Charles Wilson (30 March 1895 – May 1971) was an English

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 played in

the 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 ...

for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Career

Wilson was born in

Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire which ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

and began his career with local non-league side Atherstone Town before joining Southern League side

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

just before the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After being demobbed he played six times for

in the 1918–19 season, although for reasons unknown he decided to hide his identity. In four of these games he played under the name of "C. Williams" being described as a "clot from the Midlands" and in the other under the pseudonym of "C. Forshaw". Only in the sixth did he finally take to the field as Charlie Wilson. With the war over

returned and Wilson scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on his Spurs debut proper in a 3–0 victory over

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

Horsley Hill Horsley Hill was a football and rugby league ground and greyhound racing track in South Shields. History South Shields RLFC were established in 1902 and played at Horsley Hill during the 1902–03 and 1903–04 seasons. They were voted out of ...

in September 1919. He scored 11 goals for Spurs in the 1919–20 season helping them claim the old

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title. He scored 9 goals in 1920–21 and 11 in 1921–22 witch prompted

manager

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

to bring Wilson to

Leeds Road Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home of ...

. He soon became a key member of Towns all conquering 1920s side as he scored 16 goals in 1922–23 as Huddersfield finished in 3rd position. He then scored 20 goals in 1923–24 and 24 in 1924–25 as Huddersfield claimed the First Division title. However, with Huddersfield on their way to a third straight title Wilson picked up an injury early in the 1925–26 season and so decided to put him up for sale.

manager

Tom Mather Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

persuaded Wilson to join the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

side and he joined Stoke along with his Huddersfield Town teammate,

Joey Williams Joseph Joshua Williams (4 June 1902 – 1978) was an English footballer. Williams featured for clubs Arsenal, Carlisle United, Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough, Rotherham County and Stoke City in his playing career. Career Williams was an ...

. The pair could not prevent Stoke slipping to relegation to the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

. In 1926–27 Wilson's quality in front of goal proved too much for Third Division defences as he racked up 26 goals as Stoke won the title with ease. Back in the Second Division for 1927–28 Wilson had a fine season scoring a club record 38 goals. He continued to be top scorer hitting 22 in 1928–29 and 20 in 1929–30 becoming the first Stoke player to reach 100 league goals. He struggled with injury in 1930–31 scoring 10 in 16 games and left the club at the end of the season. After leaving Stoke he played non-league football with

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

whilst keeping the Doxey Hotel. He later played for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and Alfreton United before later becoming landlord of the Noah's Ark pub in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

. He died in May 1971 at the age of 76.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

;Tottenham Hotspur *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

Champions: 1919–20 ;Huddersfield Town *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

Champions (3): 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26 ;Stoke City *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

Champions: 1926–27

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Charlie 1895 births 1971 deaths English footballers People from Atherstone Association football forwards English Football League players Atherstone Town F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players