Bob Wilson by Liam Harding
In 1941 one of Arsenal´s greatest goalkeepers was born, who would go onto make over 300 appearances for The Gunners. That man is Bob Wilson.
Wilson commenced a later than usual football career in comparison to others, his dad refused to let him sign for Manchester United because he believed it wasn’t the right job when he was a youth. Instead of going straight into a life centred on football, Wilson settled down at Loughborough College to become a teacher. Sneakily he had been featuring in reserve matches for Wolverhampton Wanderers whilst an amateur for two years from 1961-1963, he would later be the first amateur footballer to be signed for £7,500 by Arsenal in 1963. However he would remain an amateur till mid 1964 when he signed pro for The Gunners.
Wilson ran out for Arsenal for the first time versus Nottingham Forest in a 4-2 victory. However Wilson would play second fiddle to Jim Furnell for over four years before becoming the first team regular in goal in 1968, after Furnell made a brutal mistake in the FA Cup versus Birmingham that year. Wilson would have the gloves passed onto him for the rest of the 1967/68 campaign.
After playing most matches during the 1968/69 season Wilson looked to get his hands on some silverware during the League Cup Final against Swindon Town. The Gunners were surpassed 3-1 by Third Division side harrowingly.
Wilson might’ve broken his arm the next campaign but still bounced back in style to secure Arsenals first European trophy in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup against RSC Anderlecht towards the end of the 1969/70 season. In 1971 Wilson was awarded the accolade of Arsenal’s player of the year during the double winning campaign which witnessed The Gunners win the First Division title and FA Cup after an intense final which went down to the wire in extra-time which Arsenal triumphed 2-1 over Liverpool.
The following year in the 1971/72 FA Cup campaign Wilson was struck by injury again in the semi-final 2-1 win against Stoke City meaning he lost out on playing in the final which The Gunners were beaten by Leeds United. He also struggled to play due to his injury for the vast majority of the 1972/73 season as well. Undergraduate Geoff Barnett stole his position in the side but Wilson managed to steal his spot back once injury had healed till May 1974, when Wilson unexpectedly retired when only age 32.
As a keen student and master of goalkeeping Wilson is renowned for his unique method of saving which saw him dive down to oppositions feet to deny them from scoring, however his bravado led to multiple injuries during his 11 year career at Arsenal.
When it came to Wilson’s international career he was permitted to play for Scotland when the guidelines were altered in 1970 to let footballers play for their parent’s country of origin, if they hadn’t played for their own yet. Wilson was then chosen by Scotland head coach Tommy Docherty for his debut against Portugal in 1971. He was then called up for the game versus the Netherlands later on that year however Aberdeen’s goalie Bobby Clark was the preferred choice for Scotland soon afterwards.
Once he retired Wilson reunited with The Gunners transforming into a goalkeeping coach for almost 30 years, helping the well known likes of Pat Jennings, John Lukic and David Seaman. After the 2002/03 campaign Wilson packed in his duties becoming one of two people to have helped in all three of Arsenal’s doubles seasons (1970/71 1997/98 2001/02) alongside his previous playing counterpart Pat Rice.
Wilson also entertained a career on the big screen as a pundit for the BBC throughout multiple football tournaments and shows, for example, like the 1970 World Cup, Football Focus from 1974 to 1994, and from time to time co-hosting Match of the Day next to the famous Jimmy Hill. He also turned out for ITV from the mid 1990s all the way through to the early 2000s where he helped out with the ITV Sport Channel and working for the TV Company during the 2002 World Cup which was the final time he worked for ITV.
At the age of 82 Wilson still appears in the limelight from time to time on Football Focus and Match of the Day 2 and helping sky with the odd documentary and programmes.
Nearly 20 years ago in 2007 Wilson was awarded an OBE for his commitment to charity work. Wilson managed to create the Willow Foundation in 1999 in memory of his late daughter Anna who died in 1998 aged 32 after having been diagnosed four years earlier with malignant schwannoma, a cancer related to the nerve sheath. It was originally only set up in Hertfordshire, but in 2005 the charity was made national in the UK.
Wilson, who played for Arsenal in over 300 games, continues his tireless work for the Willow Foundation and is a lifelong Gooner that will never be forgotten….
Liam Harding
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What a fantastic man. A true example for everyone.
Another excellent post Liam and Bob is one of the people who you could give to your children as an example of someone to admire and look up to.
Always ready to talk to or acknowledge fans, as I can vouch for when he acknowledged my family at Wembley a while back.
For those who don’t know, Jon Fox donated £100 to Bob’s charity, when he lost a bet with me regarding Mesut Ozil – those were the days eh Jon?!