Andre Alexander Shaquille Wisdom (born 9 May 1993) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Wisdom began his career at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

before signing for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 2008. He made his debut for the club in 2012 before enjoying

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spells with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, and Red Bull Salzburg. He left Liverpool in 2017 to spend four seasons with Derby County. Wisdom has also played for and captained the England youth teams at various levels, and was part of the squad which won the

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

in 2010.

Club career

Early career

Wisdom was born to Jamaican parents in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, West Yorkshire, and grew up in the suburb of Chapeltown. He studied at

Abbey Grange Church of England Academy Abbey Grange Church of England Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in West Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of two Church of England secondary schools in Leeds, the other bei ...

. In his youth, he excelled in the junior teams of

and regularly played a year above his age group up to the under-15s. He signed for

as a 14-year-old in January 2008 for what his Bradford youth-team manager Peter Horne implied was an unprecedented fee for a League Two youngster.

Liverpool

Wisdom progressed through the youth teams at Liverpool before featuring for the club's reserve team. In September 2010, manager

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

called up Wisdom to his first-team squad for the League Cup match against League Two team

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. He was rewarded for his progress with an extension to his contract by newly appointed manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

in the summer of 2011.

2012–13

The appointment of

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...

in June 2012 would be Wisdom's fourth manager during his time at Anfield and would present him with a fresh opportunity to stake a claim in the first team. In September, Wisdom would travel with several other Liverpool youngsters to Switzerland for their

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group tie versus Young Boys. He was named in the starting line-up and scored on his debut as Liverpool won 5–3. His impressive performance in Europe would lead to further opportunities for him in the first team in the following weeks; starting in the 2–1 victory over

in the League Cup on 26 September and making his Premier League debut from the start three days later in the 5–2 win away to

. He retained his place in the first team for the following month, making his first appearance at Anfield in a goalless draw with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

in doing so. He was handed his first taste of a

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is an association football match between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, two clubs based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the longest running top-flight local derby, derby in England, with its fi ...

for the 2–2 draw at Everton on 28 October 2012. On 9 January 2013, Wisdom signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool.

2013–14: Loan to Derby County

On 22 October 2013, Wisdom signed a season-long

at Championship club

in order to progress his development. He went straight into Derby's back four and made his debut in the 1–1 home draw against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

on 26 October. An ever-present in the team, he left the club in May 2014 after playing at Wembley against QPR in the Championship play-off final, which Derby lost by the only goal of the game.

2014–15: Loan to West Bromwich Albion

On 22 July 2014, Wisdom joined West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan and was assigned the number 2 shirt. Having played 22 games under manager Alan Irvine, after a 0–3 defeat to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 31 January 2015, he fell out of favour with new manager

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh former professional football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 2 ...

and lost his starting place.

2015–16: Loan to Norwich City

Having signed a new four-year contract with Liverpool ahead of the 2015–16 season on 26 May 2015, Wisdom joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

newcomers

on a season-long loan on 29 July 2015.

2016–17: Loan to Red Bull Salzburg

On 31 August 2016, he joined reigning

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

champions Red Bull Salzburg on a season-long loan.

Derby County

On 3 July 2017, Wisdom joined Derby County on a permanent basis. He scored his first goal for Derby, and his first professional goal since his Liverpool debut in 2012, in a 4–2

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

win over

on 4 February 2020. He scored his first ever league goal on 16 February 2021 to secure Derby's last-minute win away to

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

in the Championship. His contract expired at the end of the season, and although he trained with the financially struggling club ahead of the 2021–22 season, he did not re-sign. After his release by Derby County, Wisdom trialled with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

and Polish club

Warta Poznań Warta Poznań () is a multi-sports club based in Poznań, Poland. The name means ''the Guard'' in Polish and also the name of the river Warta on which Poznań is located. As of the 2025–26 II liga, 2025–26 season, they compete in the II liga, ...

Warrington Town

On 22 September 2023, Wisdom signed for

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club Warrington Town. He made his debut the following day when playing the entirety of Warrington's 1–0 home win over King's Lynn Town.

Derry City

On 21 August 2024, Wisdom signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club Derry City until the end of their season in November. He made a total of 12 appearances for the club, the last of those coming on 10 November 2024, in the

2024 FAI Cup final The 2024 FAI Cup Final, known as the 2024 Sports Direct FAI Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was the final match of the 2024 FAI Cup, the national association football cup of the Republic of Ireland. The match took place on Sunday 10 November 2 ...

