Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder.

Beginning his career at Wimbledon, Wise came to prominence as a member of the "Crazy Gang", and in 1988, was part of the team that won the FA Cup in an upset victory over Liverpool.

Internationally, Wise was in and out of the squad for the England national football team, with the majority of his appearances coming in 2000, when Kevin Keegan was manager.

[3] In the latter years of his playing career, Wise gradually became involved in the managerial aspects of the game, starting at Millwall, where he took on the role of player-manager, taking them to the FA Cup Final and European football for the first time ever.

In a surprise career move, despite their strong position and likelihood of promotion, Wise left Leeds in January 2008 to join the newly reshaped management team at Newcastle United in an executive role, tasked with travelling around Europe and further afield identifying young players and developing the academy.

On 12 March 1988, he provided the free-kick from which Brian Gayle headed in the clinching goal against Watford to secure passage to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

[8] In the final on 14 May, he played an influential role in defeating heavy favourites Liverpool at Wembley, containing winger John Barnes and supplying the cross from a free kick from which Lawrie Sanchez headed home the winning goal.

[citation needed] Wise's former Wimbledon teammate Vinnie Jones joined Chelsea prior to the 1991–92 season, and the intimidating presence of his fellow Londoner in the middle of the park seemed to help him rediscover his best form.

[14] Wise's ill-discipline began to show at the beginning of the 1994–95 season, picking up a red card for swearing in a 2–4 loss to Newcastle United on 10 September.

[18] Nonetheless he was briefly stripped of the Chelsea captaincy by Hoddle over the affair, and a long term thigh injury capped a miserable season for the midfielder.

[27][28] In February 2000 his disciplinary problems resurfaced as he was charged with misconduct by the FA following an alleged confrontation with Kenny Cunningham in the tunnel after the 3–1 victory over former club Wimbledon at Stamford Bridge, and was later fined £7,500.

[29] Wise captained Chelsea to their second FA Cup win in three years, being awarded the Man of the Match honour as the Blues defeated Aston Villa 1–0 courtesy of a Roberto Di Matteo goal on 20 May 2000.

[30][31] Wise's last major trophy as captain of Chelsea would come in the 2000 FA Charity Shield on 13 August, as goals from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mario Melchiot secured a 2–0 win over reigning league champions Manchester United.

[32] With new manager Claudio Ranieri seeking to lower the average age of the Chelsea squad, he was sold to Leicester City on 25 June 2001 for £1.6 million.

He made just 17 league appearances, scoring once against Liverpool,[34] and was sent home from a pre-season tour of Finland and suspended by the club on 20 July 2002 after breaking the nose and jaw of teammate Callum Davidson in an argument.

[37] The Football League Disciplinary Commission later ruled that Wise had been harshly treated by Leicester and ordered that he be reinstated and given the maximum punishment of two weeks' wages (about £70,000).

He made an emphatic start, beginning his spell with Coventry by scoring a goal in each of his first three games with the club, including a spectacular overhead kick from the edge of the penalty area against Hull City.

[46] He featured in three of the four friendly matches for England in the build-up to the Euro 2000 tournament in the Netherlands and Belgium and was subsequently included in the final squad by manager Kevin Keegan.

[49] He started England's final group game against Romania as well, but was replaced by Nick Barmby at half-time as the Three Lions fell 2–3 to a late Ionel Ganea penalty kick and were eliminated.

[53] On 24 October, Wise left Swindon to join Leeds United, leaving the club third in the league, with thirty-one points from fifteen games.

[57] Later that day, Swindon confirmed that they had reached a suitable financial settlement package with Leeds for the services of Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet and that they looked set to join.

However, they continued to struggle for the remainder of the season under Wise and relegation was confirmed on 4 May 2007 with only one game remaining, when the Football League gave the club a 10-point penalty for going into administration.

Leeds briefly topped the table on Boxing Day, after drawing 1–1 in an early kick-off against Hartlepool United at the Victoria Ground, and they went into 2008 third in the league.

Although speculated to be in the role of Director of Football or General Manager, the job is thought to be more restricted, involving transfers, scouting and youth development,[72] alongside simultaneous appointment of Tony Jimenez as Vice-President (Player Recruitment) and Jeff Vetere as Technical Co-ordinator, following the earlier shock return of first team manager Kevin Keegan.

On 9 May 2019, the Northern Italian team Como 1907 entrusted him with the role of technical consultant on behalf of SENT Entertainment, the consortium that had taken over the Larian company a few months earlier.