Danny Wilson (footballer born 1991)
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Daniel John Wilson (born 27 December 1991) is a Scottish
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 plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club
Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...
. Wilson began his career with Rangers before leaving for English side
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
in 2010. After failing to secure a first-team place he joined Blackpool,
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
and Heart of Midlothian on loan respectively, joining the latter on a permanent transfer in 2012. Wilson returned to Rangers in 2015 on a free transfer, then moved in January 2018 to American club
Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...
. He has also represented the Scotland national team at U-17, U-19, U-21 and at full international level.


Club career


Rangers

Wilson came through the youth team ranks at Rangers and captained the under-19 team. He was tipped early on to have a big future at Ibrox (being compared to
Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late 1970s and 1980s, and for the Scotl ...
), even drawing interest from other clubs before he had made his professional debut. Wilson had been an unused substitute on several occasions during the latter part of the 2008–09 season, including the
2009 Scottish Cup Final The 2009 Scottish Cup Final was the final of the 124th season of the main domestic football cup competition in Scotland, the Scottish Cup. The final was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow on 30 May 2009. The match was contested by Rangers, who we ...
against Falkirk. He made his professional debut for Rangers against Dundee in the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 win in October 2009. Just over a week later, he became the youngest Rangers player to play in the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
by starting a 1–1 draw against
Unirea Urziceni Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Urziceni, commonly known as FC Urziceni (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County which currently plays in fourth division, Ialomița County. Unirea became national champion ...
, aged just . After the match, Wilson described making his debut as "unbelievable". While veteran captain David Weir commented on Wilson, reminding himself as a seventeen years old version of himself. Having made three appearances so far, Wilson says he doesn't expect to have more starts, once Majid Bougherra made his return. Weir then revealed that both Weir and
Saša Papac Saša Papac (born 7 February 1980) is a Bosnian former professional footballer, who played as a left-back. Having started his career in his native country of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Široki Brijeg, he went to play in Austria for Kärnten a ...
helped him to handle his step up to the first team. Wilson scored his first goal for Rangers in a 4–1 away victory against Hearts at Tynecastle on 27 March 2010. In mid-March, Wilson is close of signing a new contract, according to Manager
Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...
. After a promising debut season, Wilson was awarded both the Scottish FWA Young Player of the Year award and the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year award. He was also voted as Rangers Young Player of the Year by the club's supporters. Upon receiving the awards, Wilson says winning the double in his first season with Rangers is something special. In all for Rangers, he played 26 times and scored once. He was sent off in the 2010 League Cup Final against St Mirren. After the match, Wilson says his sending off was his first and was gutted, in addition, he felt receiving a red card let the team down. While in process of signing a contract, Wilson was linked with
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
sides Aston Villa and Liverpool.


Liverpool

On 21 July 2010, Wilson joined
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
and signed a three-year deal for an initial transfer fee of £2 million, potentially rising to £5 million based on appearances. Two months later, on 22 September 2010, Wilson made his Liverpool debut. He appeared regularly for the reserves in the early part of the season, scoring his first goal for the second-string on 20 October 2010, in a 3–3 draw with
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
at Prenton Park. He made his debut for the first team on 22 September 2010 in their defeat to
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 ...
side
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
in the third round of the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
; Northampton winning 4–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw. In the January transfer window, Wilson was linked with a loan move to Rangers's Old Firm rival Celtic. Wilson played for Liverpool in a
Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
tie with
Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...
in which he played the full 90 minutes and was praised for his effort by manager Kenny Dalglish. He made his first
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
start on 27 February 2011 at the
Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
in a 3–1 defeat against
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
. On 17 March, he again started a Europa League tie against
Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
. On 2 April, he replaced the injured Daniel Agger during the first half in a 2–1 defeat away to
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 ...
. In the 2011–12 season, Wilson wanted to leave Liverpool to go out on loan, in order to gain first team football experience. Rangers were among the teams interested in signing Wilson. Wilson made his first appearance against his ex side Rangers in a 1–0 friendly defeat on 18 October 2011. Upon joining Hearts, Wilson says he didn't have any regrets about joining Liverpool and insisted it made him a better player.


Loan spells

On 31 December 2011 it was confirmed that Wilson would join Blackpool on loan until the end of the season once the transfer window was declared opened the following day. He made his debut in Blackpool 2–1 win against
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
. On 22 November 2012, he was loaned to Championship side
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
. He was given the number 40 shirt. Upon joining the club Wilson expressed surprise at the side's then league position which saw it languishing in the relegation zone. He made his first and only appearance for City as a 90th-minute substitute two days later in a 3–1 win away at
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
.


