Harry Wilson (footballer, born 1997)

Harry Wilson (born 22 March 1997) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Championship club Cardiff City on loan from Liverpool and the Wales national team.

Harry Wilson

Wilson playing for Hull City in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Harry Wilson[1]
Date of birth	22 March 1997[2]
Place of birth	Wrexham, Wales
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Position(s)	Winger
Club information
Current team	Cardiff City (on loan from Liverpool)
Number	23
Youth career
2005–2015	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–	Liverpool	0	(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–	→ Cardiff City (loan)	21	(3)
National team^‡
2013	Wales U17	3	(3)
2014	Wales U19	2	(1)
2015–2017	Wales U21	10	(2)
2013–	Wales	21	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 February 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:39, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

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]

Club career

Liverpool

Wilson playing for Liverpool U19s in 2014

Born in Wrexham, Wilson was schooled at Ysgol Dinas Brân in Llangollen.[6] 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.[7] For the beginning of the next season, he was promoted to the U18s full-time.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

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

On 26 August 2015, Wilson joined League One side Crewe Alexandra on a youth loan deal for four months until 5 January 2016.[13][14] 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,[15] and his first start in a goalless draw away to Burton Albion on 20 October.[16] Wilson was recalled from his loan spell on 1 December.[17]

On 28 July 2016, Wilson signed a new contract with Liverpool,[18] 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.[19]

Wilson was named Liverpool Academy Players' Player of the Year for the 2017–18 season.[20]

Wilson was loaned out to Cardiff City after he missed a penalty against Arsenal causing him to be kicked temporary.

Loan to Hull City

On 31 January 2018, Wilson signed a new deal with Liverpool and was loaned to Hull City until the end of the season.[21] 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.[22]

He scored his first professional goal in his second appearance a week later in a 0–2 away win at Nottingham Forest.[23] 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.[24] He also won the EFL Championship PFA Player of the Month award for April 2018.[25] He scored 7 goals in 13 league appearances for Hull during his loan spell.[26]

Loan to Derby County

On 10 July 2018, Wilson signed a new five-year contract at Liverpool.[27] 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.[28]

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.[29] On 22 September, he scored his first Rams goal to equalise as they came from behind to win 3–1 at home to Brentford.[30] 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.[31]

Loan to AFC Bournemouth

Wilson joined Premier League club AFC Bournemouth on 6 August 2019 on loan for the 2019–20 season.[32] On 17 August 2019, in his first Premier League appearance for AFC Bournemouth, he scored his first Premier League goal of the season and his career against Aston Villa in a 2–1 away win.[33] On 25 August 2019, he scored a free kick from just outside the box against Manchester City in a 3–1 loss at home.[34]

Loan to Cardiff City

On 16 October 2020, Wilson joined Championship club Cardiff City on a season-long loan.[35] 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,[36] before scoring his first goal in a 1–1 draw with former club Bournemouth three days later.[37] Liverpool FC are to receive a loan fee.

International career

Having represented Wales in the Victory Shield and at under-17 level and impressing manager Chris Coleman with his performances,[7] in October 2013, Wilson was called up by the Wales national football team at the age of 16.[38] An unused substitute in a 1–0 victory over Macedonia on 11 October,[39] 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.[40] 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.[41]

In June 2015, Wilson again joined up with the senior Welsh squad for a post-season training camp in Cardiff.[42] On 20 March 2017, he replaced the injured Tom Lawrence in the Wales squad for the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.[43]

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.[44] 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".[45]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 February 2021

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[46]	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[46]	League One	7	0	0	0	—		—		7	0
Hull City (loan)	2017–18[47]	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
AFC Bournemouth (loan)	2019–20[48]	Premier League	31	7	2	0	2	0	—		35	7
Cardiff City (loan)	2020–21[49]	Championship	20	3	1	0	0	0	—		21	3
Career total			111	32	8	1	6	1	3	1	127	35

1. Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 18 November 2020[50]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2013	1	0
	2018	7	2
	2019	9	1
	2020	4	1
Total		21	4

As of match played 18 November 2020. Wales score listed first, score column indicates score after each Wilson goal.[50]

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 PR	4–0	6–0	2018 China Cup	[51]
2	16 October 2018	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	6	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League B	[51]
3	16 November 2019	Bakcell Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan	16	Azerbaijan	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification	[52]
4	18 November 2020	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	21	Finland	1–0	3–1	2020–21 UEFA Nations League B	[53]

Honours

Wales

• China Cup runner-up: 2018[54][55]

Individual

• EFL Championship PFA Player of the Month: April 2018[56]
• Liverpool Academy Player of the Season: 2017–18[57]

