To fans of Wolves’ weekend opponents Arsenal, he is one of their greatest and most successful ever goalkeepers, and a pioneering coach.
To football fans of a certain generation, he was one of the most distinctive and authoritative voices of the sport across all major competitions over almost three decades.
To those aged between 16 and 40 who have been helped by the Willow Foundation, the charity which he co-founded, he has helped provide a beacon of hope lit by the desire to do something positive after the devastation of losing his daughter Anna.
After an extraordinary career – more to the point four different careers – Bob Wilson OBE still means so many different things to so many different people. And yet, many fans of a Wolves persuasion may be completely unaware that his career actually began at Molineux. And that two true club icons – Stan Cullis and Billy Wright – delivered key contributions in those formative years.
The word career may be stretching it slightly in terms of Wolves, as Wilson only ever put pen to paper on a contract for expenses to appear in the Central and Midland Intermediate Leagues – which prompted a lengthy and almighty row when the Gunners came in to secure his services – and he never actually made a first team appearance.
But he certainly remembers his time at Wolves, which dove-tailed with studying at Loughborough College, with great affection.
Not least as it offered an opportunity to eventually embark on a footballing journey which, initially, his father William was unwilling to encourage.
“I had always loved football, and loved goalkeeping, from the time my brother, who was a couple of years older, would smash balls at me on our back lawn,” Wilson recalls.
“But my father, who was a Borough Engineer & Surveyor in my hometown of Chesterfield, wasn’t as keen on me becoming a footballer.
“I’d actually spent time at Manchester United, who wanted to sign myself and Nobby Stiles from the England schoolboy team of 1957.
“My Dad met Matt Busby, who offered me schoolboy forms, but he told me on the way home that he had said ‘no’ and that I needed to get a proper job.
“I can still hear him now, my Scottish Dad, saying: ‘och son, football’s not a proper job, you know that.’
“So, he told me to go and learn another career, and once I’d got that sorted, if I still wanted to be a footballer, and there was someone who wanted me, then he might think about it.
“I wasn’t going to disagree with him, so I headed to Loughborough College to learn to teach physical education and history, because of all the sporting aspects of studying there.
“It was whilst playing in a friendly for the college against Wolves that I was spotted by Stan Cullis, obviously a legend and manager of the club who had excited the land with the very first floodlit games against foreign opposition.
“Stan had an intensity about him that was quite hypnotic, and I quickly agreed to sign amateur forms for Wolves and play, whenever college commitments permitted.
“I know Stan was something of a severe gentleman, at least he appeared to be, but he was always terrific with me, and stayed in touch as my career progressed.”
Wilson thoroughly enjoyed his association with Wolves. Although not involved with the first team, he recalls rubbing shoulders with club greats such as Ron Flowers, Peter Broadbent and Malcolm Finlayson. On one occasion, when taking part in consecutive days of pre-season training, he lodged 100 metres away from Molineux at the house of Mrs Shorthouse, mother of Wolves legend Bill, who used to look after promising young players during their visits. Wilson roomed with Peter Knowles.
He received what he describes as ‘generous expenses’ to cover his travel costs from Loughborough to Wolverhampton, although on one occasion, he ‘thumbed a lift’, so as to be able to keep some of those expenses.
“Imagine that happening today,” he laughs.
And pre-match nutrition? Very often that involved a Chinese meal picked up enroute for Molineux after arriving at the station.
Wilson is now 83 years old, but his powers of recollection are exemplary. And he remains, of course, a huge football fan, especially when it comes to his beloved Arsenal.
He still treasures, and feels ‘very lucky’, to have a seat in the Directors’ Box at the Emirates, and will continue to use that for as long as he is able. He does have to be more selective about how many engagements he attends, but is very much looking forward to the London Football Awards, at Wembley next month.
And yet, what has turned into an ongoing 62-year affiliation with the Gunners was only launched after a frustratingly challenging process that nearly ended up in court.
Wilson had never signed a proper contract with Wolves, but they believed there was a sufficient tie entitling them to his registration when Arsenal wanted to take him on. A tense stand-off, during which Wilson continued his studies on his three-year teacher training course, lasted almost a year until, even amid full confidence of winning a court case should it be required, Arsenal decided to bring an end to the negotiations by splashing out £6,500 on the young goalkeeper, the first ever transfer fee paid for an amateur.
