Ben Wilson (born 5 December 2001) is a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

Club career

Brighton & Hove Albion

Wilson began his youth career at

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

. Wilson joined English club Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2018. He made regular appearances in the club's under-23 side. In 2020, Wilson scored a two goals in a 3–2 defeat against Leyton Orient in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. Wilson left the club following the expiry of his contract in 2023.

Cliftonville

Following his departure from Brighton, Wilson joined Cliftonville. On 12 August 2023, Wilson made his

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

debut for Cliftonville against

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

. He scored his first league goal three days later against

Newry City Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

Airdrieonians

Having scored 18 league goals in his first season of senior football, Wilson departed Cliftonville at the end of his contract and joined

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

side

on 27 June 2024. He made his Airdrieonians debut on 16 July in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

match against

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

and scored a hat-trick in an 8–0 win. In his second game, he scored the fourth goal in a 4-3 comeback win for Airdrieonians over Dumbarton.

International career

In 2017, Wilson was capped twice for Northern Ireland Under 17s, scoring one goal. He made two appearances for Northern Ireland's Under-19 team in 2019.

Career statistics

Honours

Cliftonville *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

: 2023–24

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ben 2001 births Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Cliftonville F.C. players Living people Association footballers from Derry (city) Scottish Professional Football League players Airdrieonians F.C. players