Role Footballer, born 1930 Name Tom Wilson | 1947–1950 Southampton | |
Full name Thomas Frederick Wilson Date of birth (1930-07-03)3 July 1930 Date of death 30 March 2010(2010-03-30) (aged 79) Died March 30, 2010, Wandsworth, London, United Kingdom | ||
Place of birth Southampton, England Place of death Wandsworth, England | ||
Thomas Frederick Wilson (3 July 1930 – 29 March 2010) was an English professional football full back who played in the Football League for Fulham and Brentford. He later returned to Fulham as a director.
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Southampton
A full back, Wilson began his career at hometown club Southampton as an amateur. He departed in the summer of 1950, without playing a first team match.
Fulham
Wilson followed former Saints manager Bill Dodgin to Division One side Fulham in August 1950, signing his first professional contract. His time at Craven Cottage was fraught with injury, making just 45 league appearances before departing in the summer of 1957. In the early 1950s, his flatmate was Bobby Robson.
Brentford
Wilson joined Division Three South side Brentford in the summer of 1957. He had an uneven start to his Bees career, making 26 appearances during the 1957–58 season, but not playing at all between September 1957 and February 1958. Wilson was an ever-present during the 1958–59 season, making 50 appearances and also captaining the side. An injury suffered in September 1959 halted a run of 73 consecutive appearances, but he was back to his best during the 1960–61 season, making 45 appearances. Wilson found himself mostly out of the team during the 1961–62 season and he departed the club at the end of the campaign. Wilson made 158 appearances during his five years at Griffin Park.
Folkestone Town
Wilson saw out his career with a spell at Southern League side Folkestone Town. During the Big Freeze of 1963, the football programme was postponed for so many weeks that Wilson joked "the players will all have to be reintroduced to each other when we do meet again".
Director
Wilson returned to Fulham in the late 1980s as a director, linking up with friend and former teammate Jimmy Hill. He negotiated the purchase of Craven Cottage from the Bank of England, which saved the club from being merged with Queens Park Rangers and Craven Cottage sold for development. Wilson remained in the role until he was asked to step down in 1997, at the time director Bill Muddyman was negotiating the sale of the club to Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Personal life
Wilson attended Southampton Grammar School and St Mary's College. During his long spells out injured while at Fulham, Wilson trained as a quantity surveyor and entered the property world upon his retirement from football. Wilson was a close friend of Bobby Robson and was best man at Robson's wedding in June 1955. Wilson spoke at Robson's funeral in 2009. At the time of his death in March 2010, Wilson was living in Putney and had been suffering from a long-term illness.