, which his side lost 2–0 to

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

International career

England under-16s

Wisdom was called up to the England Under-16 squad for the

Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football (soccer), football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland national under-16 football team, Scotland, Republic of Ireland national under-16 football team, Republic of Ireland, Northern Irel ...

tournament in the autumn of 2008. He started in the away fixture to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in a 1–0 victory at

Stebonheath Park Stebonheath Park (''Welsh language, Welsh: Parc Stebonheath'') is a multi-use stadium in Llanelli, West Wales with a capacity of 3,700. It is primarily used as a Association football, football ground and is the home of Llanelli Town A.F.C. It wa ...

on 31 October. He featured again in the tournament a month later as a substitute in the 2–0 victory over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England, which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since t ...

as England finished top of the group and took the

2008 Victory Shield The Victory Shield 2008 is the 63rd edition of the Victory Shield, an annual football tournament that began in 1925 and is competed for by the Under 16 level teams of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It was held from 3 October to 29 No ...

title.

England under-17s

The following year, Wisdom was called up to John Peacock's England Under-17 squads for their

2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the ninth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship, held in Liechtenstein from 18 to 30 May 2010. The hosts decided not to field a team, fearing it would not be competitive enough ...

campaign. England breezed through the

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

and

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

rounds to qualify for the Championship in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. He was selected for the final squad along with fellow Liverpool teammate and captain Conor Coady. He was an ever-present as England maintained their 100% record through to the knock-out round with victories over

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in the group stage. England defeated

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

2–1 in the semi-final with both goals coming from

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

striker

Connor Wickham Connor Neil Ralph Wickham (born 31 March 1993) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently a free agent. He has previously represented Ipswich Town F.C., Ip ...

as they booked their place in the final for the second time in four years. Wisdom started the final versus

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and equalised for England on the half-an-hour mark with a header from a corner after initially going a goal down. Wickham put England ahead twelve-minutes later and the score remain unchanged as the Lions won the tournament for the first ever time. Wisdom would be one of many of the side's youngsters that would provide hope for the nation's future with the senior side crashing out of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in South Africa four weeks later after a humiliating 4–1 defeat to rivals

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the last-sixteen.

England under-19s

After tournament success with the under-16s and 17s, Wisdom continued to progress through the national ranks and joined up with

Noel Blake Noel Lloyd George Blake (born 12 January 1962) is a former professional footballer and current coach. He was formerly the head coach of the England national under-19 football team England national under-19 football team, also known as Englan ...

's Under-19 squad during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. He made his debut versus

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

in October and went on to make ten appearances for the side over the following two years. He failed to add to his success at younger age groups after the side failed to qualify for the

2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the tenth edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-19 Championship, European Under-19 Championship since it was renamed from the original under-18 event, in 2001. The tournament took place in Romania fr ...

tournament and Wisdom missed out on the final squad that reached the semi-finals of the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

tournament.

England under-21s

Wisdom was named in a 27-man England Under-21 squad by manager

Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...

in September 2011 for the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, or simply the 2013 Euro Under-21, was the 19th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Israel from 5–18 June 2013. The Is ...

qualification match versus Azerbaijan Under-21s and the friendly match versus Israel Under-21s. He made his debut at

against Israel in a 4–1 victory, despite failing to have featured for Liverpool at a senior level. He returned to the squad a year later for the crucial Play-off games versus Serbia but withdrew after sustaining a shoulder injury. Wisdom was appointed as captain of the England U21 side in 2013, however in his first game in the role, a qualifier against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, he was sent off the pitch with a straight red card after kicking an opponent intentionally. After the completion of a four-match suspension, Wisdom did not return to the squad.

Personal life

In June 2020, Wisdom was taken to hospital after being stabbed in an "unprovoked assault and robbery" while visiting relatives in

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Liverpool, Canning, Dingle, Liverpool, Dingle, and Edge Hill, Merseyside, Edge Hill ...

, Liverpool.

Career statistics

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg *

Austrian Football Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2016–17 *

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

: 2016–17 England U16 *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

England U17 *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Individual *UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

Profile
at the Football Association website {{DEFAULTSORT:Wisdom, Andre 1993 births Living people Footballers from Leeds English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Bradford City A.F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Derby County F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Warrington Town F.C. players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players National League (English football) players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria English expatriate sportspeople in Austria Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent English stabbing survivors Derry City F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen