Wilson, Kelvin

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Personal

Fullname: Kelvin James Wilson
aka: Kelvin Wilson
Born: 3 September 1985
Birthplace: Nottingham, England
Signed: 30 June 2011 (from Notts Forest, free pre-contract agreement)
Left: 9 August 2013 (back to Notts Forest, estimate £2.5m)
Position: Central Defender, Defender
Debut: Hibernian 0 – 2 Celtic, SPL, 24th July 2011
Squad No.: 6
Internationals: none

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Biog

“There is nothing like Celtic”.
Kelvin Wilson 

Highly rated centre-half Kelvin Wilson signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic in January 2011.

The Bhoys – who had been watching the player for some time – had hoped to complete a deal for the player at that time but were forced to wait after Nottingham Forest refused to sell him during the winter window. Consequently Wilson eventually completed his move to Glasgow in May. Nottingham-born Kelvin Wilson started his career at hometown club Notts County where he made 78 league appearances in three seasons.

A loan spell at Preston North End then followed and he eventually moved to Deepdale on a free transfer in the summer of 2006. He started 16 games for Preston before returning to Nottingham to join Forest in July 2007 in a £300,000 deal.

Wilson had an outstanding campaign as Forest gained promotion to the Championship. He remained a key player for Forest until injury. He then found himself frozen out of the first team picture following his decision to join Celtic on signing a pre-contract agreement. So gardening leave for Kelvin Wilson till the summer! His manager was churlish and lumped him on the bench for the whole time.

At Celtic
With Celtic’s repeated woes at the centre half pairing, Kelvin Wilson’s arrival was eagerly anticipated. Danny Majstorovic was not convincing and the others were not seen as much better. Mulgrew was thrown into the unfamiliar role as centre-back and did commendably but we needed a specialist. It wasn’t to be all so easy though for Big Kelvin Wilson.

A cracking start from Kelvin Wilson saw our new man gather plaudits from the support and he was praised early. It was to all change fast in the wrong direction at his first big challenge. Rangers away was set to test the first team and there was to be no hiding place. Kelvin Wilson had it worst with a horrendous afternoon. He gifted a goal away and was run ragged by the second rate Huns in a 4-2 defeat. The match left a scar on his record and opinions on his ability were much in the red. He had a lot to recover from.

An injury soon after put him long out of action but it gave him a breather. In some ways, he was fortunate that Danny Majstorovic was in the squad to take the bulk of the support’s flak as else it would have been directed at him.

His return back came following a strong run by the first team and increasingly confident performances by the centre of defence. It meant that Mulgrew, Loovens, Rogne and Danny Majstorovic were all ahead of him for the centre-half position, and the early positive predictions for Kelvin Wilson were now turned on their head.

Kelvin Wilson was given his chances as injuries at Celtic grew, but he continued to frustrate. Most liable for the single goal conceded in the league cup final v Kilmarnock in 2012 lost us the chance of a treble, and for some they’d seen enough. The good form of the first team coupled with the favouring of Rogne and Mulgrew meant that Kelvin Wilson was being largely forgotten by the support as he got pushed down the ranks for the centre-half position.

Kelvin Wilson had to turn things around but to many it was like turning the titanic. He later admitted that he was set on leaving in some transfer swap deal with Leicester but Lennon said revoked this. Yet things were to change for him unexpectedly fast.

At the start of season 2012/13, the departure of Loovens and the continual injuries for Rogne gave Wilson an opening especially as the squad was thread bare for centre-halves. Admittedly still concerns over him, yet in the vital Champions League playoff match v Helsingborg he played at such a high standard that all were in praise of him. Commanding with great timing on the tackles, it was easily his finest game to date and for once he easily outshone all his defensive colleagues. The support had turned to now give him the support he needed and the old ‘bombscare‘ epithets were brushed away.

That wasn’t just a short purple patch but was to characterise a change in his form that was to be the standard for the season, and we were now seeing more of the real Kelvin Wilson. He was the bedrock & mainstay on which the defence was built. In contrast to his first season, he was now a consistently reliable performer, putting in all the challenges both on the ground and in that air, assisting the midfield to provide them the confidence needed of the men behind them. A good understanding with defensive midfielder Wanyama helped as did having the highly rated Forster in goals.

Both at home and in Europe, he gave a succession of high quality performances. Nothing necessarily spectacular but he did a lot of unheralded good work that any player in his position should do. This included matches against such sides like Barcelona and Juventus who were both top dogs in their leagues, and against them in the Champions League he gave highly respected performances despite some of the results going against us.

