Barnsley - Danny Wilson - Nottingham Forest Webjam

At one time Danny Wilson seemed to be destined to be one of the games future top managers but for one reason or another it has never seemed to work out for him at the top level even though he forged himself a career as a successful career in charge of clubs in the lower leagues.

This struggle to establish himself will be nothing new for Wilson as his playing career took a similar route. After joing Sunderland as an associate schoolboy he eventually joined home town club Wigan Athletic (then still a non-league club) as a 15 year old before turning professional with Bury in 1977.

He soon became a regular fixture in the Bury team that included current PFA chief Gordon Taylor but it was not a good Bury team and they were relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1979/80 season. At the end of the season Wilson moved to Chesterfield who had noticed Wilson towards the end of the season.

Chesterfield had missed out on promotion to the Second Division by 1 point and came close again in Wilson’s first season at his new club where they missed out by 3 points. However Chesterfield found themselves in financial difficulty as they struggled to afford the fee paid for Wilson and with interest payments building they eventually had to cash in on their prize asset.

Wilson made the short journey to Nottingham Forest as Brian Clough began rebuilding his side after losing a number of the side that had won the European Cup twice a few seasons before. He made his debut in February 1983 and scored on his debut although Forest lost 2-1 to Aston Villa. Wilson would feature in the next 9 games but it was not a good period to be introduced to the team as the club were in the middle of a run of ten games without a win. Eventually Wilson would lose his place in the team to Colin Walsh and baring one County Cup game at the end of the season and one substitute appearance in the UEFA Cup the following season that was all Wilson’s career at Nottingham Forest amounted to.

For some unknown reason he was frozen out after those initial 10 games and although a later interview with Wilson indicated he had a bit of an attitude at that stage of his career no-one knows for certain what happened.

With no improvement in his Forest situation he move to Brighton in November 1983 where he got the chance to play regular football again. Like his pre-Forest career he impressed again and was rewarded with a call up to the Northern Ireland squad.

Then in the summer of 1987 he got given another crack at the First Division when he joined Luton Town. This time Wilson did not waste his chance at the big time as he helped the club to the 1988 League Cup Final where he scored an equaliser with only 8 minutes to go before Brian Stein scored a last minute winner.

He helped his club return to Wembley the following season but was unable to repeat the success as they lost 3-1 to his old club Nottingham Forest. After three successful seasons at Luton Town he was persuaded by Sheffield Wednesday manager Ron Atkinson to join the Owls as they were bidding for a return to the top division following relegation the previous season.

It would be a remarkable first season at the club as not only did Wednesday achieve their goal of winning promotion they also reached the Rumbelows (League) Cup Final where as huge underdogs they managed to beat Manchester United in the Final.

He stayed at Sheffield Wednesday until the summer of 1993 when he joined neighbours Barnsley as Player/Assistant Manager to work alongside former Forest team mate Viv Anderson. When Anderson decided to join Bryan Robson at Middlesbrough a year later Wilson became Manager.

It would be an impressive start as a manager for Wilson as in 1996/97 he guided Barnsley to the top division for the first time in their 110 year history. It would be a one year stay in the Premiership but would success in the F.A.Cup reaching the Quarter Finals by beating Manchester United in the Fifth Round.

In the summer of 1998 Wilson became manager at his former club Sheffield Wednesday but even though there were occassional moments of success his period in charge of the Owls were not the most successful of his career. It came to a point in January 2000 when two Sheffield MP’s tried to get Wilson sacked by tabling a motion in the House of Commons. Ironically he would end up winning Manager of the Month for that period but the writing was on the wall and he was sacked a couple of months later in March.

He was back in work in the summer when he became Bristol City manager with the aim of getting the club into the second tier of English football and in a four year spell came close on a couple of occasions missing out twice in the play offs after finishing in third place in the table.

After failing to gain promotion by the end of his four year contract in 2004 his contract was not renewed and he left Ashton Gate. After a fairly unsuccessful spell at Milton Keynes Dons he joined Hartlepool in 2006 where the Wilson magic returned and the club won promotion from League Two in his first season in charge. Then even though the club were not in relegation trouble he was sacked in December 2008.

He was not out of work for long as he was appointed Swindon manager in December 2008 where he beginning to work his magic as they are in play off contention in League One.

CAREER STATS

PLAYING CAREER

LEAGUE CAREER

Bury 1977/78 to 1979/80 90 (8)

Chesterfield 1980/81 to 1982/83 100 (13)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1982/83 to 1983/84 10 (1)

Scunthorpe United (Loan) 1983/84 6 (3)

Brighton & Hove Albion 1983/84 to 1986/87 135 (33)

Luton Town 1987/88 to 1989/90 110 (24)

Sheffield Wednesday 1990/94 to 1992/93 98 (11)

Barnsley 1993/94 to 1994/95 77 (2)

TOTAL 626 (95)

NFFC SEASON BY SEASON

1982/83 League 9+1 (1)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 10+1 (1)

1983/84 UEFA Cup 0+1 (0)

TOTAL League 9+1 (1)

UEFA Cup 0+1 (0)

County Cup 1 (0)

TOTAL 10+2 (1)

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Northern Ireland 1987 to 1992 24 (1)

MANAGERIAL CAREER

Barnsley 02/06/1994 to 07/07/1998

Sheffield Wednesday 07/07/1998 to 21/03/2000

Bristol City 27/06/2000 to 05/06/2004

MK Dons 07/12/2004 to 21/06/2006

Hartlepool United 31/06/2006 to 15/12/2008

Swindon Town 26/12/2008 to date

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