Alistair Benjamin Wilkinson (born 25 April 1987), better known as Ben Wilkinson, is a former professional footballer and is currently working at Manchester City's academy. He played as a midfielder for Hull City, Harrogate Town, Gretna, York City, Altrincham, Chester City, Tamworth and Boston United.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Alistair Benjamin Wilkinson[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1987-04-25) 25 April 1987 (age 35)[2] | ||
Place of birth | Sheffield, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team |
Manchester City U-23 (Assistant Manager) | ||
Youth career | |||
Sheffield Wednesday | |||
Sheffield United | |||
2003–2005 | Derby County | ||
2005–2006 | Hull City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2006–2008 | Hull City | 0 | (0) |
2006–2007 | → Harrogate Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
2008 | → Gretna (loan) | 13 | (0) |
2008–2009 | York City | 21 | (2) |
2009 | → Altrincham (loan) | 9 | (0) |
2009–2010 | Chester City | 0 | (0) |
2010–2011 | Tamworth | 28 | (2) |
2011 | Boston United | 8 | (0) |
Total | 82 | (4) | |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire,[3] Wilkinson is the son of former player and manager Howard Wilkinson.[4] He played with the youth teams of Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Derby County,[5] becoming a scholar with the latter in May 2003.[6] He joined Hull City in January 2005, where he completed his scholarship.[7] He signed a two-year professional contract with Hull in the summer of 2006.[2] He joined Conference North club Harrogate Town on 9 December 2006 on a one-month loan,[8] where he made five appearances[9] before returning to Hull in January 2007.[10]
Wilkinson went on trial with York City of the Conference National in January 2008, in which he scored two goals in a reserve-team match against Sheffield United.[4] On 31 January 2008, he joined Gretna of the Scottish Premier League on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season.[11] He made his debut in a 2–0 away defeat against Heart of Midlothian on 9 February 2008 and made 13 appearances for the club.[12]
He joined Conference Premier club York City on 10 June 2008 on a two-year contract.[13][14] His debut came in a 1–0 away win against Crawley Town on 9 August 2008.[15] He scored his first goal in a 3–1 defeat away to Wrexham on 7 October 2008.[15][16]
On 26 March 2009, Wilkinson joined York's Conference Premier rivals Altrincham on loan until the end of 2008–09.[14] He made his debut two days later, coming on as a 90th-minute substitute in a 2–2 home draw with Crawley Town, and started in the subsequent match, a 1–0 away defeat to Ebbsfleet United.[17][18] He finished the spell with nine appearances.[17] He left York on 2 July 2009 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.[19]
Wilkinson signed for newly relegated Conference Premier club Chester City on 9 July 2009.[20] Wilkinson scored in the first minute of his debut against Cambridge United on 15 August 2009, but Chester lost 4–2.[21] He made 28 appearances for Chester in 2009–10,[22] although these were expunged from the records after Chester were expelled from the Football Conference in March 2010.[23] He left the club following their liquidation on 10 March 2010[24][25] and in April went on trial with League Two club Bradford City, playing in reserve-team matches against Newcastle United and Leeds United.[26]
Wilkinson signed for Conference Premier club Tamworth on 26 August 2010 following a trial.[27] His first goal came in a 1–0 away win over Mansfield Town,[28] with a shot into the bottom corner from six yards from Danny Thomas' pass on 30 minutes.[29] Wilkinson scored a goal against York in a 2–1 away win on 16 April 2011 to help Tamworth fight relegation.[30]
Wilkinson signed for Conference North club Boston United on 30 July 2011 after a trial,[31][32] having been set to follow former Tamworth players Aaron Mitchell and Jason Bradley to Eastwood Town.[33] He found himself out of the team early in 2011–12 because of a knee injury but later established himself at right back due to a shortage in that position.[34] He left Boston on 7 November 2011[35] after making 10 appearances for the club.[36]
By November 2013, Wilkinson had taken on the position of youth development phase coach at Sheffield Wednesday.[37]
He joined Manchester City’s academy in July 2018 as Under 23 Assistant Coach to Paul Harsley. In August 2020, he moved into a role as Under 16 Lead Coach.[38]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Hull City | 2006–07[39] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
2007–08[12] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Harrogate Town (loan) | 2006–07[9] | Conference North | 3 | 0 | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
Gretna (loan) | 2007–08[12] | Scottish Premier League | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
York City | 2008–09[15] | Conference Premier | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 25 | 2 | |
Altrincham (loan) | 2008–09[17] | Conference Premier | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
Tamworth | 2010–11[28] | Conference Premier | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
Boston United | 2011–12[36] | Conference North | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||
Career total | 82 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 93 | 4 |