James Wilson (born 6 March 2007) is a Scottish 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 lea ...
who plays as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
*Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Smal ...
for
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
Linlithgow
Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...
and attended Balerno High School in Edinburgh. His twin brothers Alfie and Stanley also developed at the Hearts academy, and have appeared for the club's B-team in the
Lowland League
The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) and the Park’s Motor Group Scottish Lowland League for sponsorship reasons is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits a ...
in 2025.
Club career
Wilson signed a first professional contract with Heart of Midlothian in the summer of 2023. He broke through into first team during the 2023-24 season, making three appearances as a substitute, whilst also playing for the Hearts B-team in the Lowland League. He made his professional debut as a 16-year-old in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,The Spartans. He then made his
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
debut against
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
in May 2024.
He scored his first league goal for Hearts in October 2024 in a 4–0 win over St Mirren; the following week he made headlines with a late equaliser in the
Edinburgh derby
The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any association football, football match played between Football in Scotland, Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs), the two o ...
against Hibernian on 27 October 2024, which finished 1–1.
On 19 December 2024, in a
UEFA Conference League
The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...
game against Petrocub Hîncești, Wilson became the youngest goalscorer in the competition's four-year history, and the all-time youngest scorer for Hearts in any European fixture, at the age of 17 years and 288 days. He subsequently signed a contract extension until the summer of 2026. He was
sent off
In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
for the first time on 6 April 2025, for a late sliding tackle on Luca Stephenson of
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
.
International career
Having come on as a substitute against the Faroe Islands for the Northern Ireland under-17s in 2022 (being eligible at that stage, as well as for England and the Republic of Ireland, through his parents), Wilson went on to captain Scotland at under-16 and under-17 levels.
In March 2025 he received his first call up for the senior Scotland squad for the
UEFA Nations League
The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...
play-off against
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
; He made his full international debut in the second leg of the tie, becoming the youngest man to play for Scotland at the age of 18 years, 17 days (surpassing the record set by John Lambie which had stood for 138 years).