Wilson Charlie Image 3 West Bromwich Albion 1924

Description

Heeley, near Sheffield born inside forward Charlie Wilson played for Hallam in 1920 and had an unsuccessful trial with Sheffield United before he joined First Division West Bromwich Albion as an amateur in December 1920, making his Football League debut at Oldham Athletic in October 1921 aged only 16. turning professional in July 1922 on his 17th birthday. He broke into the first team on a regular basis from February 1924 and missed only two games in 1924-25, scoring 13 goals as The Baggies finished as runners up in the League Championship, including a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over West Ham United in November 1924. In 1925-26 he scored 17 goals including a hat-trick against Birmingham in a 5-1 victory in February 1926, and finished as the club’s second top goalscorer.

But Albion were relegated in 1927 and in February 1928 he moved to hometown club Sheffield Wednesday for a £3,000 transfer fee after 45 goals in 133 appearances for West Brom. He was a fringe player for three seasons at Hillsborough and although they won back to back League Championships during much of his time there, he scored 3 goals in 18 appearances, 9 of which were during the 1929-30 League Championship campaign, before breaking into the team the following season. In 1930-31 he missed only 5 games, including playing in their FA Charity Shield defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in October 1930, as Wednesday finished third in the League. But he once again lost his place at the start of 1931-32 and he moved on to Grimsby Town in March 1932 having scored 5 times in 61 appearances for The Owls.

He couldn’t help Grimsby from being relegated at the end of the season and stayed a further season in the Second Division before joining Aston Villa in August 1933 after 2 goals in 27 appearances for The Mariners, but he spent 1933-34 in the reserves at Villa Park and never made a first team appearance. In June 1934 he signed for Coventry City, and remained with the club only a single season, scoring 5 times in 15 appearances until a move to non league Kidderminster Harriers in July 1935. Wilson joined Worcester City in August 1936, before re-joining Kidderminster in May 1937. During the Second World War he appeared as a guest player for Charlton Athletic and Aldershot. After playing for the Kidderminster Police team in 1946, he finally retired from football in 1947.