Tom Wilson (born 29 November 1940 in Rosewell) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a defender for

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in the 1970s. He was also a member of the Hull City coaching team during the 1980s.

Career

Thomas Wilson was born in Rosewell, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He played for St David's School in

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

, the

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

county team, Whitehill Welfare and Edina Hearts. He joined

in August 1957 and in early 1958 was loaned to

Linlithgow Rose Linlithgow Rose Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Linlithgow, West Lothian. The team plays in the , which is the fifth tier of Scottish football, having won the 2022–23 East of Scotland Football League Premier Division. Wi ...

. By the end of the 1960–61 season, he was an established player in Falkirk's first team.

Millwall

In July 1961 Wilson was signed for £750 by English Fourth Division side

, making his debut in November 1961 and helping the club gain promotion to the Third Division in 1962. After a relegation in 1964 and a promotion in 1965, Wilson helped Millwall win a second successive promotion, to the Second Division in the 1965–66 season. In total, he made over 200 starts for Millwall, scoring 15 League goals. He also played in over 50 games (the most of any player) in Millwall's record-breaking 59-match unbeaten run of home games from 22 August 1964 to 14 January 1967.

Hull City

Wilson joined Second Division rivals

in November 1967 for £18,000, under manager

Cliff Britton Clifford Samuel Britton (29 August 1909 – 1 December 1975) was an English football player and manager. Playing career After playing amateur football for a number of teams in the Bristol area, his professional playing career began when he sign ...

. He scored his only Tigers goal in a November 1968 3–0 win over Bury, but as the side's form faltered, he was replaced at centre half by Geoff Barker in March 1969. He returned to the first team starting XI in December 1969, but after Britton stopped down as manager, Wilson rarely featured under new manager

Terry Neill William John Terence Neill (8 May 1942 – 28 July 2022) was a Northern Irish football player and manager. A centre-back, he captained and later managed Arsenal, guiding the club to a European final in 1980 and three consecutive FA Cup final ...

, playing his last Hull game on 21 February 1970 at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Goole Town

Wilson joined nearby Goole Town in July 1971, making over 350 league and cup appearances over eight years while retraining as a lawyer. After a brief spell at

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

in 1979, he retired from playing.

Coaching and managerial career

Wilson then initially focused on the law, but returned to Hull City as a member of

Brian Horton Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this, he spent four ...

's coaching team in 1984. During a nine-year spell at the club, he was appointed caretaker manager three times in the late 1980s, the first time succeeding Horton in 1986–87 with

Dennis Booth Dennis Booth (born 9 April 1949) is an English former footballer who made more than 550 appearances in the Football League playing as a midfielder or defender for Charlton Athletic, Blackpool, Southend United, Lincoln City, Watford and Hull Ci ...

, and later succeeding

Colin Appleton Colin Harry Appleton (7 March 1936 – 31 May 2021) was an English footballer and manager. He was captain of the celebrated Leicester side nicknamed the "ice kings" which chased the double in 1962–63 and he also captained the club to their f ...

before the appointment of

Stan Ternent Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won ...

. He later worked for two years as the club secretary at

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a Association football, football stadium in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the MKM Stadium, KC Stadium (now the MKM Stadium). In later years, ...

. He was awarded a testimonial that featured

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People *Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (surname), a list of surnames * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwrit ...

and

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Defender (association football), centre-back for Leeds. He was part of the England ...

Billy Bremner William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who played for Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Hull City A.F.C., Hull City, and the Scotland national football team, Scot ...

and Welsh legend

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh association football, footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and Juventus FC, Ju ...

. He returned to the legal profession in 1993 and settled in

South Cave South Cave is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately to the west of Hull city centre on the A1034 road just to the north of the A63 road. North Cave is approximately to the north-wes ...

Family

Wilson's grandson is Harry Cardwell, today a player at English

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Tom 1940 births People from Midlothian Falkirk F.C. players Linlithgow Rose F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Goole Town F.C. players North Ferriby United A.F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. non-playing staff Living people 20th-century Scottish lawyers English Football League players