Peter John Wilding (born 28 November 1968) is a former professional footballer for Telford United and

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

. Originally a midfielder, Wilding became somewhat of a utility player during his time at Shrewsbury, playing in every position during his six-year stay at

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was the home ground of Shrewsbury Town football club in Shropshire, England. Just outside the town centre, on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League season and ...

. He played as a goalkeeper when he deputised for the injured Paul Edwards in a match against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on 18 December 1998.

Playing career

Wilding spent much of his playing career in the Shrewsbury local leagues, however his good form led him to sign with then

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side Telford United in 1996. After one and a half seasons, Telford manager Jake King was appointed manager at neighbouring

, with one of King's first acts as Shrewsbury manager being to sign Wilding from Telford for £10,000 in August 1997. Wilding was to play under two managers during his stay at Shrewsbury, Jake King, and later

Kevin Ratcliffe Kevin Ratcliffe (born 12 November 1960) is a Welsh former professional footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton. Club career Ratcliffe was born in Mancot, near Queensferry in Flintshire, Wales. He joined Everton as an appre ...

. Whilst not one of the big names in the Shrewsbury squad, the hometown player endeared himself to Shrewsbury fans with his dependable, workmanlike performances. Arguably Wilding's finest season was the 2002-03 season. In the FA Cup third round, Shrewsbury famously defeated Everton 2–1. Whilst Nigel Jemson grabbed most of the headlines by scoring both goals, Wilding had a superb game, completely marking

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

out of the game. Sadly for Shrewsbury, their form dipped in the latter half of the season, eventually finishing bottom of the

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

. Despite this, Wilding was seen as one of the side's best players that season, and escaped much of the intense criticism levelled at some of his 'big name' teammates. Following relegation, Ratcliffe resigned, and Wilding was one of the few players to be offered a new contract by Ratcliffe's replacement Jimmy Quinn. Feeling unhappy with the terms of the contract, Wilding opted to reject it, and retired from professional football. Wilding later signed for

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to ...

side

Welshpool Town Welshpool Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Y Trallwng) is a football team, based in Welshpool, playing in the Mid Wales Football League. The club was founded as Welshpool Football Club on 28 August 1877 following a meeting at the National Sc ...

before retiring from football in 2004. He went on to run a lastering business in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

- His job before turning pro, while still being the adulation of those who saw him play. as, while he may not have been the most gifted footballer, he was the "local boy, done good" who gave his all, and didn't stop trying. In June 2010, Pete re-joined the club as

Assistant Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Y ...

Team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

Scouting career

Wilding worked as U16-U23s Head of Recruitment at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

from June 2013 to August 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilding, Peter 1968 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Shrewsbury Telford United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Welshpool Town F.C. players English Football League players Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff