Wilson, Kelvin

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Fullname: Kelvin James Wilson
aka: Kelvin Wilson
Born: 3 September 1985
Birthplace: Nottingham, England
Signed: 30 June 2011 (from Notts Forest, free pre-contract agreement)
Left: 9 Aug 2013 (back to Notts Forest, estimate £2.5m)
Position: Central Defender, Defender
Debut: Hibernian 0 – 2 Celtic, SPL, 24th July 2011
Squad No.: 6
Internationals: none

Biog

Wilson, Kelvin - Pic

“There is nothing like Celtic”.
Kelvin Wilson 

Highly rated centre-half Kelvin Wilson signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic in January 2011.

The Bhoys – who had been watching the player for some time – had hoped to complete a deal for the player at that time but were forced to wait after Nottingham Forest refused to sell him during the winter window. Consequently Wilson eventually completed his move to Glasgow in May. Nottingham-born Kelvin Wilson started his career at hometown club Notts County where he made 78 league appearances in three seasons.

A loan spell at Preston North End then followed and he eventually moved to Deepdale on a free transfer in the summer of 2006. He started 16 games for Preston before returning to Nottingham to join Forest in July 2007 in a £300,000 deal.

Wilson had an outstanding campaign as Forest gained promotion to the Championship. He remained a key player for Forest until injury. He then found himself frozen out of the first team picture following his decision to join Celtic on signing a pre-contract agreement. So gardening leave for Kelvin Wilson till the summer! His manager was churlish and lumped him on the bench for the whole time.

At Celtic
With Celtic’s repeated woes at the centre half pairing, Kelvin Wilson’s arrival was eagerly anticipated. Danny Majstorovic was not convincing and the others were not seen as much better. Mulgrew was thrown into the unfamiliar role as centre-back and did commendably but we needed a specialist. It wasn’t to be all so easy though for Big Kelvin Wilson.

A cracking start from Kelvin Wilson saw our new man gather plaudits from the support and he was praised early. It was to all change fast in the wrong direction at his first big challenge. Rangers away was set to test the first team and there was to be no hiding place. Kelvin Wilson had it worst with a horrendous afternoon. He gifted a goal away and was run ragged by the second rate Huns in a 4-2 defeat. The match left a scar on his record and opinions on his ability were much in the red. He had a lot to recover from.

An injury soon after put him long out of action but it gave him a breather. In some ways, he was fortunate that Danny Majstorovic was in the squad to take the bulk of the support’s flak as else it would have been directed at him.

His return back came following a strong run by the first team and increasingly confident performances by the centre of defence. It meant that Mulgrew, Loovens, Rogne and Danny Majstorovic were all ahead of him for the centre-half position, and the early positive predictions for Kelvin Wilson were now turned on their head.

Kelvin Wilson was given his chances as injuries at Celtic grew, but he continued to frustrate. Most liable for the single goal conceded in the league cup final v Kilmarnock in 2012 lost us the chance of a treble, and for some they’d seen enough. The good form of the first team coupled with the favouring of Rogne and Mulgrew meant that Kelvin Wilson was being largely forgotten by the support as he got pushed down the ranks for the centre-half position.

Kelvin Wilson had to turn things around but to many it was like turning the titanic. Yet things were to change for him unexpectedly fast.

At the start of season 2012/13, the departure of Loovens and the continual injuries for Rogne gave Wilson an opening especially as the squad was thread bare for centre-halves. Admittedly still concerns over him, yet in the vital Champions League playoff match v Helsingborg he played at such a high standard that all were in praise of him. Commanding with great timing on the tackles, it was easily his finest game to date and for once he easily outshone all his defensive colleagues. The support had turned to now give him the support he needed and the old ‘bombscare‘ epithets were brushed away.

That wasn’t just a short purple patch but was to characterise a change in his form that was to be the standard for the season, and we were now seeing more of the real Kelvin Wilson. He was the bedrock & mainstay on which the defence was built. In contrast to his first season, he was now a consistently reliable performer, putting in all the challenges both on the ground and in that air, assisting the midfield to provide them the confidence needed of the men behind them. A good understanding with defensive midfielder Wanyama helped as did having the highly rated Forster in goals.

Both at home and in Europe, he gave a succession of high quality performances. Nothing necessarily spectacular but he did a lot of unheralded good work that any player in his position should do. This included matches against such sides like Barcelona and Juventus who were both top dogs in their leagues, and against them in the Champions League he gave highly respected performances despite some of the results going against us.