“It all left a sour taste, I have to say,” Wilson admits.
“I had never signed anything with Wolves apart from a form for expenses, and there had never been any sort of talk about it being any more than that.
“My Dad was ready to go to court and our solicitors were confident we would win, but, in the end, Arsenal just decided to pay the money.
“I was going to do my first year in teaching at Rutherford School in Paddington, and so moving to Arsenal was going to be right for all sorts of reasons.
“I loved the time I spent with Wolves, and everyone was very kind to me, all apart from when it all went sour at the end with the manner in which I was treated.
“I remember having to speak at a board meeting, which was very nerve-wracking as a young student.
“John Ireland, a director at the time, accused me of dithering because of the interest coming in from other clubs, and directly accused me of wanting money to sign, which just wasn’t the case.
“Ultimately Wolves probably thought they had done well to get six-and-a-half thousand pounds for a budding schoolteacher, while hopefully Arsenal feel they got decent value for money with what was to follow!”
Indeed they did. Another Wolves legend in Wright, the Gunners boss, had got his man, even if it took Wilson several years to establish himself as Arsenal’s number one, which ultimately came under Bertie Mee.
But from there, the rest is history. And it is clearly impossible to succinctly sum up what Arsenal means to Wilson, and indeed what Wilson means to Arsenal, within the context of a few words.
Suffice to say, as a goalkeeper, he was brave and fearless, always willing to dive at the feet of an opposition centre forward to make a save. With a hero of Bert Trautmann, famously known for playing the closing stages of the 1956 FA Cup Final with a broken neck, maybe that should come as no surprise.
Wilson chalked up 308 appearances in the Arsenal goal, the undoubted highlight of which was being an ever-present during the double league and FA Cup winning 1970/71 campaign, in which he was also the club’s Player of the Year.
And that would ultimately secure him a place in an elite club of two, alongside Pat Rice, as the only Arsenal representative to be involved in all three of the club’s doubles, both of them following up the success of their playing days by working on the backroom staff in 1997/98 and 2001/02.
He was also among the first English-born players to represent Scotland, the country of his parents’ birth, winning the first of his two caps in a famous win against Portugal, Eusebio and all, in late ’71.
Wilson’s love of goalkeeping – he used to stand behind the goal to observe Gordon Banks as the later World Cup winner launches his career at Chesterfield – made it a natural fit to move into the coaching arena after hanging up his gloves at the age of 32.
It was a time when goalkeeping coaches were pretty much unheard of, and Wilson started working with Arsenal on a voluntary basis, initially with Pat Jennings, only later receiving remuneration when Arsene Wenger took the helm in the late 1990s.
“I’d had a wonderful career and coaching was a natural next step, especially having been a teacher,” Wilson explains.
“That profession is all about knowing your subject and being organised, and I created all my own training drills as well as starting my own goalkeeping academy.
“It was all new back then, and I remember a lot of managers coming to watch to see how I worked with the goalkeepers, including Arsene.
“I didn’t get paid for many years but to me money was never the motivation, instead it was something that brought me a lot of joy and satisfaction and put goalkeeping on a bigger stage.
“I have since had a lot of goalkeeping coaches thank me for creating that particular role, and that is something which I am extremely proud of.”
Alongside the coaching, Wilson built another new career in which he also excelled. As a broadcaster.
For those of my generation, and from the days when terrestrial TV was king, his were the dulcet tones which underpinned Football Focus, the first big sporting broadcast of the weekend.
However, his portfolio extended way beyond that during 20 years at the BBC and eight at ITV, including Grandstand, Sportsnight, the Champions League, World Cups, European Championships and the London Marathon.
There were occasions when he would deliver the sport on Breakfast TV, head straight to Arsenal to fulfil his coaching duties and then work on another sports programme in the evening, or at least be preparing for one.
“I was a lot younger then, so it wasn’t a problem,” he says with another chuckle.
“I loved the broadcasting – again, the teacher training no doubt helped – but it gave me another lease of life for 28 years.
“When you enjoy doing something as much as I did, then it never really feels like work.”
