John Colbridge Wilkinson (born 24 August 1979) is a former

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 ...

and pundit who last played for

Tanjong Pagar United FC Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League from 1996 to 2004, and from 2011 to 2014. The club withd ...

and the Singapore national team.

Club career

Born in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Wilkinson played for

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Woodlands Wellington Woodlands Wellington Football Club is an inactive professional football club which played in the S.League, the top division of football in Singapore. They are based in Woodlands at the 4,300 seater Woodlands Stadium, where they have played sin ...

and

Geylang United Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

before joining

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...

in 2006. He won 4 league titles with the club. After reportedly turning down a three-year deal at SAFFC, Wilkinson joined Police United of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

on a two-year contract in January 2012 and became the first foreign captain in the history of the

Thai Premier League The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from August ...

. However, he failed to see out his contract at the club and signed for reigning Singapore Cup champions

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as The Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club competing in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Since the 2021 season, the ...

at the beginning of the 2012 S-League season. Wilkinson then went to

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 ...

to sign for Salgaocar in January 2013 until the end of the

2012–13 I-League The 2012–13 I-League was the sixth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 6 October 2012 and finished on 12 May 2013 with Churchill Brothers ...

season. On 6 June 2013, he was unveiled as

Tanjong Pagar United Tanjong Pagar United Football Club is a professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club took part in S.League from 1996 to 2004, and from 2011 to 2014. The club with ...

's first signing of the mid-season window and wore the number 16 jersey.

International career

Wilkinson became a Singapore citizen after marrying a Singaporean, thus allowing him to play international football for Singapore. He was called up to the national team (consisted of 32) for a series for friendly matches against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He made his debut for

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 24 June 2007 in the second half against North Korea and even got an assist. He scored his first international goal when he broke the deadlock in the 1–1 draw against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

on 12 September 2007. He also scored in the 4–0 win over

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

in a 2010 World Cup qualifying match on 8 October 2007. On 2 June 2008, he scored in a 3–7 home defeat against

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

in the third round of qualifying. In total, he scored 4 goals in 29 international games for Singapore.

International goals

After retirement

After retiring, Wilkinson works as a pundit in Singapore for

Fox Sports Asia Fox Sports (formerly ESPN Star Sports) was a pan-Asian pay television network broadcasting in Asia, operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. It also oversaw a version of Sta ...

Honours

Singapore Armed Forces *

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 *

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost football cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

: 2007, 2008

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, John 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Exeter Footballers from Devon English footballers Singaporean footballers Singapore international footballers Association football midfielders Exeter City F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Woodlands Wellington FC players Geylang International FC players Warriors FC players John Wilkinson Home United FC players Salgaocar FC players Tanjong Pagar United FC players English Football League players Singapore Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Thailand English emigrants to Singapore People who lost British citizenship Naturalised citizens of Singapore