Richard Wilson (footballer, born 1956)
Richard H. Wilson (born 8 May 1956) was a New Zealand association football player, who was a goalkeeper during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, in 1982.[1] His international career spanned from 1979 to 1984,[2] and he played in the National Soccer League in Australia until 1989. He returned to New Zealand in 1996 and was player-coach of minor-league side Avon United.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard H. Wilson | ||
| Date of birth | 8 May 1956 | ||
| Place of birth | Nelson, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1974–1978 | Woolston WMC | ||
| 1979 | Nelson United | 21 | (0) |
| 1980–1981 | Canberra City | 30 | (0) |
| 1981–1985 | Preston Makedonia | 67 | (0) |
| 1986–1987 | Mount Maunganui | ||
| 1987 | Grantham Town | 7 | (0) |
| 1987–1988 | Lincoln City | 10 | (0) |
| 1988–1989 | Kettering Town | 0 | (0) |
| Woolston WMC | |||
| 1999 | Rangers AFC | 1 | (0) |
| – | Avon United | ||
| National team | |||
| 1979–1984 | New Zealand | 26 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Despite being the only goalkeeper used during the 1982 World Cup qualifying campaign, he was replaced as starting goalkeeper for the finals tournament in Spain by Frank van Hattum. For a considerable time, Wilson held the record for most minutes without conceding a goal by a goalkeeper in any FIFA World Cup qualifying or finals tournament, having not conceded a goal in 921 minutes of football, including matches against Fiji (twice), Chinese Taipei (twice), Indonesia (twice), China (twice) and Australia (once).[3]
His record clean sheet came to a dramatic end during a World Cup home qualifying fixture against Kuwait. Kuwait were controversially awarded a penalty by the Indonesian referee. Wilson spectacularly saved the spot kick only to have a further penalty awarded against New Zealand 10 minutes later. The second penalty found the back of the net bringing to an end Wilson's record. The taking of the second penalty was delayed for some minutes after an irate fan ran onto the field to remonstrate with the referee.[4]
References
- "1982 World Cup - New Zealand squad". FIFA.com.
- "A-International Appearances - Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- New Zealand 1982 World Cup squad
- "1982 Football World Cup = The long road to Spain". New Zealand History (Ministry for Culture and Heritage). 20 December 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
