Graham George Wilkins (born 28 June 1955 in

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civ ...

) is an English retired professional football full back who made over 130 appearances in the Football League for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He also played league football for Brentford and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Career

Able to play on either flank as a full back, Wilkins began his career at

at the age of 10 and signed his first professional contract in 1972. He remained a bit-part player until the 1976–77 season, when he made 29 appearances to help the Blues to promotion back to the First Division. Wilkins remained at Stamford Bridge until July 1982, by which time he had made 151 appearances and scored one goal. He dropped down to the Third Division to join West London neighbours Brentford on a free transfer, but with the Bees he experienced "the worst two years of my life. I dislocated my shoulder, had seven teeth kicked out, ruptured my

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

s and that was it". Wilkins' final appearances as a professional came late in the 1983–84 season, on loan at Third Division club

Personal life

Wilkins was the son of footballer

George Wilkins George Wilkins (died 1618) was an English dramatist and pamphleteer best known for his probable collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre''. By profession he was an inn-keeper, but he was also apparently invo ...

and the eldest of four Hillingdon-born brothers who played professional football. He later worked at Heathrow Airport.

Honours

Chelsea *

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 t ...

second-place promotion: 1976–77

Career statistics

References

External links

Graham Wilkins
at Sporting Heroes 1955 births Living people Footballers from Hillingdon English footballers Association football fullbacks Chelsea F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Southend United F.C. players English Football League players

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

{{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub