Wilfred Skinner

Wilfred James Skinner, PPA (31 May 1934 – 2 August 2003) was a Singaporean athlete who represented Singapore in football and hockey.

Skinner was best known as a goalkeeper for the Singapore national football team. At club level, he also played as a forward in addition to his goalkeeping duties for Police Sports Association. He won the 1954 SAFA Challenge Cup with his first club, Rovers Sports Club, and the 1969 President's Cup with Police. Skinner also represented the Singapore state team which participated in Malayan competitions and was part of the Malaya Cup winning teams of 1960, 1964 and 1965. He is widely considered as one of the best goalkeepers to play for Singapore. In a list of Singapore's 50 Greatest Athletes of the Century by The Straits Times in 1999, he was ranked 32nd and was the only goalkeeper in the list.

Skinner also represented Police and the Singapore state team in hockey. He won the 1957 Oehlers Cup and the 1958 Singapore Hockey Association Division One title with Police. At state level, he established himself as centre-half for Singapore and was national team skipper in the early 1960s and at the 1962 Asian Games. Skinner won the Razak Cup, the Malayan inter-state competition, with Singapore in 1965.

Skinner joined the Police Force after leaving school and rose to the rank of Deputy Superintendent. On 18 July 1974, Skinner was awarded the bronze Pingat Pentadbiran Awam state medal. After 20 years of service in the Police Force, Skinner resigned in late 1974 and emigrated to Canada. In 2003, he had a heart attack and entered into a coma for two weeks. He died at the age of 69 on 2 August 2003.