He was for many the most improved player and one of the players of the 2012-13 season. A remarkable turnaround and a general favourite of the support. He’d developed and learnt from his errors, and took the experience all on.

At one point, there was even an opportunity for a call up to the England squad, but he was passed over, which was unfortunate and likely unwarranted. He was deserving of a chance and had proven himself in top level competition.

His pace and work rate were his major assets, and despite a bad habit of the odd concentration lapse then if he lost the ball he would not stop but turn and work hard to regain possession. Could sometimes be easily outmanoeuvred in a physical challenge which was a surprise with his size, and his distribution needed worked on, but he made up for it with his positives. He was a back to basics type of defender.

One noticeable part of his game was that he was a bit of a fish out of water outside of the Celtic half. Not once had he scored for Celtic or had any efforts at goal but this was similar at his prior clubs where he had never once scored for Forest in four years, although he’d managed a few for Preston & Notts County. Celtic had been used to goal scorers from the central defence (especially with headers from set-pieces) but not with Kelvin Wilson, a curious anomaly in his game. Whilst he was doing well in defence it compensated for all else. He was not one to drive the side on forward or try to dictate play, just do his job in his position in defence and do it well.

Personal reasons drove him back home south, and he was bought by Nottingham Forest for an estimated £2.5m undisclosed fee. This was a real killer for the Celtic management as he’d grown to be a fine player with Celtic and he was returning to the club that treated him like dirt in his last six months there (after Celtic had signed him on a pre-contract). Family ties was the reason for his move back, and the support wished he would have stayed.

Sadly his loss had meant that in the last few weeks to his departure that Celtic had lost the first team’s best striker, best midfielder and best defender; simply the spine of the team was gone before the new season was even getting going, although he played a great game in the vital qualifiers v Elfsborg in the European Cup.

Moving from Celtic & the Champions League to Nottingham Forest & the English second tier was a poor move career wise on the face of it for someone of his ability. He’d been with Celtic a short period and should have stayed for longer.

He owed Celtic in that the club had given him experiences he’d likely never have ever got closer to anywhere else, but as has been said, it was for personal family reasons that what forced him back down south. He later admitted in a 2019 interview that he regretted not being able to stay for a longer period with Celtic, and that second season with Celtic was the best of his career.

We wished him the best and he left giving Celtic a great season of performances in 2012/13.

Post-Celtic

On his return to Notts Forrest, he felt it wasn’t the same club he had left as things had much changed, with a new owner and so on. Regardless, he stayed on for three seasons but wasn’t a regular starter with injuries curtailing his number of appearances.

He left for Rotherham in 2016 but played little and hung up his boots. He will have a lot of good memories to look back on.

In June 2020, Wilson joined non-league club Ilkeston Town in a player-coach role, following a three-year break from football.

[….]

Quotes

“I have one or two things to resolve and I’ve been in constant contact with the gaffer all week. He knows I am not looking to leave for football or financial reasons. If I am to leave it will be for family reasons which I’d rather not go into. But it will be difficult to go, you just need to look at occasions like tonight. European football and the Champions League are massive draws and you just need to think back to last season. But I am leaving for personal reasons and the boss understands that. It’s personal but people that need to know, we all know and understand.”
Kelvin Wilson (Aug 2013)

“Once you have played for a great club such as Celtic, had a small part in its history, then I think you have an affinity that will never leave you. It’s hard to put into words,” said Wilson. “I know of many players who feel the same. I’m still in touch with Joe Ledley and Gary Hooper, and we speak about Celtic. We want to all come up and see a game. It’s just hard to fit it in. But Celtic Park on a European night has a special pull. Ki Sung-Yueng said that very thing to me during pre-season when we played against each other. It seems every player who leaves Celtic misses it in their own way. I totally understand where they are coming from.”
Kelvin Wilson (2015)

“Moving to Glasgow was a big deal for Kelvin Wilson. He got homesick for Nottingham when he was playing in Preston. But then he was playing in the Champions League against Barcelona and playing in the Europa League and winning titles. Kelvin had a young child down in Nottingham and eventually he went back to Nottingham Forest. But he didn’t realise how big it was until he was gone. I remember him saying: ‘I think I’ve made a mistake. There is nothing like Celtic.’ The trouble is that, once you’ve gone, you’ve gone.”
Kris Commons on Kelvin Wilson (2023)

