Joseph Samuel "Joe" Wade (7 July 1921 – 12 November 2005) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er and manager.

Wade was born in Shoreditch

Shoreditch

Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and joined Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 as an amateur in 1944. Wade was serving in the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

; stationed at RAF Credenhill

RAF Hereford

RAF Hereford was a non-flying station of the Royal Air Force. It was the home of a wide variety of training schools from 1940 until it closed for RAF training in 1999. It was also known as RAF Credenhill, as it is situated in Credenhill, north-west of Hereford...

 in Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

, he guested a few times for Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 side Hereford United

Hereford United F.C.

Hereford United Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Hereford. Founded in 1924, they are competing in Football League Two in the 2011–12 season. Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites',...

 during this period as well.

Wade was a reserve full back and only played in a handful of matches during the 1940s; he made his debut in an FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 match against West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 on 5 January 1946; a mainly reserve Arsenal side were thrashed 6-0, which remains to this day Arsenal's worst FA Cup defeat in modern times. Wade continued to be a bit-part player; he made his league debut in a 4-2 win over Leeds United on 16 November 1946, but in all he only made sixteen appearances between 1946 and 1952; the likes of Walley Barnes

Walley Barnes

Walley Barnes was a Welsh footballer and broadcaster. He played for Arsenal, being part of their championship-winning side in 1947-48, and he captained the Welsh national side.-Early career:...

 and Laurie Scott

Laurie Scott (footballer)

Lawrence "Laurie" Scott was an English footballer.Born in Sheffield, Scott joined Bradford City as a youth player, and played 39 times for the Bantams, mostly as a winger. In February 1937 he was signed by Arsenal, though he only played as a reserve for the first two years at the club...

 keeping him out of the side.

Barnes had badly injured his knee in the 1952 FA Cup Final, and Wade duly filled in for him for the whole of the 1952-53

1952-53 in English football

The 1952–53 season was the 73rd season of competitive football in England.-Events:This was the closest championship win in English league history at the time, with Arsenal claiming the title by just 0.099 of a goal. Both Arsenal and Preston had identical records aside from their goal averages...

 season. Wade was a near ever-present and played 44 times as Arsenal won their seventh league title, pipping Preston North End

Preston North End F.C.

Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

 on goal average; it would turn out to be their last trophy until 1970. However, the following season, 1953-54

1953-54 in English football

The 1953–54 season was the 74th season of competitive football in England.-National team:The Marvellous Magyars shocked football by defeating England 6–3 at Wembley Stadium.-Honours:...

, Wade himself injured his knee in a floodlit friendly against Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

 and after recovering, he struggled to take his place back off Len Wills

Len Wills

Leonard Edward "Len" Wills is an English former football player.Born in Hackney, London, Wills first played for the youth teams of non-league Eton Manor, before being signed by Arsenal in October 1949. For the next four years he played in the Gunners' reserve team, playing either at right half or...

 and a now-recovered Barnes. He continued to flit in and out of the first team but spent all of the 1955-56

1955-56 in English football

The 1955–56 season was the 76th season of competitive football in England. The First Division was won by Manchester United, the fourth time they had won that particular accolade.-Awards:Football Writers' Association...

 season in the reserve side, at the same time carrying out a role as coach of the Arsenal youth team.

In spring 1956 he left Arsenal to return to non-league Hereford United as player-manager. He played 91 first-team matches for Arsenal in total, never scoring a goal. At Hereford, he started the club's long-running tradition for knocking League sides out of the FA Cup, including Aldershot

Aldershot F.C.

Aldershot Football Club was an English Football League club, which was wound up in the High Court in March 1992. They became the first Football League club since Accrington Stanley to resign from the League during the course of a season. The club was nicknamed the Shots for both the last syllable...

 in 1956-57

1956-57 in English football

The 1956–57 season was the 77th season of competitive football in England.Manchester United won the First Division to become English football champions for the fifth time. Tottenham Hotspur were runners-up. In the Second Division it was Leicester City who finished in top spot, ahead of East...

 and Queens Park Rangers in 1957-58

1957-58 in English football

The 1957–58 season was the 78th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:In this season, Sunderland was relegated for the first time in their history.This was the last season in which Division 3 was split, North and South...

. Wade won the "Double" of Southern League Cup and Southern League North-West Division in 1958-59

1958-59 in English football

The 1958–59 season was the 79th season of competitive football in England.-Diary of the season:August 1958: The Football League season begins with the new national Third and Fourth divisions that have been created from the old Third Division North and Third Division South.September 1958: Manchester...

, before leaving in 1962 to concentrate on his sports shop business.

Wade briefly returned as Hereford's caretaker manager

Caretaker manager

In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...

 after John Charles

John Charles

William John Charles, CBE , commonly known as John Charles, was a Welsh international footballer best remembered for spells with Leeds United and Juventus. Rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Wales, he was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back...

had quit in 1971, but apart from that he did not return to football management. He died in 2005, at the age of 84.