Che Christian Aaron Clay Wilson (born 17 January 1979, in

Ely Ely or ELY may refer to: Places Ireland * Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely * Ely Place, Dublin, a street United Kingdom * Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England ** Ely Cathedral ** Ely Rural District, a ...

) 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 ...

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 outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, started his career with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

for whom he made 25 appearances, becoming a cult hero with fans. He joined

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

in 2000, where he remained two seasons. While at Rovers, his oldest sister gained notoriety as the woman inside the suit of Bristol Rovers matchday mascot, Captain Gas. (He has one other younger sister also) 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, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

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 tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was only used for football matches and was the home ground of Colchester United before being replaced by the Colchester Community Stadium. The stadium held spectators and wa ...

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

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

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 football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

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. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

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 , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

for four seasons. He also coached at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

academy under

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during h ...

. Alongside this, Wilson has also completed a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(Hons) degree in Sport Science at

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

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

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

side Richmond Athletic 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 (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

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

Honours

Promotions

* 2004–05:

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

Playoff Winner (promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

) –

* 2005–06:

Champion (promotion to

The Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

) –

References

External links

*
Cambridge University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Che Living people 1979 births English men's footballers Norwich City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Richmond Athletic FC players Footballers from Ely, Cambridgeshire Men's association football defenders