James Steven Wilson (born 26 February 1989) is a Welsh 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 ...

who plays as a defender for club Bristol Rovers. He has also represented

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 ...

at international level. Primarily a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he can also play at

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Bristol City

Wilson began his career at Bristol City, graduating from the club's academy before going on to make his debut for the first-team in 2008. He scored on his debut for the club on 26 August 2008, in a 2–1 League Cup loss to Crewe Alexandra at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...

. He was loaned out to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

for the first three months of the 2008–09 season, where he put in a number of impressive performances in a central defensive partnership with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

loanee Alan Bennett. He made 16 appearances for the club during his loan spell. Despite returning to Ashton Gate by November, Wilson was able to claim a

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

winners medal. He rejoined Brentford in an initial one-month loan deal on 20 August 2009, the loan deal later extended to 1 January 2010. Wilson was dismissed for a professional foul on

Gareth Ainsworth Gareth Ainsworth (born 10 May 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Queens Park Rangers. A former youth player at Blackburn Rovers, the midfielder, who was known for his crossing ability ...

during an away match against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

on 24 November and gives away a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, although Wojciech Szczęsny saved the spot-kick, Brentford still lost 1–0 at the end. He made 14 appearances during his second loan spell at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

. He saw his first team involvement at Bristol City increase during the 2011–12 season, making 23 appearances in all competitions. On 13 September 2013, Wilson joined

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

on an initial one-month loan, making his debut for the club on 14 September 2013 in a 2–2 draw with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

. He made 4 appearances before returning from his loan spell at the club.

Oldham Athletic

On 31 January 2014, Wilson signed for Oldham Athletic until the end of the 2013–14 season with a view to extending deal. He scored his first goal for the club on 29 April 2014, in a 1–1 draw with Sheffield United. He made 16 appearances during his first season at Oldham. The one-year option that the club had on Wilson's contract was exercised, extending his contract till the end of the 2014–15 season. He became a first-team regular during the 2014–15 season, making 46 appearances in all competitions, scoring once. He continued to be a regular in the first-team at Boundary Park during the 2015–16 season. He made 47 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season.

Sheffield United

On 5 July 2016, Wilson signed for Sheffield United on a two-year contract, after rejecting a new deal with Oldham. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win over

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

on 27 August 2016. He made 10 appearances during the 2016–17 season, as Sheffield United won the League One title and promotion to the Championship. On 17 July 2017, Wilson joined League One club

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on loan until the end of the season. He made 20 appearances during his time at the club, scoring once.

Lincoln City

On 12 January 2018, Wilson signed for Lincoln City on a two-and-a-half-year deal, after leaving Sheffield United by mutual consent. Wilson was cup-tied for Lincoln's win in the

2018 EFL Trophy Final The 2018 EFL Trophy Final was a football match that took place on 8 April 2018 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 2017–18 EFL Trophy, the 34th edition of the EFL Trophy, a competition for the 48 clubs in EFL League One an ...

. He made 10 appearances during his first season at Sincil Bank. After suffering a broken ankle during a match against Cambridge United, Wilson found his first team opportunities limited during the 2018–19 season. He made 16 appearances as Lincoln won the League Two title. His contract was terminated by mutual consent at the end of the season.

Ipswich Town

On 2 August 2019, Wilson signed a short-term contract with

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

until 1 January 2020. The next day, he made his debut for the club in a 1–0 away win against Burton Albion. After making 8 appearances for the club and impressing, Wilson signed a 18-month extension in October 2019, keeping him at the club until 2021. He made 31 appearances during his first season at Ipswich. Wilson featured regularly during the early part of the 2020–21 season, before picking up a knee injury in October. He returned to the first-team squad on 20 February, starting in a 0–0 draw with

. Wilson scored his first goal for Ipswich in a 2–1 away win over Accrington Stanley on 2 March 2021, and his second against his former club Lincoln the following week. Wilson's impressive performances when he was fit to play during the season earned him Ipswich's Player of the Year award for the 2020–21 season. Despite this, on 10 May 2021, Ipswich announced that Wilson would be released following the end of his contract after being informed by new manager Paul Cook that he was not in his plans for the following season.

Plymouth Argyle

On 20 May 2021, Wilson was announced to be joining

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

on a free transfer following his release from Ipswich. He made 41 appearances across the course of the 2022–23 season as Argyle were promoted to the Championship as Champions. Following the conclusion of the season, he was offered a new contract by the club. On 13 June 2023, it was revealed that he would be departing the club with the deadline for a decision on the offer having expired.

Bristol Rovers

On 23 June 2023, Wilson returned to League One with Bristol Rovers, signing a two-year deal. Following the completion of his signing, a late unsuccessful attempt from

to secure his signature was revealed. His early time at the club was marred by injury, making just five appearances in all competitions before a knee injury picked up during training in late September ruled him out for an estimated period of six weeks. Having returned to first-team action, he established himself as a starter for the club, scoring his first goal in December 2023 in an FA Cup Second round victory over Crewe Alexandra. Following a calf injury picked up in a 2–1 victory over

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in December 2023, manager Matt Taylor revealed that he would be unavailable for months as opposed to weeks.

International career

Wilson is a former Wales under-21 international, and captained Wales at under-19 level. He received his first call-up to the senior Wales squad in October 2012. He made his senior international debut for his country on 15 October 2013, in 1–1 draw against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Brentford *

: 2008–09 Sheffield United *

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

: 2016–17 Lincoln City *EFL League Two: 2018–19 *

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 ...

: 2017–18 Plymouth Argyle *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

runner-up:

Individual * Ipswich Town Player of the Year:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, James 1989 births Living people Footballers from Newport, Wales Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Bristol City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players