Heart of Midlothian

On 18 January 2013, he joined Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season. He was given the squad number four and made his debut the following day from the start at
Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...
, in a Scottish Premier League match against Celtic, in a 4–1 defeat. He then played in the Scottish League Cup for the first time in three years when Hearts faced
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional ...
, which Hearts won on a penalty-shootout after a 1–1 draw after extra-time. The win put Hearts into the final. However, there was controversy over his appearance when he last played in the Scottish League Cup, resulted in him receiving a red card three years ago. The Scottish FA stated that Wilson was indeed eligible, stating he served his ban at the beginning of season 2010/11 and the SFA does not operate competition-specific disciplinary procedures. In the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
against St Mirren, Wilson started in the match, partnering a central defender with captain Andy Webster. The match ended with St Mirren winning 3–2 against, having gained revenge on him for three years ago. Since moving to Hearts, Wilson became a regular in the first team and was willing to stay at Hearts for the long term. On 27 May 2013, it was announced that Wilson would sign a permanent deal with Hearts after his Liverpool contract was up in the summer. The move was initially blocked by the
SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...
following the club entering
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
and being unable to register new players, but this was later rescinded and Wilson was confirmed as a Hearts player on 30 June. On 2 July, Hearts made Wilson club captain at the age of just 21, which manager Gary Locke quote "a big responsibility for him". It is thought this is the reason for Wilson re-signing with the club. Wilson's first game at Hearts as captain came in the opening game of the season, in a 1–0 defeat to St Johnstone. After winning 3–1 against
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
on 24 August 2014, Wilson was involved in a tunnel incident that saw him receive a one match ban. Then in November, Wilson played a role in giving Hearts points in two games when he assisted one goal in a 3–1 win over Aberdeen and another, in a 2–2 draw against Ross County. Soon, Wilson was on the sideline when he had tonsillitis and scored on his return in a 3–3 draw against St Johnstone. Wilson scored his second goal of the season a month later on 21 March 2014, in a 2–1 loss against
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
. His third goal came in a 4–2 defeat to Partick Thistle on 7 May 2014. However, Wilson was unable to help the club survive relegation from the Scottish Premiership. Despite this, Wilson made thirty-three appearances and scored three times in the league. Despite the relegation, Wilson vowed to help the club bounce back to the Scottish Premiership, as he was keen to stay at Hearts when they would be in the Scottish Championship. In his second season at Hearts, Wilson stated he was looking forward to playing in the Scottish Championship, and he scored the club's first goal of the season in the Championship against his former club Rangers which he refused to celebrate. Hearts went on to win 2–1. Wilson was soon on the sidelines when he strained his hamstring. Wilson made his return against Queen of the South and scored his second goal of the season, as well as providing two assists in a 4–1 win. Wilson captained Hearts through the 2014/15 season as they won the Championship and gained promotion to the Premiership. Near the end of the season, it was reported by BBC Sport that Wilson had exercised a clause in his contract allowing him to become a
free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
.


Return to Rangers

After leaving Hearts, Wilson signed a three-year contract with Rangers on 22 June 2015. Wilson made his second debut for Rangers against Hibernian in the first round of the Challenge Cup on 25 July 2015. Over the course of the subsequent season, he played in central defence alongside Rob Kiernan. The pair, however, received criticism for some of their performances.


Colorado Rapids

On 29 January 2018, Wilson signed a three-year contract with Major League Soccer side
Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...
. He made his debut for the club on 27 February 2018 in their CONCACAF Champions League match against
Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...
, starting in the 0–0 draw. Wilson scored his first goal for the Colorado Rapids on 11 May 2019 in a 3–2 home defeat against
Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...
. He scored his second goal a month later on 28 June against Los Angeles FC, a lone 49th minute goal to give the Rapids a 1–0 home victory.


International career


Youth teams

Wilson has represented Scotland throughout various underage levels, including captaining the under-19 national football team and features for the under-21 side, He has been involved in the international set-up since the age of 15 and captained the under-19s during 2009. Due to his lack of regular first team football, Wilson dropped back into the under-21 team in October 2011. He was a regular for the Under-21s in their 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign and eventually made five appearances for the team.


Senior team

On 16 November 2010, Wilson played his first ever game for Scotland, scoring on his debut in a 3–0 win in a friendly against the
Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
. On 27 March 2011, he came off the bench to play against
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
in a friendly match at the Emirates Stadium. In an important 2012 European Championship qualifying game against the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, Wilson came on as a substitute and conceded a late penalty which allowed the Czechs to claim a late point at 2–2. However replays of the incident showed that the Czech player involved, Jan Rezek, had dived under Wilson's challenge, and the referee
Kevin Blom Bernie Raymond Blom, known as Kevin Blom (born 21 February 1974 in Gouda), is a Dutch football referee, who officiates for FIFA and UEFA. He has refereed in the Eerste Divisie, the Eredivisie and the UEFA Champions League. His home town is Alphen ...
later admitted that he had been deceived.


Career statistics


Club


International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wilson goal.''


Honours

Rangers * Scottish Premier League: 2009–10 *
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2009 *
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
: 2010 *
Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
: 2015–16 * Scottish Challenge Cup: 2015–16 Heart of Midlothian *
Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
: 2014–15 Individual *
PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year The PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year, formerly known as the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year, is named at the end of every Scottish football season. The members of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland vote on which of its ...
: 2009–10 *
SFWA Young Player of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the SFWA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer in the Scottish football league system, who is se ...
: 2009–10 *Scottish Championship PFA Scotland Team of the Year: 2014–15


References


External links


Danny Wilson
LFChistory.net * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Danny Living people 1991 births People from Livingston, West Lothian People educated at St Margaret's Academy Scottish footballers Association football defenders Scotland international footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Scotland youth international footballers Scottish Premier League players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players Rangers F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Colorado Rapids players Colorado Rapids 2 players Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States