Geoffrey Plumpton Wilson (21 February 1878 – 30 July 1934) was an English

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

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 at

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He made two appearances for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1900, scoring once. He was a member of the

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

amateur club and made three appearances for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 1901.

Early life and education

Wilson was born in

Bourne, Lincolnshire Bourne is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the eastern slopes of the limestone Kesteven Uplands and the western edge of the Fens, 11 miles (18 km) north-east of Stamford, 12 mile ...

, the son of the Revd. Plumpton Stravenson Wilson, and the younger brother of

Charles Plumpton Wilson Charles Plumpton Wilson (12 May 1859 – 9 March 1938) was an English amateur footballer who played at wing-half. He made two appearances for England in 1884. He was also capped for the England national rugby union team in 1881, and was one ...

. Their sister Mary was the mother of Archbishop

Michael Ramsey Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988) was an English Anglican bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and held the office until 1 ...

. He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

and played for the school XI between 1894 and 1896, captaining the side in 1896.

Football career

On leaving school he joined the amateur

club, where he played between 1897 and 1902, as well as turning out occasionally for Casuals. He made his Corinthian debut at inside-left on 30 October 1897, in a 2–0 victory over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

(Corinthian's goals were both scored by Gilbert Smith). His medical career restricted his opportunities to play for Corinthians, and over five years he made 32 appearances, scoring nine goals. He was called up for

for the

Home International Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 26 March 1900. He played alongside his Corinthian colleagues

Tip Foster Reginald Erskine Foster (16 April 1878 – 13 May 1914), nicknamed Tip Foster, commonly designated R. E. Foster in sporting literature, was an English first-class cricketer and footballer. He is the only man to have captained England at both sp ...

(also making his international debut) and Gilbert Smith up front, with William Oakley in defence. Wilson scored after three minutes, but Wales equalized through

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

and the match finished 1–1. He retained his place for the next England match, against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 7 April. Scotland won the match easily by four goals to one, with a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

from Robert McColl. He was a friend and colleague of

C. B. Fry Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could b ...

, who recommended him to

who engaged him as cover for the injured Albert Brown for three consecutive matches in October/November 1901. Although he showed "flashes of his international quality", he left The Dell in November to concentrate on his medical studies.

Life outside football

He qualified as a physician and surgeon in 1902, and went on to make a number of appearances for the London Hospitals side. He also played Minor Counties

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

including playing against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1911.Lincolnshire v Indians; July 1911 (Match summary)
/ref> He died on 30 July 1934 at

Ketton Ketton is a village and civil parish in Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is about east of Oakham and west of Stamford, Lincolnshire. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,926, making it the fourth largest settlement in ...

near

Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...

References

External links

* *
Cricket Archive profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Geoffrey Plumpton 1878 births 1934 deaths People from Bourne, Lincolnshire People educated at Rossall School English men's footballers England men's international footballers Corinthian F.C. players Casuals F.C. players Southampton F.C. players English cricketers Lincolnshire cricketers Men's association football forwards