He was for many the most improved player and one of the players of the 2012/13 season. A remarkable turnaround and a general favourite of the support. He’d developed and learnt from his errors, and took the experience all on.

At one point, there was even an opportunity for a call up to the England squad, but he was passed over, which was unfortunate and likely unwarranted. He was deserving of a chance and had proven himself in top level competition.

His pace and work rate were his major assets, and despite a bad habit of the odd concentration lapse then if he lost the ball he would not stop but turn and work hard to regain possession. Could sometimes be easily outmanoeuvred in a physical challenge which was a surprise with his size, and his distribution needed worked on, but he made up for it with his positives. He was a back to basics type of defender.

One noticeable part of his game was that he was a bit of a fish out of water outside of the Celtic half. Not once had he scored for Celtic or had any efforts at goal but this was similar at his prior clubs where he had never once scored for Forest in four years, although he’d managed a few for Preston & Notts County. Celtic had been used to goal scorers from the central defence (especially with headers from set-pieces) but not with Kelvin Wilson, a curious anomaly in his game. Whilst he was doing well in defence it compensated for all else. He was not one to drive the side on forward or try to dictate play, just do his job in his position in defence and do it well.

Personal reasons drove him back home south, and he was bought by Nottingham Forest for an estimated £2.5m undisclosed fee. This was a real killer for the Celtic management as he’d grown to be a fine player with Celtic and he was returning to the club that treated him like dirt in his last six months there (after Celtic had signed him on a pre-contract). Family ties was the reason for his move back, and the support wished he would have stayed.

Sadly his loss had meant that in the last few weeks to his departure that Celtic had lost the first team’s best striker, best midfielder and best defender; simply the spine of the team was gone before the new season was even getting going, although he played a great game in the vital qualifiers v Elfsborg in the European Cup.

Moving from Celtic & the Champions League to Nottingham Forest & the English second tier was a poor move career wise on the face of it for someone of his ability. He’d been with Celtic a short period and should have stayed for longer.

He owed Celtic in that the club had given him experiences he’d likely never have ever got closer to anywhere else, but as has been said, it was for personal family reasons that what forced him back down south. He later admitted in a 2019 interview that he regretted not being able to stay for a longer period with Celtic, and that second season with Celtic was the best of his career.

We wished him the best and he left giving Celtic a great season of performances in 2012/13.

On his return to Notts Forrest, he felt it wasn’t the same club he had left as things had much changed, with a new owner and so on. Regardless, he stayed on for three seasons but wasn’t a regular starter with injuries curtailing his number of appearances.

He left for Rotherham in 2016 but played little and hung up his boots. He will have a lot of good memories to look back on.

In June 2020, Wilson joined non-league club Ilkeston Town in a player-coach role, following a three-year break from football.

[….]

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Quotes

“I have one or two things to resolve and I’ve been in constant contact with the gaffer all week. He knows I am not looking to leave for football or financial reasons. If I am to leave it will be for family reasons which I’d rather not go into. But it will be difficult to go, you just need to look at occasions like tonight. European football and the Champions League are massive draws and you just need to think back to last season. But I am leaving for personal reasons and the boss understands that. It’s personal but people that need to know, we all know and understand.”
Kelvin Wilson (Aug 2013)

“Once you have played for a great club such as Celtic, had a small part in its history, then I think you have an affinity that will never leave you. It’s hard to put into words,” said Wilson. “I know of many players who feel the same. I’m still in touch with Joe Ledley and Gary Hooper, and we speak about Celtic. We want to all come up and see a game. It’s just hard to fit it in. But Celtic Park on a European night has a special pull. Ki Sung-Yueng said that very thing to me during pre-season when we played against each other. It seems every player who leaves Celtic misses it in their own way. I totally understand where they are coming from.”
Kelvin Wilson (2015)

“Moving to Glasgow was a big deal for Kelvin Wilson. He got homesick for Nottingham when he was playing in Preston. But then he was playing in the Champions League against Barcelona and playing in the Europa League and winning titles. Kelvin had a young child down in Nottingham and eventually he went back to Nottingham Forest. But he didn’t realise how big it was until he was gone. I remember him saying: ‘I think I’ve made a mistake. There is nothing like Celtic.’ The trouble is that, once you’ve gone, you’ve gone.”
Kris Commons on Kelvin Wilson (2023)

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Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish Premier League

• 2012, 2013

Scottish Cup

• 2013

Pictures

• Player Pics

KDS

• Signs for Celtic (May 11)
• Leaves Celtic (Aug 13)