And yet, what makes all of Wilson’s career achievements all the more notable and impressive, are the personal tragedies he has had to overcome along the way.
Not only overcome, but also transform, turning some of the devastation experienced into a positive of providing comfort and support to others.
Wilson lost two of his brothers in the Second World War – Jock, a Spitfire pilot, and Billy, a rear-gunner in a Lancaster – and was actually at Birmingham New Street Station heading to a Wolves reserve match at Burnley when hearing the news that a Handley Page Victor Bomber had flown into his sister’s farmhouse in the village of Stubton in Lincolnshire.
His sister Jean and brother-in-law Dennis survived, but two crewmen on the plane, and two home helps who were at the house, lost their lives. Incredibly, Wilson still went and played in the reserve game, and wore a black armband and observed a pre-match minute’s silence to mark another tragedy, a mining accident, which had happened that day.
And then, in February 1994, daughter Anna was diagnosed with malignant schwannoma, cancer of the nerve sheath, from which she sadly passed away in December 1998, six days before her 32nd birthday.
Amid the grief and devastation, and driven largely by Wilson’s wife Megs, they decided to form a charity, the Willow Foundation – Willow being one of his nicknames – in Anna’s memory.
Wilson explains the motivation.
Picture courtesy Willow Foundation
“Anna, who was a community nursing sister, fought her fight for several years, and after she passed away, it was Megs who initially said we needed to do something in her memory.
“After Anna was diagnosed, we found that if she had something special to look forward to, like a concert from Robbie Williams – who she adored – or a play in London, it really helped.
“She would have an adrenaline rush leading up to the event of five, six or seven days, and even longer after if it happened.
“So, the Willow Foundation now provides ‘special days’ for people experiencing a life-threatening illness between 16 and 40, selecting that age group because we discovered that older and younger people already had places for support.
“Between 16 and 40 I think you are in the prime of your life, if you can’t enjoy yourself something is wrong, and that is why it is so important for us to provide this support to give seriously ill young adults the opportunity to make special memories.
“It’s an incredible story, and we are very proud of the impact the Willow Foundation continues to have.
“In our first year back in 1999, we delivered 18 special days in the year, and as of now, we have gone past 22,000.
“These experiences benefit not just the person concerned, but also their family and friends, who are able to see their loved ones still having the opportunity to enjoy themselves.”
Wilson had his own challenges to overcome after coming through a prostate cancer diagnosis 11 years ago, but then lost his beloved Megs, his wife of nearly 60 years, in November of 2023.
Whilst privileged to have received an OBE for ‘Services to football in the name of Willow’, Wilson remains upset that Megs wasn’t given similar recognition for her devoted service to the charity, both in its inception and subsequent operation.
Losing her was clearly devastating. But the rallied around after her passing, including Sir Alex Ferguson making the four hour trip to attend her memorial service, whilst Wilson’s close friend and former Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman and his wife Frankie, remain steadfast friends and supporters in continuing to dedicate so much energy and time to their roles of Honorary Presidents.
Picture courtesy Willow Foundation
That sense of philanthropy for Wilson remains constant. Now the Willow Foundation is not only a legacy for Anna, but for Megs as well.
And he continues to keep busy. Graciously sparing 45 minutes for a Friday morning call for this interview, he has already spoken to Willow CEO Jonathan Aves and has a full day ahead. An absolute gentleman.
“It’s nice to remember my time at Wolves and I still look out for the results,” he reveals.
He can even remain philosophical about one of the less happy contacts with Wolves, when, only six months after Arsenal’s glorious double, he conceded five second half goals at Molineux in a 5-1 defeat.
“It wasn’t the only time I let in five, but as a goalkeeper, you remember those because you take them to heart,” he admits.
There weren’t too many bad days like that, in an association with Arsenal which must be unique when it comes to playing, coaching, covering them via broadcasting, and now, still a hugely respected part of the fabric of the club.
Wilson will, as the now popular Gunners terrace anthem depicts, remain ‘North London Forever’, a reflection of so many decades of extraordinary service.
And yet, given where it all began, there will always be a part of Wilson, even a small and ultimately fleeting one, which was made at Molineux.
