Tug Wilson: Boy from Beighton who played 566 games for Brighton
When Ernie ‘Tug’ Wilson arrived at Brighton for a trial in a Becks & Bucks Hospital Charity Cup match against Reading in May 1922, nobody could have foreseen it as being the start of an Albion career which remains unmatched a century later.
No one has come remotely close to the Brighton appearance record of Tug Wilson, which stands at 566 matches over 14 seasons. He remains the only player in Seagulls history to pass 500 games whilst his 71 goals place him 15th on the all-time scorers list.
How Wilson ended up in Sussex is a tale in itself. He was born in 1899 in the village of Beighton, some six miles away from Sheffield. At Swallow Nest school, he showed early promise and captained the school team playing as an inside left.
Wilson’s father was desperate for his son to make the most of his talents. Tug had a part-time job in a barber’s shop; on a Saturday afternoon, his father would take over the shift so that the boy could play football.
When World War I started, Wilson left school at 15 to work full time at the famous Silverwood Colliery. He turned out for the works’ team and Beighton Recreation in the Sheffield Association League before joining Swallow Nest Baptists.
Wilson’s performances on the left attracted the attentions of Sheffield Wednesday. He went on trial with the Owls in 1918 but was told he was too small to make it as a professional. How wrong can you be?
Throughout the 1920s, Brighton manager Charlie Webb developed something of a reputation for mining the Sheffield and Rotherham areas for talent in a similar manner to the modern-day Albion’s success in South America.
George Beech, Reg Smith and Albert Sykes all arrived at the Goldstone from that particular corner of South Yorkshire.
Wilson was turning out for Denaby United in the Midland League when Webb first heard about a nippy, tricky left winger he might want to take a look at.
And so came that fateful day on Saturday 13th May 1922. The Becks & Bucks Hospital Cup had been set up as an annual challenge match between Brighton and Reading to be played at Elm Park. All proceeds from the game went to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.
1922 was the first of eight matches between the Biscuitmen and the Albion. It finished 1-1 with Jack Doran scoring for Brighton.
More importantly from a long-term point of view, the diminutive Wilson impressed enough out on the left to be offered a contract by Brighton.
After his father sweeping up hair so Tug could play football, Wilson working in a coalmine as a teenager and that rejection by Wednesday, he had finally made it as a professional at the age of 23.
Webb had two new left wingers to chose from at the start of the 1922-23 season. In the first 11 games, he opted for Jimmy Jones who had signed from Alfreton Town at the same time as Wilson arrived from Denaby.
Wilson played the following seven, making his debut in a 2-1 win over Brentford at the Goldstone. Jones returned for the next eight before Wilson made the number 11 shirt his own.
Nobody would subsequently be able to wrest it from him for the next 12 years. Between 1923 and 1935, Wilson missed just 29 matches in Division Three South, Division Three South Cup and FA Cup. Twice he racked up 99 consecutive appearances only to have the century ruined by injury on both occasions.
The signing of Wilson took place as another Brighton record-holder began to make his mark. In the same 1922-23 campaign that Wilson made his Albion bow, Cuckfield born striker Tommy Cook was given a first team opportunity.
Cook would go onto score 123 goals for Brighton, a number like Wilson’s 566 appearances that is yet to be bettered nearly 100 years later.
Wilson and Cook helped transform the Albion. 1921-22 had seen Brighton finish just a point above the relegation zone, 19th of 22 teams in Division Three South. The club was described in the local press as being in a “slough of despond” at the end of the campaign.
Fast forward 12 months and the Albion had flown up the standings to fourth position. Central to that was Brighton’s form in the second half of the season, coinciding with Wilson establishing himself ahead of Jones out on the left.
The Albion won 10, drew six and lost only four of their 20 matches from mid-January onwards. They also eliminated the famous amateurs Corinthians from the FA Cup and took West Ham United to a replay.
Brighton went onto finish fifth, eighth, fifth, fourth, fourth, 15th, fifth, fourth, eighth, 12th, 10th and ninth in the seasons in which Tug Wilson was one of the first names on the team sheet.
Throughout that period, the Albion gained a reputation for pulling off big FA Cup upsets. Wilson played in Brighton teams who eliminated Barnsley and then beat top division Everton 5-2 at the Goldstone in the 1923-24 FA Cup.
Cook scored a hat-trick against the Toffees but it was Wilson who caught the eye. One newspaper report read: “Brighton’s best were Wilson, at outside left, (Jack) Nightingale at outside right, and (George) Coomber, at centre half.”
He was part of the Albion side who saw off two top flight outfits in Grimsby Town and Portsmouth on the way to the fifth round in 1929-30.
More Division One opponents were accounted for in 1930-31 with a famous win at Leicester City. The 1932-33 campaign saw Brighton forget to enter the FA Cup, meaning they had to go through four qualifying rounds with all the non-league entrants.
The result was an extraordinary 11 game cup run, starting with a 12-0 win against Shoreham in October’s first qualifying round and ending in a fifth round replay defeat at West Ham.
Wilson played in all 11 matches, which included a shock 2-1 victory over higher division opponents Chelsea in round three.
He scored what proved to be the winner against the Blues, striking in the 65th minute. Wilson was also on target on the far less glamorous occasion of a 7-1 win over Worthing in the second qualifying round.
Wilson was slow to start his journey towards that impressive haul of 77 goals. His first three seasons at the Albion yielded only two, both scored in that debut 1922-23 campaign.
His first in Brighton colours came in a 2-1 victory at Watford on February 10th 1923. His second was the winner away against Charlton Athletic on Easter Monday.
From 1925 onwards, however, Wilson averaged more than six goals per season for the remainder of his Albion career. His most prolific year was 1934-35, a haul of 11 putting him second behind the wonderfully named Buster Brown in the scoring charts.
What would be fascinating is if assists were recorded from Wilson’s time at the Goldstone. His game was one of feints, swerves and tricky wing player.
He had a beautiful left foot capable of delivering a cross onto a sixpence, much to the benefit of centre forwards from Cook to Dan Kirkwood to Arthur Attwood to Brown.
Tug Wilson would surely have more assists than any other Brighton player in history to go with his appearance record if such statistics were kept.
Standing out even more than his talent were his consistency and attitude. He never had a bad game and was rarely ruled out by injury, as is quite obvious by the fact he amassed so many matches during his time with Brighton.
As for his attitude, Wilson was a sunny-tempered man who took everything in his stride. This endeared him even more to the Goldstone faithful.
He was the recipient of two benefit matches which netted a combined £650. A huge sum back in the early 1930s which reflected Wilson’s universal popularity.
Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and Wilson finally found his equal in the 1935-36 season. Webb signed Bert Stephens from Brentford and although the new acquisition was initially used on the right to accommodate Wilson, seven games into the season and Stephens was switched to his favoured left flank.
Four goals in four games followed, after which there was no looking back. Stephens would go onto score 96 goals in 205 appearances, in addition to a further 78 in 161 games during the curious period of wartime football.
Had World War II not got in the way, then Stephens would have eclipsed Cook’s 123 goal record. Not a bad bloke for Tug Wilson to finally lose his place in the Brighton XI too.
Come May 1936 and having made just 12 appearances in the 1935-36 season, Wilson decided to hang up his boots at the age of 37.
He went onto play for Vernon Athletic in the Sussex County League after retirement before sadly passing away at 56 in 1955 whilst a resident of Portland Road, Hove.