Playing Career

APPEARANCES LEAGUE SCOTTISH CUP LEAGUE CUP EUROPE TOTAL
2011-12 15 3 2 1 21
Goals 0 0 0 0 0
2012-13 32 5 3 10 50
Goals 0 0 0 0 0
2013-14 0 0 0 4 4
Goals 0 0 0 0 0
Total Appearances 47 8 5 15 75
Total Goals 0 0 0 0 0

Honours with Celtic:

Scottish Premier League

Scottish Cup

Pictures

KDS

Kelvin Wilson confesses: I was so lonely I stared at four walls thinking my move to Celtic was a huge blunder

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/kelvin-wilson-confesses-lonely-stared-2020477
THE defender, who feared his move to Glasgow was a huge blunder, finally settled into his new home and became a pivotal player for Celtic after Neil Lennon shared some words of wisdom.

Wilson’s form her seen him tipped to follow Fraser Forster into England squad

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KELVIN WILSON stared at the four walls around him and questioned whether he could stay in Glasgow any longer.

With his family 250 miles away in Nottingham and very few Scottish friends to keep him company, he began to fear his dream move to Celtic was a huge blunder.

The defender’s discontent off the pitch didn’t help performances on it as he struggled to adapt to life in the SPL during a nightmare six months following his arrival in summer 2011.

But after words of wisdom from gaffer Neil Lennon, Wilson settled into his new home city and last season became a pivotal player for the Hoops.

His displays in the league and Europe even saw him merit a mention from England boss Roy Hodgson as a potential international.

And after those early difficulties, Wilson has now vowed to go out of his way to help new boys Amido Balde and Virgil van Dijk find their feet in Scotland.

Wilson said: “It definitely took me six months at least to settle in Glasgow. Not just on the field but off it as well.

“I had been in Nottingham for most of my career and it took a while to get used to living in a new city.

“If I was at home in Nottingham I would just pop out to my mum’s or round to a mate’s. But when I first arrived at Celtic it was a case of work then look at four walls all day.

“That’s the side of it people don’t see. And it really opened my eyes to the other side of the game.

“I’ve watched players in the Premier League and thought, ‘He was different when he played for that other club.’

“But I understand why now. Without a doubt, that has made me want to help our new boys. There are a few lads living in the West End now so the new boys will probably come around to where I am.

“I will help them as much as I can. If a team-mate is on his own I’ll take him out for dinner or he can come round to mine.

“Thankfully I’m used to life in Scotland now. I have things to do outside of football so it’s all right.

“In terms of questioning whether I’d made the right move, it wasn’t so much a professional concern – it was a personal thing.

“It was a case of, ‘Was I right to move away from home?’ But thankfully it has worked out well.”

Happiness in his private life allowed Wilson to enjoy his best season yet for Celtic last term.

The big centre-back was Lennon’s most reliable defender as the Hoops went on to win a double and reach the Champions League last 16.

The 27-year-old said: “Without a doubt it was my best season here. I didn’t have a major injury and my form was decent.

“It was night and day compared to my first campaign at Celtic.

“I enjoyed it and was linked with teams down the road like Leicester and Ipswich. But I’m glad that didn’t happen.

“If you’re happy off the pitch, you’re happier on it. People only think about what you do on the pitch because that’s where they see how you play.

“But when things are sorted on a personal level you’re in good spirits and come to work in a good mood.

“If you’re in a bad place, training is a grind. Come in happy and you have a spring in your step. That’s what changed for me.

“I commute a lot now and get back down the road quite often. I also have family come up to Scotland.

“The manager was also really good with me because he told me he felt the same when he came to Nottingham Forest as a player. So he’d give me an extra day off last season to stay in England.”

Celtic’s English trio of Wilson, Gary Hooper and Fraser Forster were all linked with call-ups to the England squad last season after impressing in the Champions League. Wilson has yet to be selected by Hodgson and revealed it’s NOT one of his career priorities.

But he’s also realistic enough to know that if he is to earn international recognition the Hoops will need to be back at Europe’s top table this year.

Looking ahead to their Champions League second round qualifier against Cliftonville, he said: “I got mentioned for England last term but it’s not something I think about.

“You see the type of players who get picked for England and of course it’s flattering. But I wouldn’t say it’s what I’ve set out to achieve in my career.

“If it comes along, great. Playing in the Champions League will help my case. And the group stage is a realistic target again for us. We did it last year and played well.

“We have a few games to get there, though, and even people I’ve spoken to down south can’t understand why Celtic have three qualifiers.”