Ben Wilson (English footballer)

Wilson began his career with Sunderland in 2006 earning a professional contract in 2010 and played a match with Harrogate Town.[3] He went out on loan to Gateshead and Chesterfield failing to make an appearance for either and was released by Sunderland in the summer of 2013.[4][5] After leaving Sunderland Wilson joined Cambridge United on a non-contract basis on 9 August 2013.[6] He joined Accrington Stanley on 27 August 2013 and made his professional debut on 3 September 2013 in a 1–0 defeat against Crewe Alexandra in the Football League Trophy.[7][8] He left Stanley after a single Football League Trophy appearance, in November 2013 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.[9]

He joined Cardiff City in the same month. On 7 July 2014, Wilson played 10 minutes as a midfielder, against Carmarthen Town in a friendly. Wilson has featured on the bench several times during the 2014–2015 season as well as making a number of under 21 appearances. The following season, Wilson signed a new contract keeping him in South Wales until 2017.[10] He made his Cardiff debut against AFC Wimbledon on 11 August 2015 in the League Cup.[11]

Two months later, Wilson joined AFC Wimbledon on an emergency one-month loan deal. Wilson was signed as a short-term replacement for the injured first choice keeper James Shea. He made his Wimbledon debut on the same day he was signed in a 3–4 League Two away win against Accrington Stanley.[12][13] However, having let in a goal from a speculative long free-kick taken by Jerome Okimo from inside his own half during a 2–1 defeat to Stevenage,[14] Wilson became embroiled in a social media row with Wimbledon supporters after they criticised his performance on the website Twitter. Wilson responded to some critical messages by posting "you're still paying to watch me every week and helping towards my wage, I'm laughing and you're losing out".[15][16] As a result, his loan spell was terminated early by Wimbledon on 14 December 2015.[17]

His league debut for Cardiff City came on 27 August 2016, where he played in a 1–0 loss to Reading, after signing a two-year contract extension.[18][19] Having not made an appearance for Cardiff since September 2016, Wilson then joined League One side Rochdale on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 season.[20]

At the start of the following season, Wilson joined Oldham Athletic on loan until 1 January 2018.[21] However, on 31 January 2018, he was then loaned to non-league Telford United.[22]

He signed for Bradford City in July 2018.[23]

In May 2019, following Bradford City's relegation to League Two, it was announced that he would leave the club upon the expiry of his contract on 30 June 2019, one of 11 players to be released.[24]

In May 2019, he agreed to sign a three-year deal with Coventry City, which began in July 2019.[25] He spent the 2019–20 season acting as backup to first-choice goalkeeper Marko Marosi and was limited to playing cup competitions only.[26] He began the 2020–21 season in the same role, but made his league debut for the club as a late substitute in a 1-0 win at Cardiff after an injury to Marosi.[27] Subsequently, in Marosi's absence, he went on to start Coventry's next 5 matches.[28]