John Wilkinson (footballer, born 1979)


John Colbridge Wilkinson is a former footballer and pundit who last played for Tanjong Pagar United FC and the Singapore national team.

Club career

Born in Exeter, Wilkinson played for Exeter City, Woodlands Wellington and Geylang United before joining Singapore Armed Forces in 2006. He won 4 league titles with the club.
After reportedly turning down a three-year deal at SAFFC, Wilkinson joined INSEE Police UTD on a two-year contract in January 2012 and became the first foreign captain in the history of the Thai Premier League. Wilkinson failed to see out his contract at Police United however, and signed for reigning Singapore Cup champions Home United FC at the beginning of the 2012 S-League season. Wilkinson signed for Salgaocar in January 2013 until the end of the 2012-13 I-League season. On 6 June 2013, he was unveiled as the first signing of the mid-season window for Tanjong Pagar United, and wore the number 16 jersey.

International career

Wilkinson became a Singapore citizen, after marrying a Singaporean, thus allowing him to play international football for Singapore.
He was called up to the national team for a series for friendly matches against North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia. He made his debut for Singapore on 24 June 2007 in the second half against North Korea and even got an assist. He scored his first international goal when he broke the deadlock in the 1–1 draw against Gulf Cup champions, UAE on 12 September 2007.
He also scored in the 4–0 win over Palestine in a World Cup 2010 qualifying match on 8 October 2007. On 2 June 2008, he scored in a 3–7 home defeat against Uzbekistan in Third round of qualifying.
In total he scored 4 goals in 29 international games for Singapore.

International goals

Later life

After retiring, Wilkinson works as a pundit in Singapore for Fox Sports Asia.

Honours

Singapore Armed Forces