Dave Wiggett


David Wiggett was an English footballer who played for Lincoln City and Hartlepool United before losing his life in a car crash.
Wiggett, a left-back, began his career at Graham Taylor's Lincoln City, making his first-team debut in 1974. He made only a handful of appearances for the Imps, and joined Hartlepool in October 1976, where he made his debut in a Division Four match against Colchester United. During his 18-month spell at Hartlepool, Wiggett played 60 matches for the club, and scored one goal. On 23 March 1978 Wiggett was killed in a car crash. He was a passenger in a car driven by his Hartlepool teammate Bob Newton.
Two days after the crash, a minute of silence was observed before Hartlepool's away match against arch-rivals Darlington. Allegedly, sections of the Darlington crowd chanted throughout the minute of silence, and what followed was a very bad-tempered match Hartlepool eventually won 2–1. Following the match, Hartlepool manager Billy Horner, himself a former Darlington player, called the offending Darlo fans "a disgrace to their club, their town, and the human race".