After some prolific goalscoring feats in the North Staffordshire League Dennis Wilshaw signed for Wolves as a professional in 1944, but was allowed to join Walsall on loan. He did so well with them, scoring 21 goals in 87 matches, that he was recalled to Molineux in September 1948. On his League debut on 12th March 1949, Wilshaw blasted a hat-trick in a 3-0 home win over Newcastle Utd and ended the season with 10 goals in 11 league games. He was still classed as a reserve to players like Jesse Pye and Roy Swinbourne and over the next three seasons appeared in just 37 matches, scoring 13 goals. He finaly established himself as a first-team regular for the Molineux  club in 1952-53 when he scored 18 goals in 30 games and then in 1953-54 when the club won the League Championship for the first time in their history - Wilshaw was top scorer with 25 goals, his total including a hat-trick in an 8-1 win over Chelsea. Wilshaw won 12 full caps for England, making his first appearance against Wales at Ninian Park when he scored twice in a 4-1 win. The following year he played in the World Cup finals and in 1955, on his first appearance at Wembley, he scored four goals in England's 7-2 win over Scotland. He stayed at Molineux, where he had scored 117 goals in 232 games, until December 1957 when he was transferred to his home-town club, Stoke City. Wilshaw spent four years at the Victoria Ground and had scored 50 goals in 108 League and Cup games when he lined up against Newcastle in an FA Cup tie in 1961. This time, sadly for Dennis, instead of him grabbing a hat-trick, he broke his leg and the injury forced him into retirement at the age of 35. The annoying thing about that incident  at St. Jame's Park was that after the event Dennis learnt that Stoke had not insured him against this type of injury.

Dennis Wilshaw's Wolves Career