Robert "Bob" Primrose Wilson
(born
October 30,
1941 in
Chesterfield,
England) was a
goalkeeper for
Arsenal F.C. of the
Football League from
1963 to
1974.
He made over 300 appearances for Arsenal and two appearances for
Scotland, the first Englishman since 1873 to do so. He also
played for the England youth team. He is married and has three
children.
His unusual middle name has often been a source of amusement; it stems from a
Scottish
tradition of giving children their mother's
maiden
name as a middle name.
Playing Career
Wilson started late as a professional player as his father would not let him
sign papers with
Manchester United F.C. while he was a youth and he then went on to
Loughborough College for training as a teacher before signing for Arsenal in
1963. He had been
playing non-league games for
Wolves as an
amateur and made his debut for Arsenal as an amateur, the last non
professional to play in the top division, and the first amateur to have a
transfer fee paid (around £6,500). Even then it was five years before he became
the first choice keeper in
1968. In
1971 he was
Arsenal's player of the year in their famous
double
winning season.
He became eligible to play for Scotland when the rules were changed in the
1970s to allow
players to play for their parent's country of origin if they had not already
played for their own country. Wilson was selected by
Tommy Docherty for his two games but Docherty then left the position and the
next manager preferred another English-born keeper: David Harvey of Leeds
United.
As a student and teacher of goalkeeping, Wilson has identified his own
signature technique as diving at his opponents' feet to save goals. This has
caused him a number of injuries throughout his career.
Coaching Career
Wilson was goalkeeping coach for Arsenal during the period
Pat
Jennings,
John Lukic,
and
David Seaman were goalkeepers.
Broadcasting Career
After his football career he immediately became a football TV presenter
working firstly for the
BBC then for ITV
until his retirement in
2002.
