One of Wednesday’s great servants of yesteryear, Gerry Young, has passed away at the age of 83.
He began his career as a forward, hitting hat-tricks against Manchester United in the old Division One and Roma in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. However, Gerry was moved from front to the back, and won an England cap against Wales in 1964 in his new defensive position.
He was also part of the team that lost 3-2 to Everton in the 1966 FA Cup Final and was given a testimonial at Hillsborough against Sheffield United after making 344 appearances and scoring 20 goals for Wednesday, his final competitive game coming in an FA Cup third round tie at Tottenham in January 1971.
Gerry then became reserve team coach, before stepping up to the same role with the first team, and was also caretaker manager when Derek Dooley was sacked on Christmas Eve 1973, returning to a coaching role under new boss Steve Burtenshaw in January 1974.
His 20 years with the club ended in July 1975 when Burtenshaw was sacked and he then had a short spell as a coach at Barnsley
RIP, Gerry, and thanks for your fantastic service to Wednesday. Our thoughts are very much with his family at this sad time.