David "Soldier" Wilson (also known as David Wood, David Wilson Wood and David Wood Wilson; 23 July 1883 – 27 October 1906) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. Born in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; ; ) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It had a population of as of . History The name Musselburgh is Old English language, Old English in ...

, he earned his nickname as a teenager while serving with the Cameron Highlanders and the 1st Battalion,

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

. He also served in South Africa during the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. After drawing attention with strong performances for the Black Watch F.C., he turned professional with Raith Rovers and went on to play for five professional clubs. Frequently the victim of injury during his short career, in October 1906 he suffered a heart attack while playing for Leeds City, and died in the West Stand at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

Confusion around identity

Due to the difficulty of accessing records of the late 19th century, and the ubiquity of the name ''David Wilson'' in this period, 20th-century histories of football often gave contrasting and inaccurate information about Soldier Wilson's biography. In Jarred and MacDonald's 1986 work ''Leeds United: A complete record'', Wilson's place of birth is given as

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, due to conflation with another David Wilson. This led to a confusion around his date of birth, which in some accounts of his life had him joining the army as an eight-year-old. However, the advent of digitally-searchable records allowed Daniel Chapman, historian of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, to clarify the details of Wilson's life in his 2024

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

, ''The Death and Life of David 'Soldier' Wilson''. Based on the birth certificates of Wilson and Wood family members, contemporary press reports and UK census records, Chapman managed to conclusively identify Soldier Wilson as the David Wilson born in Musselburgh in 1883. The confusion around Wilson's identity was compounded by Wilson's informal use of his adoptive father's surname, Wood. Contemporary documents exist referring to him as ''David Wilson'', ''David Wood Wilson'' and ''David Wilson Wood''. He may also have referred to himself on occasions as ''David Wood''.

Early life

Wilson was born at Hamilton Place,

in 1883 to parents from

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

; David Wilson, a gardener, and his wife Margaret Wilson (née Hardie). Wilson was one of five children, and upon the death of his mother in 1885, he was sent to live with his maternal aunt Agnes Wood and her husband David in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

. According to an

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by National World, whic ...

article published at the time of Wilson's death, he started Yardlands Public School in Leith in 1890. He went on as a teenager to represent the school successfully at football (playing as a

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

) and swimming. Chapman suggests it is likely that Wilson left school in 1898 at the age of 14. Within a few years of leaving school, Wilson joined the Cameron Highlanders, playing for their football team while stationed in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. He was later transferred to the Black Watch, and served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. Wilson's regiment left South Africa at the end of hostilities in 1902, and he was stationed in Edinburgh.

Career

Following an impressive performance playing at

for the

against Kirkcaldy Amateurs, Wilson was signed by

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

, making his debut for them against St Bernard's in December 1902. In April 1903, Wilson left the Army and Raith to play as a professional with

Scottish Football League Division One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, Numeral (linguistics), numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest Positive number, positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in o ...

side

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. While playing for Dundee against

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

in October 1903, he suffered a serious knee injury, which would require an operation to remove damaged

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

the following February. In February 1905, Wilson began a spell with

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

club Heart of Midlothian. It was here that he gained the nickname "Soldier", which was employed to distinguish him from another player at the club, also named David Wilson. At Hearts, he played 16 times in all competitions, scoring 10. At the start of the 1905–06 season, Wilson moved to England to join

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

side

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, for a fee of around £100. After scoring three goals in ten league matches, he was signed by Leeds City for a transfer fee of £150 in December 1905. During his first season at Leeds, Wilson made 15 league appearances and scored 13 goals, making him the club's top scorer in the 1905–06 campaign despite missing a large part of the season due to ankle and knee injuries. At the start of the 1906 season, Wilson went 5 games without a goal, provoking some criticism from fans who questioned the quality of the ambitious new Leeds club's transfer policy.

Death

While playing for Leeds City against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on 27 October 1906, Wilson left the pitch during the second half after suffering chest pains. When two of his teammates sustained injuries at the same time, he returned to the field of play against medical advice. However, he was unable to complete the match and had already departed the pitch when Burnley inside forward Arthur Bell scored a late winner for the visitors. Wilson collapsed and had to be carried to the Leeds dressing room where he died despite efforts to resuscitate him. A subsequent post mortem found that Wilson, a heavy smoker, had died from a heart attack.Matches: 27 October 1906 - Leeds City 0 Burnley 1
The Mighty Mighty Whites The board of Leeds City paid for Wilson's funeral, which took place at Seafield Cemetery in Leith. His coffin was carried from the Griffin Hotel to Leeds New Station by six Leeds players. Wilson's death provoked a debate in the press over violent play and professionalism on the football pitch.

Personal life

Wilson married Sarah Nimmo, a childhood neighbour from Leith, on 31 October 1904. Their first daughter Annie was born in 1905, and another daughter, Davidina Wood Wilson, was born

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

in March 1907. Following Soldier Wilson's death, a series of collections and benefits at Leeds, and across England and Scotland, raised a substantial sum for Sarah and Annie.

References