 Wilson playing forCeltic in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kelvin James Wilson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1985-09-03)3 September 1985 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
| Position | Centre back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ilkeston Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2006 | Notts County | 78 | (3) |
| 2006–2007 | Preston North End | 27 | (1) |
| 2007–2011 | Nottingham Forest | 123 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Celtic | 47 | (0) |
| 2013–2016 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Rotherham United | 8 | (0) |
| 2020– | Ilkeston Town | 0 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10:23, 8 May 2017 (UTC) | |||
Kelvin James Wilson (born 3 September 1985) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as acentre back forIlkeston Town.
He started his career withNotts County, before moving toPreston North End in 2006.Nottingham Forest signed him one year later for £300,000. He moved toCeltic in 2011 on a free transfer. On 9 August 2013, Wilson re-signed for Nottingham Forest for a fee of £2.5 million.
Wilson started his career atNotts County, making his debut for the club in a 4–0 loss toHartlepool United on 17 April 2004. In 2004–05 he became a regular in their back-line and was named Players' player and most improved player in his first full season.[citation needed]
After 78 league appearances in three seasons, Wilson was taken on loan in March 2006 byPreston North End,[2] then signed up at the end of the season for a fee of £350,000.[3] He started 16 games in the2006–07 season. During his time at Preston he scored in the league againstStoke City[4] and in theFA Cup againstCrystal Palace.[5]
In July 2007, Wilson signed forNottingham Forest for £300,000, committing him to a four-year deal with his home town club.[6] In the2007–08 campaign, Wilson was a virtual ever-present in defence, as he helped Forest gain automatic promotion to theChampionship after finishing second inLeague One. He made 42 appearances, missing a few games due to a red card in Forest's 2–1 victory overHuddersfield Town and an injury towards the end of the season. Wilson helped Forest amass a total of 24 clean sheets in his first season at the club which was a league record.[citation needed]
In 2009, Wilson could not reproduce his League One form at Championship standard, with the season ending in a relegation battle. On 13 April 2009, a red card for a head butt onSheffield United'sGreg Halford saw Wilson's season finish under a black cloud.[citation needed]
Wilson missed the first month of the2009–10 season through injury. On his return from injury he helped Nottingham Forest reach the Championship play-offs in May 2010,[7] where they lost toBlackpool at the semi-final stage.[8] It was around this time thatScottish Premier League sideCeltic were first linked with an interest in signing Wilson.[7] Wilson remained at Forest for the following season and played in 10 of their league games up to January 2011.[9] By this time Celtic had renewed their interest in Wilson, and on 7 January 2011 he signed a pre-contract agreement to join Celtic in the summer of 2011.[10] Nottingham Forest managerBilly Davies thereafter did not play Wilson in any game for the remainder of his time at theCity Ground, although Wilson denied there was any rift between the two.[11]
Having signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic on 7 January 2011, Wilson officially joined the club on 1 July 2011.[10][12] Celtic managerNeil Lennon had played alongside Wilson during Lennon's brief spell at Forest in 2007. Lennon said about Wilson, "I like him a lot. I played with him for six months when I was at Forest. He was 22 then and still developing physically. We have watched him for the last couple of years and he has been very consistent in the Championship", adding "He's very quick, composed on the ball and decent in the air as well".[13]
Wilson made his debut for Celtic in their opening match of the2011–12 Scottish Premier League, a 2–0 win overHibernian. He gave a strong performance, making two crucial interventions which denied Hibs goalscoring opportunities and kept Celtic's 1–0 lead intact.[14] He played in Celtic's next two matches as they beatAberdeen 1–0,[15] thenDundee United 5–1.[16] He was due to start in Celtic's first European match of the season againstFC Sion on 13 August, but picked up a leg injury in the build-up to the match, which ended 0–0.[17] This injury kept him out of Celtic's next two matches, both of which ended in defeat.[18] He made his return on 28 August in a 2–0 win overSt Mirren.[19] He then made his European debut in a 2–0 loss toAtlético Madrid at theVicente Calderón.[20] On 18 September Wilson played in Celtic's 4–2 defeat againstOld Firm rivalsRangers and was responsible for the first goal. His poor clearance allowedSteven Naismith to put Rangers in the lead.[21] His next game for Celtic was againstRoss County in theScottish League Cup. Celtic won 2–0 but Wilson had to come off at half-time.[22] Celtic later discovered that he had suffered an achilles tear[23] and would be out for between eight and ten weeks.[24]
After a lacklustre first season, Wilson put in an improved performance in the second leg of Celtic'sUEFA Champions League play-off againstHelsingborgs IF. Many Celtic fans have identified this game as the turning point of Wilson's Celtic career. His good European form continued into the SPL, solidifying his place within the Celtic starting eleven once again.
On 23 October 2012, Wilson put in one of the finest performances of his career, shutting outLionel Messi in Celtic's narrow 2–1 defeat to Barcelona at theCamp Nou. He also excelled in the reverse fixture atCeltic Park, helping Celtic to a 2–1 win over Barcelona, and subsequently helped Celtic to qualify for the last 16 of theUEFA Champions League.
During the summer Wilson expressed a desire to return south to England for family reasons, with former clubNottingham Forest making public in July their interest in re-signing him.[25][26] On 8 August 2013,Celtic managerNeil Lennon confirmed that Wilson would return to former club Nottingham Forest.
On 9 August 2013, Wilson re-signed forNottingham Forest for a fee of £2.5 million.[27] However, Wilson injured his ankle in training a few weeks later.[28] Wilson made a handful of appearances after that but then required to undergo surgery to his back in November 2013,[29] and did not play any games between 19 October 2013 and 5 April 2014.[29]
Having missed the beginning of the2014–15 season, Wilson played the full ninety minutes for Nottingham Forest'sunder 21s on 26 August 2014 againstSheffield Wednesday's under 21s.[30] He played a further 65 minutes for them on 2 September 2014 to step up his recovery.[31] Wilson eventually made his first appearance of the 2014–15 season on 17 September 2014, coming off the bench in the 56th minute of a 5–3 victory overFulham.[32] Wilson started Forest's next game againstMillwall atThe Den on 20 September 2014, partneringMichael Mancienne at central defence in a 0–0 draw.[33]
During a league match atDerby County on 17 January 2015, Wilson was attacked by an angry Derby fan after the final whistle of their 2–1 win. Forest teammateJamaal Lascelles brought the attacker down with a rugby tackle before stewards took over and dragged the supporter away and handed him over to police officers.[34]
Wilson signed forRotherham United on a one-year deal on 2 August 2016.[citation needed]
In June 2020, Wilson joinednon-league clubIlkeston Town in a player-coach role, following a three-year break from football.[35]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Notts County | 2003–04[36] | Division Two | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2004–05[37] | League Two | 41 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1[a] | 0 | 48 | 3 | |
| 2005–06[38] | League Two | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 37 | 1 | |
| Total | 78 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 88 | 4 | ||
| Preston North End | 2005–06[38] | Championship | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2006–07[39] | Championship | 21 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 24 | 2 | ||
| Total | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 30 | 2 | |||
| Nottingham Forest | 2007–08[40] | League One | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| 2008–09[41] | Championship | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10[42] | Championship | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 38 | 0 | |
| 2010–11[9] | Championship | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 123 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 134 | 0 | ||
| Celtic | 2011–12[43][44] | Scottish Premier League | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| 2012–13[45] | Scottish Premier League | 32 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10[d] | 0 | 50 | 0 | |
| 2013–14[46] | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4[d] | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Total | 47 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 76 | 0 | ||
| Nottingham Forest | 2013–14[46] | Championship | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| 2014–15[47] | Championship | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16[48] | Championship | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| Total | 46 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 51 | 0 | |||
| Rotherham United | 2016–17[49] | Championship | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| Career total | 329 | 4 | 24 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 388 | 6 | ||
