Joseph James Wilson (8 January 1861 – 20 October 1952) 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 ...

who played at

outside 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 ...

. During his 15-year playing career he represented several teams from the

West Midlands region The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of International Territorial Level for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The region consists ...

, both as an amateur and a professional. He gained an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winners medal with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and was the scorer of the club's first ever goal in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

Biography

Wilson was born in Handsworth,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and attended St Mary's Council School and

Handsworth Grammar School King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys, formerly and commonly Handsworth Grammar School, is a grammar school that admits boys from the age of eleven (as well as girls in the sixth form, since September 1997). The school was founded i ...

. He began his football career during the amateur era, joining Hamstead Swifts in 1877 before transferring to Aston Unity three years later. In September 1885 he moved to Stoke, but did not remain at the club for long as later that year he began playing for Walsall Town, the club that later merged with Walsall Swifts to form Walsall F.C. Wilson signed for Aston Villa in August 1886 before re-joining Walsall Town twelve months later. He remained at the latter club for just one month, then turned professional with

in September 1887. He scored twice on his Albion debut against Wednesbury Old Athletic in October 1887, helping his club to a 7–1 victory in the

first round, and was a member of the team that beat Preston North End 2–1 in the

1888 FA Cup Final The 1888 FA Cup Final was contested by West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End at the Kennington Oval. Preston were strong favourites for the Cup, having set a record which still stands today by beating Hyde 26–0 in the first round, and wer ...

. 1888–89 was the first season of the newly formed Football League; Albion were one of the twelve founder members and travelled to Wilson's former club Stoke on 8 September 1888 for their first league fixture. In the final five minutes of the match, Wilson scored Albion's first ever league goal, which helped his team to achieve a 2–0 victory. Joe Wilson missed two of the "Throstles" 22 Football League matches and scored four goals in season 1888-89 and was part of a midfield that achieved a big (three goals or more) League win on two separate occasions. In August 1890, Wilson was transferred to Kidderminster Harriers, where he played for twelve months before a move to Birmingham St George's. He retired from playing football in April 1892 and from 1894 to 1910 was a Football League referee and linesman, officiating in First Division,

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 ...

and FA Cup matches, as well as at

Non-League 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 d ...

level. Wilson later worked as a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

in Birmingham's

Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of around 19,000 people in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses invol ...

for 25 years prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He died in

Acocks Green Acocks Green is an area and ward of southeast Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family, who built a large house there in 1370. Acocks Green is one of four wards making up Yardley formal district. It is occasionally spelled "Acoc ...

, Birmingham on 20 October 1952. Described by one source as a smart, unobtrusive left-winger of dashing style and all-out aggression, Wilson kept defences on the alert with his cunning wing play.

Career statistics

Source:Statistics are incomplete, but are complete for Wilson's time at West Bromwich Albion. The original FA Cup game against Accrington on 18 January 1890 was declared void due to the state of the pitch; Wilson's goal and appearance in that match have been counted here but may not be counted in some other records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Joe 1861 births 1952 deaths Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers Association football outside forwards Aston Unity F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Birmingham St George's F.C. players English Football League players People educated at Handsworth Grammar School Footballers from Handsworth, West Midlands FA Cup Final players