Jason Wilcox
Encyclopedia
Jason Wilcox is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He made 5 appearances for England including 3 at full international level.
final only weeks after. Rovers's Youth Team Manager, Jim Furnell, described him as "one of the best young midfielders in English football".
Beginning his career at Blackburn Rovers, he clocked up over 300 games, captained the club and scored 33 goals in the process. Wilcox was one of the only remaining first team players that was from the club's own youth system, and not a big-money signing of the Jack Walker
era under Kenny Dalglish
Wilcox featured as an important part of the Premier League winning Blackburn team of 1995. Playing on the left flank with attacking fullback Graeme Le Saux
and on the opposite flank to Stuart Ripley
they forged a strong attacking line-up with Alan Shearer
and Chris Sutton
. International recognition was harder to come by for Wilcox and he managed only 3 International caps despite his effective partnership with Le Saux, Tim Sherwood
and Shearer.
Lengthy injury problems restricted his effectiveness in subsequent seasons and after experiencing relegation with Blackburn he was moved on to Leeds United
, Rovers saw it as good business for a successful youth product.
Wilcox, who scored on his debut, played in his usual position as a left sided midfielder, moving Harry Kewell
into a more advanced role. He helped the Yorkshire
side to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup
, where they lost to Galatasaray
. A year later he was part of the club's run to the UEFA Champions League
semi-finals, where they lost again, this time to Valencia. During this cup-run, he scored a well executed volley at the Stadio Olimpico
against S.S. Lazio
.
Wilcox again suffered relegation as Leeds struggled with a large financial burden after failing to qualify for the Champions League, forcing the sale of several high profile stars.
Overall he made 106 appearances, scoring 6 goals.
Wilcox was signed on a free by Leicester. He initially signed a one year deal which was extended by another year in the summer of 2005. Wilcox made an excellent start to his Leicester career, but unfortunately picked up a horrific cruciate ligament injury in October 2004. It was feared it would end his season, and maybe his career, but hard work paid off and he returned in City's 3-1 win over Millwall
on April 2, 2005. He scored once for Leicester, his goal coming in a 3-2 win over Sheffield United in September 2004. On January 28, 2006, Wilcox joined Blackpool
on a free transfer following a two-month spell on loan to the club, after his old Blackburn team-mate, Simon Grayson
requested Wilcox join the club to help save them from relegation. He was released at the end of the 2005–2006 season, after a disagreement with other staff members.
in 1996. After a great debut, in which he hit the bar in the first minute, many tipped him to make the final squad for Euro96, however Wilcox was left at home after being cut from the final squad of 24 players in what Terry Venables
described as one of the toughest decisions of his career. He went on to play against France
and Argentina
. These turned out to be his only 3 caps. He also made the squad for Euro 2000 but did not play through injury. He made two appearances for the B team, against Chile
and Hong Kong
. Wilcox was once seen by many as the answer to England's Left-Wing problems, however he rarely got opportunities to impress, due to a long list of injuries, which some say restricted his potential as a player.
in Judo
and even represented England before he became a professional footballer. When he reached the age of seventeen he was made to choose between the two sports, only being able to fully commit himself to one of them as a potential career path, his choice obviously being football.
After retiring from football, Wilcox took some time out from the game, before joining the commentary staff of BBC Radio Lancashire
for a year, as well as having his own weekly column in the Lancashire Telegraph
.
Blackburn
Wilcox joined Blackburn Rovers at the age of sixteen after his father wrote to the club asking for a trial. After impressing at training on Sunday, Wilcox signed a contract the day after, before playing in the FA Youth CupFA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under–18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part...
final only weeks after. Rovers's Youth Team Manager, Jim Furnell, described him as "one of the best young midfielders in English football".
Beginning his career at Blackburn Rovers, he clocked up over 300 games, captained the club and scored 33 goals in the process. Wilcox was one of the only remaining first team players that was from the club's own youth system, and not a big-money signing of the Jack Walker
Jack Walker
Jack Walker was a British industrialist and businessman, from Blackburn, Lancashire. Walker invested tens of millions of pounds in Blackburn Rovers football club after amassing a personal fortune of £600 million...
era under Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...
Wilcox featured as an important part of the Premier League winning Blackburn team of 1995. Playing on the left flank with attacking fullback Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Pierre Le Saux is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.After...
and on the opposite flank to Stuart Ripley
Stuart Ripley
Stuart Edward Ripley is a retired English footballer, who played as a winger.With speed as his main asset, he also scored numerous goals, especially in his early career at Middlesbrough.-Football career:...
they forged a strong attacking line-up with Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...
and Chris Sutton
Chris Sutton
Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton is an English football manager and former player.In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English...
