| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jason Wilcox | ||
| Date of birth | 12 March 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Bolton, England | ||
| Playing position | Winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1989–1999 | Blackburn Rovers | 271 | (31) |
| 1999–2004 | Leeds United | 81 | (4) |
| 2004–2006 | Leicester City | 20 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | → Blackpool (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2006 | Blackpool | 14 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1994–1998 | England B | 2 | (0) |
| 1996–2000 | England | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Jason Wilcox (born 12 March 1971 in Bolton, Lancashire, England) is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He made 5 appearances for England including 3 at full international level.
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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 Cup 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
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 Duff, 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.
In 2004 after the relegation of Leeds 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.[1] 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.
He won his first England cap in a 3-0 win over Hungary 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.
Wilcox is a black belt 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.