Dennis Mortimer

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Dennis Mortimer

| image = Dennis Mortimer (1982).jpg

| caption = Mortimer with the European Cup in 1982

| fullname = Dennis George Mortimer

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|4|5|df=y}}

| birth_place = Liverpool, England

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=10}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/rothmansfootball00roll |url-access=registration |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81 |editor-first=Jack |editor-last=Rollin |publisher=Queen Anne Press|location=London |year=1980 |isbn=0362020175 |page=[https://archive.org/details/rothmansfootball00roll/page/54 54]}}

| position = Midfielder

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Coventry City

| years1 = 1969–1975 | clubs1 = Coventry City | caps1 = 193 | goals1 = 10

| years2 = 1975–1985 | clubs2 = Aston Villa | caps2 = 317 | goals2 = 31

| years3 = 1985 | clubs3 = → Sheffield United (loan) | caps3 = 7 | goals3 = 0

| years4 = 1985–1986 | clubs4 = Brighton & Hove Albion | caps4 = 40 | goals4 = 2

| years5 = 1986–1987 | clubs5 = Birmingham City | caps5 = 33 | goals5 = 4

| years6 = | clubs6 = Redditch United | caps6 = | goals6 =

| totalcaps = 590

| totalgoals = 47

| nationalyears1 = 1972–1973 | nationalteam1 = England U23 | nationalcaps1 = 6 | nationalgoals1 = 2

| nationalyears2 = 1978–1980 | nationalteam2 = England B | nationalcaps2 = 3 | nationalgoals2 = 0

}}

Dennis George Mortimer (born 5 April 1952) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder and captained Aston Villa. He made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League playing for Coventry City, Aston Villa, Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Birmingham City.{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/dennismortimer.html |title=Dennis Mortimer |website=Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database |publisher=Neil Brown |accessdate=17 September 2016}}

Playing career

Mortimer was born in Liverpool. He began his career with Coventry City, where he came through the ranks to make more than 200 first-team appearances as a midfielder. His displays for Coventry attracted the attention of several top clubs, and he joined Aston Villa for £175,000 on Christmas Eve 1975.{{cite web |url=https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2011/07/24/villas-fab-50-top-player-countdown-2-dennis-mortimer |title=Villa's Fab 50 top player countdown: 2 Dennis Mortimer |publisher=Aston Villa F.C. |date=24 July 2011 |access-date=24 July 2022}}

Mortimer captained Villa to the 1980–81 Football League championship, the club's first League title for more than 70 years. He then led the team to victory in the 1982 European Cup Final; a 1–0 win against Bayern Munich in the De Kuip Stadium came courtesy of Peter Withe's goal, and made it six consecutive seasons that English teams had lifted the trophy.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24113464/the-guardian/ |title=Glory night for Spink and Villa |first=David |last=Lacey |newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 May 1982 |via=Newspapers.com}} After the game, he swapped shirts with an unknown Bayern player, and has since tried and failed to recover it.{{cite web |url=https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/former-aston-villa-midfielder-ive-been-trying-to-find-my-european-cup-final-shirt-for-a-while-now |title=Former Aston Villa captain: 'I've been trying to find my European Cup Final shirt for a while now' |first=James |last=Ridge |others=Contributions by Arthur Renard |website=FourFourTwo |date=24 April 2024 |access-date=4 October 2024}}

From 1975 to 1985 he made 406 appearances for Villa scoring 36 goals.

After leaving Villa, Mortimer moved to Brighton & Hove Albion but was only there a year before returning to the Midlands with Birmingham City,{{Hugman|14073|access-date=24 July 2022}} thereby breaking the second-city taboo by playing for City and Villa.

Mortimer was capped by England at youth{{cite web |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/MatchRsl/MatchRslTmU18pg2.html |title=Match results Under-18 1960–1970 |website=England Football Online |publisher=Chris Goodwin and Glen Isherwood |date=2 August 2021 |access-date=24 July 2022}} and under-23 level{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/eng-u23-intres-det.html |title=England – U-23 International Results– Details |first=Barrie |last=Courtney |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) |date=27 March 2004 |access-date=24 July 2022}} and captained England B,{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/eng-b-intres-det.html |title=England – International Results B-Team – Details |first=Barrie |last=Courtney |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) |date=22 May 2014 |access-date=24 July 2022}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106200754/mortimer-captains-england-b/ |title=So proud... |first=Dennis |last=Mortimer |newspaper=Sports Argus |location=Birmingham |date=22 November 1980 |via=Newspapers.com}} but was never capped for the full England team.

Post-playing career

During the 1988–89 season, Mortimer was player-manager of non-league club Redditch United. Mortimer became the PFA football in the community officer at West Bromwich Albion F.C. in 1991. Later he would become reserve team coach under the management of Ossie Ardiles and Keith Burkinshaw. When Ardiles left to coach Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Burkinshaw became manager and Mortimer moved up to first team coach.

He worked for The Professional Football Association as regional director of coaching in the Midlands area from 1996 to 2005.Mortimer joined the Birmingham City Football in the Community coaching scheme in 2006–2007. Mortimer joined the Football Association education coaching department in 2008 where he worked until the end of 2015.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} Mortimer is now retired. He provided commentary for BBC West Midlands Radio when he first retired from the game.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

Mortimer received an honorary doctorate from the University of Worcester in 2011 for "his outstanding contribution to football".{{cite web |url=http://www.worcester.ac.uk/community/honorary-degrees-fellowships.html |title=Honorary Degrees & Fellowships |publisher=University of Worcester |year=2011 |accessdate=24 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512183110/http://worcester.ac.uk/community/honorary-degrees-fellowships.html |archivedate=12 May 2012}}

In January 2024, Mortimer was named by Aston Villa as a member of the Honorary Anniversary Board ahead of the club's 150th anniversary season.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-01-25 |title=AV 150: Honorary Board Announced |url=https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2024/january/25/av-150--honorary-board-announced/ |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Aston Villa Football Club}}