. International recognition was harder to come by for Wilcox and he managed only 3 International caps despite his effective partnership with Le Saux, Tim Sherwood
Tim Sherwood
Timothy "Tim" Sherwood is an English former professional footballer who was captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premiership title-winning side...
and Shearer.
Lengthy injury problems restricted his effectiveness in subsequent seasons and after experiencing relegation with Blackburn he was moved on to Leeds United
Leeds Utd
He was Blackburn's longest serving player at the time of joining Leeds in a £4m deal in December 1999. With the club having just been relegated and with the emergence of Damien DuffDamien Duff
Damien Anthony Duff is an Irish footballer who plays for Premier League team Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he has participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012...
, Rovers saw it as good business for a successful youth product.
Wilcox, who scored on his debut, played in his usual position as a left sided midfielder, moving Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell
Harold "Harry" Kewell is an Australian professional football midfielder who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Internationally he has received 55 caps, and scored 16 goals, while playing for the Australian national team...
into a more advanced role. He helped the Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
side to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
, where they lost to Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....
. A year later he was part of the club's run to the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
semi-finals, where they lost again, this time to Valencia. During this cup-run, he scored a well executed volley at the Stadio Olimpico
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico is the main and largest sports facility of Rome, Italy. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex on the north of the city. An asset of the Italian National Olympic Committee, the structure is intended primarily for football...
against S.S. Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
.
Wilcox again suffered relegation as Leeds struggled with a large financial burden after failing to qualify for the Champions League, forcing the sale of several high profile stars.
Overall he made 106 appearances, scoring 6 goals.
Leicester & Blackpool
In 2004 after the relegation of LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
Wilcox was signed on a free by Leicester. He initially signed a one year deal which was extended by another year in the summer of 2005. Wilcox made an excellent start to his Leicester career, but unfortunately picked up a horrific cruciate ligament injury in October 2004. It was feared it would end his season, and maybe his career, but hard work paid off and he returned in City's 3-1 win over Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
on April 2, 2005. He scored once for Leicester, his goal coming in a 3-2 win over Sheffield United in September 2004. On January 28, 2006, Wilcox joined Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
on a free transfer following a two-month spell on loan to the club, after his old Blackburn team-mate, Simon Grayson
Simon Grayson
Simon Nicholas Grayson is a retired English footballer and current manager of Leeds United. He is the elder brother of cricketer Paul Grayson....
requested Wilcox join the club to help save them from relegation. He was released at the end of the 2005–2006 season, after a disagreement with other staff members.
England
He won his first England cap in a 3-0 win over HungaryHungary national football team
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....
in 1996. After a great debut, in which he hit the bar in the first minute, many tipped him to make the final squad for Euro96, however Wilcox was left at home after being cut from the final squad of 24 players in what Terry Venables
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick "Terry" Venables , often referred to as "El Tel", is a former football player and manager, as well as being a media pundit. During the 1960s and 70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, and gained two caps for England...
described as one of the toughest decisions of his career. He went on to play against France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...
and Argentina
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
. These turned out to be his only 3 caps. He also made the squad for Euro 2000 but did not play through injury. He made two appearances for the B team, against Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. Wilcox was once seen by many as the answer to England's Left-Wing problems, however he rarely got opportunities to impress, due to a long list of injuries, which some say restricted his potential as a player.
Personal life
Wilcox is a black beltBlack belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
in Judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
and even represented England before he became a professional footballer. When he reached the age of seventeen he was made to choose between the two sports, only being able to fully commit himself to one of them as a potential career path, his choice obviously being football.
After retiring from football, Wilcox took some time out from the game, before joining the commentary staff of BBC Radio Lancashire
BBC Radio Lancashire
BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC Local Radio service for the county of Lancashire, in North West England. It began as BBC Radio Blackburn on 26 January 1971 on 96.4FM, then adding 854 kHz AM in 1972 and changing to its current name on 4 July 1981...
for a year, as well as having his own weekly column in the Lancashire Telegraph
Lancashire Telegraph
The Lancashire Telegraph, formerly the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, is a local tabloid newspaper distributed in East Lancashire, England. It has two separate geographic editions each day – one for the boroughs of Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, and one for Burnley, Pendle, and...
.