Bob Wilson (soccer player, 1941)

Bob Wilson
Bob Wilson (2009)
Personnel
Surname	Robert Primrose Wilson
birthday	October 30, 1941
place of birth	Chesterfield ,  England
position	goalkeeper
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1962-1963	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0 (0)
1963-1974	Arsenal FC	234 (0)
1978	Næstved BK	7 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1957	England pupil	3 (0)
1971	Scotland	2 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Robert Primrose "Bob" Wilson , OBE (born October 30, 1941 in Chesterfield ) is a former Scottish football goalkeeper . After starting out as an amateur player, the trained teacher at Arsenal FC took advantage of his sudden opportunities in the late 1960s. He won the trade fair trophy in 1970 and the "double" from the English championship and the FA Cup the following year . He later worked for almost three decades as Arsenal's goalkeeper coach and as a presenter for the BBC and ITV broadcasters in various formats of football coverage.

Athletic career

Player career

Wilson was a promising goalkeeper from an early age and after performing well at the local Chesterfield Grammar School , he was quickly used in selection teams. This included the English national school team, in which he played alongside players such as the future world champion Nobby Stiles . The fact that he did not aim for a career in professional football at an early stage was due to his father's concerns. This was against a football career of his son and insisted that he attend Loughborough College . Wilson trained as a teacher for sports and history and at the same time hired himself out as an amateur athlete. However, he had not given up his own dream of professional career and in August 1963 he moved to Arsenal FC in London via the Wolverhampton Wanderers reserve team .

The new teammates initially received the newcomer with his duffel coat and college scarf with skepticism and the early days were also difficult, as Wilson, who inherited the unusual middle name "Primrose" (German: Primrose ) from his mother (a Scottish tradition sees the Taking over the maiden name of the mother before), taught at the same time at the Rutherford School in Paddington. Nevertheless, he completed eight competitive games for the first team in his first season in 1963/64 and after completing his training he signed a professional contract in August 1964. The transfer fee of over £ 3,000 due was Arsenal's first transfer payment for an amateur. In the next four years, his role was mostly limited to that of the substitute behind Jim Furnell and after numerous missions in the reserve team, the opportunity came in March 1968, which he had long waited for. Furnell's mistake in the FA Cup against Birmingham City , who was partly responsible for the elimination, prompted coach Bertie Mee to change the goalkeeping position. Furnell would never play for Arsenal again and Wilson, who had improved steadily over the years, took over the jersey with the "number 1".

Wilson quickly earned a reputation for playing particularly brave and daring, as he often dived deep to the ground with his own technique during parades and exposed himself to opponent kicks without considering his own health. In the 1968/69 season he missed none of 42 league games and the first possible title narrowly due to a 1: 3 final defeat (after extra time) against Swindon Town in the League Cup . Although he broke his arm in the following season 1969/70, he fought his way back to Arsenal's starting lineup and in April 1970 he won the trade fair cup after beating RSC Anderlecht (1: 3, 3: 0) in the final . In the "double season 1971/72", when Arsenal won the English championship and the FA Cup , Wilson was "permanently present" and as a further reward he came in autumn 1971 under Tommy Docherty against Portugal (2: 1) and the Netherlands (1: 2) for the first (and only) two international matches for Scotland . He had benefited from a rule change that allowed players from 1970 to play for the Scottish homeland of one of their parents, provided that an international match for England had not previously been completed. However, Docherty's successor Willie Ormond relied on the Scottish-born Bobby Clark from Aberdeen FC .

In the further course of the first half of the 1970s, Wilson initially remained Arsenal's goalkeeper, but an injury from the 1972 FA Cup semi-final against Stoke City meant that he had to sit out in the lost final against Leeds United (0-1). Geoff Barnett stood in for him for some time before Wilson regained his place upon recovery. The numerous injuries had taken their toll, however, and in May 1974, at the age of only 32, he announced his retirement as an active player.

Later activities

He found his new role in the following 28 years as a goalkeeping coach. This function had previously been virtually nonexistent in English football and Wilson had copied the concept from the Brazilian national team at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico . The later Arsenal goalkeepers Pat Jennings , John Lukic and David Seaman worked under his direction until 2003 . The highlights were the two other "doubles" in 1998 and 2002 and only Pat Rice was involved in three Arsenal doubles alongside Wilson.

After his first radio experience as part of the coverage of the 1970 World Cup for the BBC , he was active between 1974 and 1994 for the same broadcaster as host of the program Football Focus . He then worked for ITV until 2002 and, in addition to his position as "anchorman" at the Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup , he presented games in the Champions League until 1999 .

In 1999, Wilson set up the Willow Foundation charity after his daughter, who had a nerve sheath tumor, died the previous year . Six years later he succeeded in the organization, which initially only operated in Hertfordshire , was able to start its work nationwide. For his services in this regard, Wilson was awarded the Order of the British Empire by the British Queen in 2007 .

Title / Awards

• English Championship (1): 1971
• English Cup (1): 1971
• Trade fair cup (1): 1970

Web links

• Profile page on arsenal.com
• Bob Wilson as a Scottish international
• Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database
• Profile at Playerhistory.com ( Memento from February 17, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "How many smoking managers are there?" (The Guardian)
2. ^ "Bob Wilson - back to my roots" ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (The Club House) 
3. ^ "New Year Honors for sports stars" (BBC Sport)