References

1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
2. Harry Wilson – UEFA competition record
3. Harry Wilson at Soccerway. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
4. "Belgium 1-1 Wales". 15 October 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
5. "Wilson makes history with Wales debut". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
6. "Wales Under 16 Squad Named for Switzerland. International News". Football Association of Wales. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
7. "Harry Wilson profile". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013.
8. "Kop Kids: Harry Wilson at the double as Liverpool Under-18s clinch win". Liverpool Echo. 24 October 2013.
9. "Welsh youngster Harry Wilson signs first professional contract with Liverpool FC". Liverpool Echo. 5 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
10. "Atlético stay perfect, Galatasaray edge thriller". UEFA. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
11. "Liverpool's 30-man tour squad confirmed". Liverpool F.C. 11 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
12. "Otten Cup 2015 Individual prices". PSV Eindhoven. 18 August 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
13. "Harry Wilson Links-Up From Liverpool". Crewe Alexandra F.C. 26 August 2015.
14. "Reds confirm loan deal for Wilson". Liverpool F.C. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
15. "Crewe 1–3 Millwall". BBC Sport. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
16. "Burton 0–0 Crewe Alexandra". BBC Sport. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
17. "Reds recall Wilson from Crewe loan". Liverpool F.C. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
18. "Harry Wilson signs new LFC contract". Liverpool F.C. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
19. "Wales youngster Harry Wilson makes Liverpool debut in FA Cup 3rd round replay with Plymouth Argyle". WalesOnline. Media Wales. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
20. Shaw, Chris (10 May 2018). "Mohamed Salah takes top prizes at LFC Players' Awards". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
21. "Harry Wilson signs new deal and joins Hull on loan". Liverpool F.C. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
22. "Preston North End 2–1 Hull City". BBC Sport. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
23. "Nottingham Forest 0-2 Hull City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
24. "2017/2018 Wilson named SportPesa Player of the Month". Hull City. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
25. "Wilson named the Championship's PFA Player of the Month". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
26. "Harry Wilson | Football Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
27. "Harry Wilson signs new long-term Liverpool contract". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
28. "Wilson Determined To Perfect Lampards Method". Derby County F.C. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
29. Williams, Adam (3 August 2018). "Reading 1–2 Derby County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
30. "Derby County 3–1 Brentford". BBC Sport. 22 September 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
31. Johnston, Nei (25 September 2018). "Manchester United 2–2 Derby County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
32. "Harry Wilson: Liverpool winger completes Bournemouth loan move". BBC Sport. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
33. "Harry Wilson goal edges Bournemouth past Aston Villa after early blitz". The Guardian. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
34. "Bournemouth 1-3 Manchester City: Aguero double seals win for champions". 25 August 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
35. "Harry Wilson joins Cardiff City on loan". Liverpool F.C. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
36. Vincent, Gareth (18 October 2020). "Preston North End 0–1 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
37. Pritchard, Dafydd (21 October 2020). "Cardiff City 1-1 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
38. Pearce, James (9 October 2013). "Liverpool FC teenager in surprise Wales international call-up". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
39. "Wales vs. Macedonia FIFA.com report". FIFA. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
40. "Harry Wilson: Chris Coleman praises youngest Wales player". BBC Sport. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
41. "Harry Wilson's grandfather nets £125,000 over Wales debut bet". BBC Sport. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
42. "Wales v Belgium: James Chester returns for Euro 2016 qualifier". BBC Sport. 26 May 2015.
43. "Tom Lawrence: Injured Ipswich man replaced by Harry Wilson in Wales squad". BBC Sport. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
44. Davies, Shaun (22 March 2018). "Wonderful Wilson bags first Wales goal". Denbighshire Free Press. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
45. Doyle, Paul (16 October 2018). "Harry Wilson's superb free-kick gives Wales win over Republic of Ireland". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
46. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
47. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
48. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
49. "Games played by Harry Wilson in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
50. Wilson, Harry at National-Football-Teams.com
51. "China PR 0–6 Wales". BBC Sport. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
52. "Azerbaijan 0–2 Wales". BBC Sport. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
53. "Wales 3–1 Finland". BBC Sport. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
54. "Wales vs. Uruguay - 26 March 2018 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
55. "Wales - NewsLocker". m.newslocker.com. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
56. "Wilson named the Championship's PFA Player of the Month". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
57. "Lallana reveals fitness latest, praises 'hugely talented' Wilson". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 10 May 2018.

External links

• "Liverpool Academy profile". Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
• Harry Wilson at Soccerbase
• Harry Wilson at Soccerway