Che Christian Aaron Clay Wilson (born 17 January 1979, in Ely) is an English retired 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 ...

having played for Norwich City, Bristol Rovers and Southend United.

Career

Wilson, a right footed

left 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 ...

, started his career with

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 ...

for whom he made 25 appearances. He joined

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

in 2000, where he remained two seasons. In 2002, he joined Cambridge City, where he remained for less than a month before joining Southend United. After a slow start getting into the squad, Wilson was a permanent place on the Southend team sheet, with some solid displays. He is not well known for his goal scoring, but during the 2005–06 season he put a goal past promotion rivals

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in a 4–1 win, and also netted in the 3–0 win against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was the home of Colchester United Football Club from its inception in 1937, up until the club relocated to Colchester Community Stadium in 2008, resulting in its closure. The ...

. Wilson was at the club since the 2003–04 season, and played in both

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

finals and the play-off final, making over 100 appearances for the club. He signed for

in a one-month loan deal on 16 January 2007. He played four games for Brentford before returning to Southend at the end of his one-month loan period. He joined

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

on loan in March 2008. Wilson was released by

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

at the end of the 2007–08 season. During that season, he suffered from a serious

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury which required major surgery and numerous bouts of rehabilitation. After two years and two operations, he then experienced a major problem with the other Achilles tendon which, after medical advice, forced him to retire from professional football. Since retiring from the professional game, Wilson studied for his coaching badges and holds the UEFA A licence and was head coach of

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

for four seasons. He also coached at

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 ...

academy under

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

. Alongside this, Wilson has also completed a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport Science at

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. Due to some time off between studies, Wilson signed for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

side

Richmond Athletic Richmond Athletic FC is a New Zealand Association football, football club, based in the South Island town of Richmond, New Zealand, Richmond, Tasman District, Tasman, New Zealand. Their home ground is Jubilee Park. History Formed in 1948, Richm ...

for the 2011 Nelson Pine Industries First Division season and has since returned to England. Wilson completed a master's degree at Loughborough University in Sports Biomechanics in August 2014. He is currently the Head Of Football at the

University Of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. Alongside his current role, Che is studying a Doctorate in Sport Coaching at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Honours

Southend United *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

: 2005–06 *

Football League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

runner-up: 2003–04, 2004–05

References

External links

* *
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Che Living people 1979 births Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Alumni of Loughborough University Brentford F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players English Football League players English men's footballers Footballers from Ely, Cambridgeshire Men's association football defenders Norwich City F.C. players People associated with the University of Bath Southend United F.C. players Richmond Athletic FC players Rotherham United F.C. players