Barry Wilson (footballer)

Barry Wilson

Personal information
Full name	Barry John Wilson
Date of birth	(1972-02-16) 16 February 1972 (age 51)
Place of birth	Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992	Southampton	0	(0)
1992–1994	Ross County	3	(1)
1994–1996	Raith Rovers	39	(5)
1996–2000	Inverness CT	83	(28)
2000–2003	Livingston	101	(25)
2003–2008	Inverness CT	170	(32)
2008	→ St Johnstone (loan)	6	(1)
2008–2010	Queen of the South	28	(5)
2010	Peterhead	16	(5)
2010–2012	Elgin City	28	(4)
2013	Wick Academy	4	(0)
Total		478	(106)
Managerial career
2012–2014	Wick Academy
2014	Elgin City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Barry John Wilson (born 16 February 1972 in Kirkcaldy) is a Scottish football coach and former player.

Playing career

Wilson began his career in the Highland League at Ross County, where his father, Bobby Wilson, was manager. After a spell at Southampton, where he failed to break into the first team, ^[1] he returned to Ross County before moving to Raith Rovers in 1994. He was a member of the Raith squad that played in the 1995–96 UEFA Cup. In July 1996 Wilson signed for Inverness Caledonian Thistle and helped them to the Scottish Third Division title in 1996–97. In the following few seasons Wilson established himself as a firm favourite of the Caley Thistle fans, with his extraordinarily quick runs down the right wing and his ability to both create and score goals.

During season 1999–00, Caley Thistle's then-manager Steve Paterson decided to move Wilson up front as a striker, which proved an extremely successful tactic, with Wilson scoring a number of goals that season. In the summer of 2000, Wilson was sold to Livingston, with whom he won the Scottish First Division title and was promoted to the SPL.

After three years at Livingston, Wilson returned to Caley Thistle in August 2003, under the management of John Robertson. Since then he has once again proved a valuable asset to the team.

Wilson holds Scottish First Division winner's medals, won with Caley Thistle, Livingston and Raith Rovers, a Scottish Third Division winner's medal, won with Caley Thistle and a Challenge Cup winner's medal, also won with Caley Thistle. His most historic achievement was in scoring the last senior Scottish goal of the old millennium (against Clydebank, 27 December 1999) and the first of the new millennium (against Livingston, 3 January 2000). ^[2] He is also famous for scoring the opening goal when Caley Thistle beat Celtic 3–1 at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup on 8 February 2000.

Wilson joined St Johnstone on a one-month emergency loan in March 2008. ^[3] He scored his first and only goal for St Johnstone in a 2-1 loss against Clyde. ^[4] He returned to Caley Thistle after his loan spell with St Johnstone to win himself a new contract and went on to produce some outstanding performances in the closing games. This resulted in Craig Brewster awarding Wilson with a new 6-month contract. In December 2008, it was announced that Caley Thistle would not be offering Wilson a new contract and thus he would be free to move on when his current contract expired.

Wilson joined Dumfries club Queen of the South on 30 December 2008, after being released a month early from his Inverness contract ^[5] He made his debut on 3 January 2009 in a Scottish Football League First Division match away to Morton. ^[6] On 8 December 2009 the Queens website announced Wilson would be leaving in the January transfer window to return to Inverness where his home is. Manager Gordon Chisholm said of Wilson, "He's netted a lot of valuable goals for us and his experience has been a great asset". ^[7] He had a short spell at Peterhead before joining Elgin City prior to the 2010–11 season in a player-coach role. ^[8]

Managerial career

Wilson was appointed manager of Highland League side Wick Academy on 23 October 2012, taking over from former Raith teammate Davie Kirkwood. ^[9] His first game in charge came against Keith and saw his team run out 5–1 winners, sending them top of the Highland League. ^[10] Wilson appeared as a substitute on 27 February 2013 during Wick's 4–0 victory over title rivals Clachnacuddin to bring them back to the top of the Highland League. ^[11] Wilson signed a new contract with Wick Academy in March 2013. ^[12]

Queen of the South offered Wilson their vacant managers position in June 2013, but after discussions Wilson turned down their offer to stay at Wick. ^[13] Wilson was appointed manager of Elgin City in January 2014. ^[14] He resigned from that position in November 2014, after losing a Scottish Cup tie against junior club Bo'ness. ^[15]

In July 2018, Wilson returned to Inverness Caledonian Thistle as a coach, working with both the first team and the under-18 squad. ^[16] He later became assistant manager, working along with Billy Dodds, until he was sacked by Inverness in September 2023. ^[17]

Managerial statistics

As of 17 November 2014

Team	Nat	From	To	Competitive Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Wick Academy		October 2012	January 2014	52	32	4	16	154	77	+77	061.54
Elgin City		January 2014	November 2014	33	6	9	18	46	69	−23	018.18
Total				85	38	13	34	200	136	+64	044.71

Honours

Raith Rovers

• Scottish First Division: 1995–96

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

• Scottish Third Division: 1996–97
• Scottish Second Division promotion: 1997–98
• Scottish Challenge Cup: 2003–04
• Scottish First Division: 2003–04

Livingston

• Scottish First Division: 2000–01

References

1. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. p. 615. ISBN   0-9534474-3-X.
2. "1000 ICT Goals" ^{[ permanent dead link ]} caleythistleonline.com Retrieved 2 May 2010.
3. "Two More Faces Added". Stjohnstonefc.co.uk. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
4. "St Johnstone 1–2 Clyde". BBC Sport website. 25 March 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
5. "Wilson and Robinson join Queens". BBC Sport. 23 December 2008. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
6. "Wilson on target but Morton hit back". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
7. ^[ dead link ]
8. "Wilson to combine coaching task with playing for Elgin". The Press & Journal. 28 July 2010.
9. "Highland League - News". 21 April 2013. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013.
10. "Wick Academy Football club Official web Site - WAFC - Harmsworth park - WAFC 5 - Keith 1". Wick-academy.co.uk. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
11. "Demolition job puts Academy top of the league | John O'Groat Journal | Sport | Football". Johnogroat-journal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
12. "Wilson agrees new contract at Wick Academy | John O'Groat Journal | News". Johnogroat-journal.co.uk. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
13. Barnes, Paul; Bannerman, Charles (26 June 2013). "Barry Wilson out of running for Queen of the South manager role". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
14. "Elgin City: Barry Wilson appointed new boss at Borough Briggs". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
15. Dowden, Martin (17 November 2014). "Elgin City: Cup exit a major factor in Barry Wilson's decision to quit". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
16. "Robbo unveils his new coaching line-up". Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
17. "Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Billy Dodds and Barry Wilson sacked as club search for new head coach". BBC Sport. 17 September 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.

External links

• Barry Wilson at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
• Barry Wilson at Soccerbase