Harry Wilson (footballer, born 1997)

Harry Wilson

Wilson with AFC Bournemouth in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Harry Wilson [1]
Date of birth	(1997-03-22) 22 March 1997 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth	Wrexham, Wales [3]
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [3]
Position(s)	Right winger
Team information
Current team	Fulham
Number	8
Youth career
2005–2014	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2022	Liverpool	2	(0)
2015	→ Crewe Alexandra (loan)	7	(0)
2018	→ Hull City (loan)	13	(7)
2018–2019	→ Derby County (loan)	40	(15)
2019–2020	→ AFC Bournemouth (loan)	31	(7)
2020–2021	→ Cardiff City (loan)	37	(7)
2021–2022	→ Fulham (loan)	41	(10)
2022–	Fulham	60	(5)
International career‡
2013	Wales U17	3	(3)
2014	Wales U19	2	(1)
2015–2017	Wales U21	10	(2)
2013–	Wales	54	(8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:48, 21 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:28, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Harry Wilson (born 22 March 1997) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Premier League club Fulham and the Wales national team.

In October 2013, Wilson became the youngest player to play for Wales, at the age of 16 years and 207 days, beating a record previously held by Gareth Bale. ^[4] He also became Liverpool's youngest international. ^[5] Wilson helped Wales qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2022 for the first time since 1958. ^[6]

Club career

Liverpool

Wilson playing for Liverpool U19s in 2014

Born in Wrexham, Wilson was schooled at Ysgol Dinas Brân in Llangollen. ^[7] He first signed to Liverpool as a member of the U9s squad. At the age of 15 he became a full-time member of the Liverpool Academy squad. During the 2012–13 campaign, Wilson featured for the U18s and was a regular face in the U16 side. ^[8] For the beginning of the next season, he was promoted to the U18s full-time. ^[9] In 2014, Wilson was joint top scorer with fellow Liverpool youngster Sheyi Ojo at the Ajax Future Cup.

In July 2014, Wilson signed his first professional contract with the club. ^[10] He competed in the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League in which Liverpool reached the last 16, and scored an 88th-minute winner in a 3–2 home win over Real Madrid on 22 October 2014. ^[11]

On 11 July 2015, Wilson was named in Liverpool's 30-man squad for their pre-season tour of Thailand, Australia and Malaysia. ^[12] On 16 August he was crowned best forward of the 2015 PSV Otten Cup. ^[13]

On 26 August 2015, Wilson joined League One side Crewe Alexandra on a youth loan deal for four months until 5 January 2016. ^{[14] [15]} He made his debut against Millwall as a 67th-minute substitute for David Fox in a 1–3 loss at Gresty Road on 12 September, ^[16] and his first start in a goalless draw away to Burton Albion on 20 October. ^[17] Wilson was recalled from his loan spell on 1 December. ^[18]

Wilson playing for Liverpool in 2016

On 28 July 2016, Wilson signed a new contract with Liverpool, ^[19] and was shortly named the under-23 captain. He made his first team debut for the club on 18 January 2017, in a 1–0 away win over Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup third round replay, replacing Philippe Coutinho in the 65th minute. ^[20]

Wilson was named Liverpool Academy Players' Player of the Year for the 2017–18 season. ^[21]

Loan to Hull City

Wilson playing for Hull City in 2018

On 31 January 2018, Wilson signed a new deal with Liverpool and was loaned to Hull City until the end of the season. ^[22] He made his debut coming off the bench in the 69th minute as a replacement for Fraizer Campbell in a 2–1 Championship defeat against Preston North End at Deepdale on 3 February. ^[23]

He scored his first professional goal in his second appearance a week later in a 0–2 away win at Nottingham Forest. ^[24] The following month, he scored two goals and recorded two assists to help Hull away from the relegation zone and won the club's Player of the Month award for March. ^[25] He also won the EFL Championship PFA Player of the Month award for April 2018. ^[26] He scored 7 goals in 13 league appearances for Hull during his loan spell. ^[27]

Loan to Derby County

On 10 July 2018, Wilson signed a new five-year contract at Liverpool. ^[28] A week later, he joined Championship club Derby County on a season-long loan, linking up with fellow Wales players Tom Lawrence and Joe Ledley. ^[29]

He made his debut for the club managed by Frank Lampard on 3 August, starting as they began their season with a 2–1 win at Reading. ^[30] On 22 September, he scored his first Rams goal to equalise as they came from behind to win 3–1 at home to Brentford. ^[31] Three days later, he did the same with a bending 30-yard free kick in the third round of the EFL Cup away to Manchester United and scored in an 8–7 penalty shootout win after a 2–2 draw. ^[32]

Loan to AFC Bournemouth

Wilson joined Premier League club AFC Bournemouth on 6 August 2019 on loan for the 2019–20 season. ^[33] On 17 August, he scored the first goal for Bournemouth on his début against Aston Villa in a 2–1 away win. ^[34] On 25 August 2019, he scored a free kick from just outside the box against Manchester City in a 3–1 loss at home. ^[35] In March 2020, he was criticised for wearing a Liverpool coat while watching Bournemouth play them. ^{[36] [37]}

