And another one.
The RIP section on here has twenty seven entries now, that’s twenty seven entries since 2009 (and two of those were for dogs of mine!) and yet this is the sixth tribute I’ve written to a recently deceased City player in 2020 – this really has been a year like no other in my lifetime for all of the wrong reasons.
I don’t know how many readers know that my pieces on here are written in the name the other Bob Wilson and that’s the name I’ve used for over twenty years as my messageboard identity. The name was thought up as a tribute to a former City player because, whereas most football fans old enough to remember the game in the sixties and seventies (about ninety nine per cent of them I would guess!) would think of the ex Arsenal, tv presenter when hearing the words “Bob Wilson goalkeeper”, I and a few other City fans, and supporters of Exeter City, think of the hero of our run to the European Cup Winners’ Cup Semi Finals in 1967/68.
Bob Wilson was born in Birmingham and signed for Aston Villa as a youngster in 1958. By 1964, he had only played nine times for Villa’s first team and he became Jimmy Scoular’s first signing after taking over as City manager for a fee of £2,000.
Wilson spent the next six years with us and clocked up over a hundred league appearances before joining Exeter for a small fee where, for a third time, he spent six years at a club before retiring after having played over two hundred times in the league for the Grecians.
In truth, my somewhat sketchy memories of Bob Wilson in matches I saw him play in are of a somewhat flaky performer who would mix periods of poor form with acrobatic and athletic performances. However, the fact is that the great displays for which he is most remembered by supporters all occurred hundreds or thousands of miles away from Cardiff in Lisbon, Zaragoza, Tashkent, Augsburg and Hamburg in stadiums where City fans were conspicuous by their absence.
His brilliance in the first two of those cities came in 1964/65 as City beat the holders Sporting Lisbon and then drew in Spain in a run to the Quarter Finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup, but Wilson was, if anything, even more impressive in the two “away” matches with Moscow Torpedo and then against Hamburg in the Semi Final three years later.
Of course, it all ended in tears for City and their goalkeeper as his blunder in added time enabled the Germans to win the return leg 3-2 and, cruelly, Jimmy Scoular stuck to his decision taken within minutes of the game ending that Wilson would never play for City again.
In the autumn of 1975, I saw Exeter play twice in a month – they let in nine goals in those games. I know for a fact that Bob Wilson wasn’t in goals for them in their 6-2 FA Cup defeat at Ninian Park in the November when a rampant Willie Anderson caused havoc, but, although I’m unable to confirm it, my feeling is that he was between the sticks for the October match at Somerton Park in which Newport County came back from 3-0 down to draw.
Wilson retired at the end of that season aged thirty three. In many ways, he was a journeyman footballer, but when he crossed the English Channel to play his football, he was often touched by greatness!
RIP
Great recollections of Bob Wilson. That’s exactly how I remember him.
Very fond memories of Bob in goal. A good European run, a lovely person liked by one & all. R. I. P. Bob.
Peter Rodrigues.
Although I wish it were under different circumstances, it’s great to see you contributing to the Feedback section Ivor and Peter – thank you for your messages.
Peter, I hope you don’t mind me saying that you were my first Cardiff City hero after I saw you being pushed up to play centre forward in a game against Rotherham in 1965. In those pre substitute days, it was not that unusual to see injured players kept on for their nuisance value as much as anything, but you scored while you were being a “nuisance” in a game we won 3-2 – there was a nine year old in the crowd that day who thought what you did was amazing!