Jonathan Mark Wilson (born 9 July 1976) is an English sports journalist and author who writes predominantly for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. He is a columnist for '' World Soccer'' and founder and editor of ''

The Blizzard "The Blizzard" (or The Snow Storm) (, ''Metél' '') is the second of five short stories that constitute ''The Belkin Tales'' by Alexander Pushkin. The manuscript for the story was originally completed October 20, 1830. It was intended to be the la ...

''. In 2024 he set up the football history podcas
''It Was What it Was''
with Rob Draper. He also appears on ''The Guardian''s football podcast, '' Football Weekly''".

Biography

Wilson studied English at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and was the sports editor of the student paper,

The Oxford Student ''The Oxford Student'' is a newspaper produced by and for students of the University of Oxford; often abbreviated to ''The OxStu''. The paper was established in 1991 by the Oxford University Student Union (Oxford SU) and is published fortnight ...

. He read for a Master's degree at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where he was a member of the Graduate Society. Wilson has written for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

'' magazine and ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' and

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

, and was football correspondent for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' from 2002 to 2006. He writes for ''

'' and '' UnHerd'' and is a columnist for '' World Soccer''. In 2011 he founded the quarterly football journal ''

'', which he edits. Wilson was the main contributor to a feature on ''The Guardian'' website, "The Question", in which he analyzes modern trends and evolutions in football. "The Question" has included articles on the decline of the box-to-box midfielder, the importance of the modern full-back and the evolution of the defensive striker. He is currently the main football columnist for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. His book, ''Inverting the Pyramid'' was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2008, and won 'Best Football Book' at the British Sports Book Awards in 2009. Nine of his other books have also been shortlisted for the award. ''Inverting the Pyramid'' also won the Premio Antonio Ghirelli and was shortlisted for the German football book of the year award. His book, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'', which covered the history of

football in Argentina Association football is the most popular sport in Argentina and part of the culture of Argentina, culture in the country. It is the one with the most players (2,658,811 total, 331,811 of which are registered and 2,327,000 unregistered; with 3,37 ...

, won "Best Football Book" and "Best Historical Book" at the Polish Sports Book Awards (Sportowa Książka Roku) in 2018. The Names Heard Long Ago won "Best Foreign Football Book" at the awards in 2023. He won FSA Football Writer of the Year in 2012, 2017, 2021 and 2024.

Personal life

He supports Sunderland A.F.C. in football. He plays

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

on the Authors XI team with other British writers. He is also an occasional player for Hutton CC 5th XI, with whom his most memorable innings of an unbeaten 117 runs was achieved on July 9th 2022 against Belhus CC 5th XI. He appeared in Series 10 of the quiz show Only Connect as part of the Nightwatchmen team. He resides in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Books

* ''Behind The Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football'' (2006) * ''Sunderland: A Club Transformed'' (2007) * ''Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics'' (2008) * ''The Anatomy of England'' (2010) * ''Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You: The Biography'' (2011) * ''The Outsider: A History of the Goalkeeper'' (2012) * ''The Anatomy of Liverpool'' (2013) * ''Angels With Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina'' (2016) * ''The Anatomy of Manchester United: A History in Ten Matches'' (2017) * ''The Barcelona Legacy: Guardiola, Mourinho and the Fight For Football's Soul'' (2018) * ''The Names Heard Long Ago: How the Golden Age of Hungarian Football Shaped the Modern Game'' (2019) * ''Two Brothers: The Life and Times of Bobby and Jackie Charlton'' (2022)

References

External links

Jonathan Wilson's profile
at Guardian.co.uk
The Question Column

Review of "Inverting the Pyramid"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jonathan Living people English podcasters Writers from Sunderland The Guardian journalists British male journalists British sports journalists English sportswriters 1976 births English male non-fiction writers Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of Durham University Graduate Society Association football journalists