   Wright became the first England player to be capped 100 times, when selected against Scotland in April 1959. He eventually played in 105 international matches, captaining the side on 90 occasions.   An impressive statue of Billy Wright is located outside his beloved Molineux.