Bob Wilson (footballer, born 1941)

Bob Wilson OBE

Bob Wilson in Hatfield, Herts. Feb 2009
Personal information
Full name	Robert Primrose Wilson
Date of birth	(1941-10-30) 30 October 1941 (age 76)
Place of birth	Chesterfield, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1961–1963	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	(0)
1963–1974	Arsenal	234	(0)
National team
1971	Scotland	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Robert Primrose Wilson, OBE (born 30 October 1941) is a former Scotland international football goalkeeper and later broadcaster.

As a player, Wilson is most noted for his 11-year playing career at Arsenal where he made over 300 appearances. Wilson as well featured as a youth and senior international for Scotland. After retiring as a player, he turned to coaching and broadcasting, presenting football programmes on television for 28 years until 2002. Wilson has also gone on to create a charity organization known as the Willow Foundation.

Wilson was born on Ashgate Road, in Chesterfield, where his father was the Borough Engineer and his mother was a magistrate. He was the youngest child of six and had much older brothers and an elder sister. Two of his brothers were killed in the Second World War, one as a Spitfire pilot and the other as a rear-gunner in a Lancaster.

He attended Old Hall Primary School which is now known as the Old Hall Junior School on Old Road, then Tapton House Grammar School, where he first met his future wife, Margaret Miles, whom he nicknamed "Megs". At the age of 13 he transferred to Chesterfield Grammar School which his four elder brothers also attended. He captained the Derbyshire Juniors Cricket Team. He went to Loughborough College of Education where he studied History and Physical Education on a teacher training course.

Wilson started late as a professional player, as his father would not let him sign papers with Manchester United as he thought it wasn't a reasonable job whilst he was a youth. Wilson then went on to Loughborough College for training as a teacher. He had been playing reserve games for Wolverhampton Wanderers as an amateur between 1961 and 1963 and was the first amateur to have a transfer fee paid (£7,500). He remained an amateur for eight months when he signed for Arsenal in July 1963 until he signed professional forms in March 1964.