Loan to Cardiff City

On 16 October 2020, Wilson joined Championship club Cardiff City on a season-long loan. ^[38] He made his debut for the club on 18 October as a first half substitute in place of Greg Cunningham in a 1–0 victory over Preston North End, ^[39] before scoring his first goal in a 1–1 draw with former club Bournemouth three days later. ^[40] He scored his first professional hat trick in a 4–0 away win at Birmingham City on 1 May 2021. ^[41]

Fulham

On 24 July 2021, Wilson joined Championship side Fulham on an initial loan deal from Liverpool followed by a permanent transfer and a four-year contract. ^{[42] [43]} He scored on his Fulham debut in a 1–1 draw with Middlesbrough on 8 August. ^[44]

International career

Having represented Wales in the Victory Shield and at under-17 level and impressing manager Chris Coleman with his performances, ^[8] in October 2013, Wilson was called up by the Wales national football team at the age of 16. ^[45] An unused substitute in a 1–0 victory over Macedonia on 11 October, ^[46] Wilson made his debut four days later against Belgium, when he came on as a substitute for Hal Robson-Kanu in the 87th minute. Upon making this appearance he became the youngest player to play for Wales, beating the previous record holder Gareth Bale by 108 days. ^[4] He also became Liverpool's youngest international at the age of 16 years and 207 days, beating the record previously held by Raheem Sterling who represented England for the first time in November 2012 at the age of 17 years and 342 days. ^[5] He was praised by Coleman, who said: "Now he has had a little taste of it, that cements his future with Wales for the next 10 or 15 years"; the manager also spoke of England's interest in the player. ^[47] Wilson's maternal grandfather Peter Edwards earned around £125,000 after placing a £50 bet with William Hill on his grandson becoming an international footballer, when he was aged just 18 months. ^[48]

In June 2015, Wilson again joined up with the senior Welsh squad for a post-season training camp in Cardiff. ^[49] On 20 March 2017, he replaced the injured Tom Lawrence in the Wales squad for the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland. ^[50]

Wilson was included in Wales' squad for the China Cup in March 2018. On his first international start, against hosts China, he scored his first goal in a 6–0 semi-final win. The game was also on his 21st birthday. ^[51] On 16 October that year, Wales travelled to play the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League without Bale and Aaron Ramsey, and Wilson scored the only goal with a long-range free kick similar to his recent one for Derby against Manchester United; Wales manager Ryan Giggs, formerly of United, joked that "I thought about fining him after he scored at Old Trafford but I won't be fining him now". ^[52] In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. ^[53] In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, in which he appeared in all three of Wales' games. ^[54]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Clubs	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Other		Total
		League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liverpool	2015–16 [55]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2016–17	Premier League	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2020–21	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Crewe Alexandra (loan)	2015–16 [55]	League One	7	0	0	0	—		—		7	0
Hull City (loan)	2017–18 [56]	Championship	13	7	1	0	—		—		14	7
Derby County (loan)	2018–19	Championship	40	15	3	1	3	1	3 [lower-alpha 1]	1	49	18
Bournemouth (loan)	2019–20 [57]	Premier League	31	7	2	0	2	0	—		35	7
Cardiff City (loan)	2020–21 [58]	Championship	37	7	1	0	0	0	—		38	7
Fulham (loan)	2021–22 [59]	Championship	41	10	2	1	0	0	—		43	11
Fulham	2022–23 [60]	Premier League	29	2	4	1	0	0	—		33	3
	2023–24 [61]	Premier League	31	3	2	0	6	1	—		39	4
	Total		101	15	8	2	6	1	0	0	115	18
Career total			229	51	16	3	12	2	3	1	260	57

1. Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 26 March 2024 ^[62]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2013	1	0
	2018	7	2
	2019	9	1
	2020	5	1
	2021	12	1
	2022	8	0
	2023	10	3
	2024	2	0
Total		54	8

As of match played 15 October 2023. Wales' score listed first, score column indicates score after each Wilson goal. ^[62]

List of international goals scored by Harry Wilson

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	22 March 2018	Guangxi Sports Center, Nanning, China	2	China	4–0	6–0	2018 China Cup	[63]
2	16 October 2018	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	6	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League B	[63]
3	16 November 2019	Bakcell Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan	16	Azerbaijan	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification	[64]
4	18 November 2020	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	21	Finland	1–0	3–1	2020–21 UEFA Nations League B	[65]
5	24 March 2021	Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium	23	Belgium	1–0	1–3	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	[66]
6	16 June 2023	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	45	Armenia	2–3	2–4	UEFA Euro 2024 qualification	[67]
7	15 October 2023		50	Croatia	1–0	2–1		[68]
8					2–0

Honours

Fulham

• EFL Championship: 2021–22 ^[69]

Wales

• China Cup runner-up: 2018 ^{[70] [71]}

Individual

• EFL Championship PFA Player of the Month: April 2018 ^[72]
• Liverpool Academy Player of the Season: 2017–18 ^[73]
• EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2021–22 ^[74]
• PFA Team of the Year: 2021–22 Championship ^[75]

References

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57. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
58. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
59. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
60. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
61. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
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73. "Lallana reveals fitness latest, praises 'hugely talented' Wilson". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
74. "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". www.efl.com. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
75. "PFA Championship Team of the Year". Professional Footballers' Association. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.

External links

• Profile at the Fulham F.C. website
• Harry Wilson – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Harry Wilson – UEFA competition record ( archive ) 
• Harry Wilson at Soccerbase
• Harry Wilson at Soccerway