Tommy Wilson (footballer, born 1961)


Tommy Wilson is a Scottish former footballer, who is currently the director of the Philadelphia Union Academy. He was formerly the Reserve team coach at Rangers, and a coach with the Scotland national team.

Playing career

Wilson started his career at Queen's Park, who he joined straight from school in 1978. He was spotted by St Mirren for whom he signed a professional contract in 1982. He made his competitive debut in a League Cup victory over Ayr United on 14 August 1982. Wilson was an ever-present during his first season and his consistent displays earned him a Scotland U-21 cap against Switzerland. Unfortunately, at the start of the following season in August 1983 he suffered a serious knee injury in a match against Rangers which put him out of the game for the rest of that season.
He made a successful come-back in the following season but took time to regain his consistency; eventually over the next two seasons he began to fulfil his early promise. In 1987, he was a member of the team which won the Scottish Cup in a 1–0 victory over Dundee United.
He represented St Mirren in 287 competitive matches, before leaving to join Dunfermline Athletic in October 1989. After three seasons with Dunfermline, he joined Hearts in August 1992, but only made one appearance. He was given a free transfer to Kilmarnock in November 1992, before moving on to Dumbarton in the summer of 1993.

Coaching career

In June 1994 he was appointed Football development officer to the Scottish Football Association. He was previously a coach for with Scotland under-19 team, working alongside Archie Gemmill. In 2006, Wilson joined Rangers as Technical Director for Player Development at the club's Academy and combined this with coaching the Scotland under-19 team. He succeeded Ian Durrant as reserve team coach in June 2008.
On 14 March 2013, Wilson was named director of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union Academy.