Richard H. Wilson (born 8 May 1956) was a New Zealand association football player, who was a goalkeeper during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, in 1982. His international career spanned from 1979 to 1984, and he played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

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 ...

until 1989. He returned to New Zealand in 1996 and was player-coach of minor-league side

Avon United Avon United Football Club was a New Zealand amateur football club based in the city of Christchurch. The club was based in the western part of Christchurch and draw most of their players from Avonhead, Riccarton, Burnside, Fendalton, Ilam, Bryn ...

. Despite being the only goalkeeper used during the 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign, he was replaced as starting goalkeeper for the finals tournament in Spain by Frank van Hattum. For a considerable time, Wilson held the record for most minutes without conceding a goal by a goalkeeper in any FIFA World Cup qualifying or finals tournament, having not conceded a goal in 921 minutes of football, including matches against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

(twice),

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

(twice), Indonesia (twice),

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(twice) and

(once). His record clean sheet came to a dramatic end during a World Cup home qualifying fixture against Kuwait. Kuwait were controversially awarded a penalty by the Indonesian referee. Wilson spectacularly saved the spot kick only to have a further penalty awarded against New Zealand 10 minutes later. The second penalty found the back of the net bringing to an end Wilson's record. The taking of the second penalty was delayed for some minutes after an irate fan ran onto the field to remonstrate with the referee.

References

External links

*
New Zealand 1982 World Cup squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Richard 1956 births Living people Association football goalkeepers New Zealand association footballers New Zealand expatriate association footballers New Zealand international footballers Canberra City FC players Preston Lions FC players Kettering Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate footballers in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England 1980 Oceania Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players