Robert Smail Whitelaw Wilson (born 29 June 1934) is a Scottish former professional

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 ...

. Primarily a half-back, he began his professional career with Aberdeen, before going on to play for a number of English clubs. He was captain of the original incarnation of Accrington Stanley when the club resigned from The Football League in 1962.

Career

Born in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

, Wilson began his career with local Junior club

Musselburgh Athletic Musselburgh Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Musselburgh, East Lothian. Formed in 1934, they have played under different names including Musselburgh Bruntonians, Musselburgh Juniors and Musselburgh Fern s ...

before joining Aberdeen in November 1954. He gained a place in the club's

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

during the 1955–56 season and played in the team which beat St Mirren to win the Scottish League Cup that season. In May 1957 Wilson left Scotland and joined Norwich City of the Football League Third Division South. He was a regular in his first season but soon lost his starting place and in 1960 he took the decision to leave

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. N ...

and join Gillingham of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. He made 35

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances for the club, but chose to move on at the end of the 1960–61 season. A number of Scottish clubs were interested in signing him, but he chose to remain in England and join Accrington Stanley, also of the Fourth Division. He became club captain, but in March 1962 Stanley resigned from the Football League due to financial problems, making Wilson the last man ever to captain the club in a professional match. Wilson joined another Fourth Division club,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, where he played 15 times. He then left the professional game and dropped into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Shropshire-based GKN Sankey.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Bob 1934 births Aberdeen F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Men's association football wing halves Footballers from Musselburgh Gillingham F.C. players Living people Norwich City F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers English Football League players GKN Sankey F.C. players Musselburgh Athletic F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players