Remembering John Wilkie
We were saddened to hear that former Lichtie John Wilkie sadly passed away last last week at the age of 76.
John played for Arbroath between 1965 and 1970 and made 125 appearances in total and scored 18 goals.
John played for many clubs across Scotland and England and it was Wigan Athletic who John played for between 1976 and 1979 that shared this wonderful story of John’s life. Thanks to Tony Topping whose interview with John just two years ago came so many amazing details about his amazing life.
John Carlin Wilkie was born in Dundee, Scotland on Tuesday 1 July 1947 and attended St. Pius Catholic school in Douglas. At the age of 10, his school won a football cup against all the other schools in Dundee. John scored a couple of goals in the final and got picked for Dundee Schoolboys.
He also played for Douglas Amateurs until he was a teenager and got selected for Scotland Amateurs. John was invited for trials with Port Vale, their general manager being Stanley Mathews who picked him up in his limousine. He was offered a contract but played other trial games just for the £7 expenses and Port Vale found out and cancelled his deal.
He had trials with Brechin City and Dundee United in 1965 before finally joining Arbroath in the same year. He went on to play 100 league games for the Red Lichties, scoring 13 goals in his five years with the club. They won promotion to the top league while John was there and he played against Celtic when they were reigning European Champions at the time. He also faced Alex Ferguson when he was at Rangers.
Season 1970/71 saw him play seven league games for Raith Rovers scoring one goal on a week-to-week contract as they were administration.
The following season, John started with Highland League side Keith as a centre forward and he scored 15 goals in 10 games. Greenock Morton came in for him but only played one game for them because they put him on the wing, so he ended up at Ross County. He was part-time so he had to work as well and he got sent on a course in Warrington. County manager Ian McNeill fixed it for John to have a trial with Halifax Town and he scored a couple of goals against Preston North End on trial and they signed him in February 1973. He was to play 37 league games for the Shaymen. scoring eight goals.
He then moved back to Scotland returning to Ross County. After only five months, he joined Elgin City for a then-record fee for the Highland League and spent around 18 months there. In August 1976, he signed for Northern Premier League side Wigan Athletic, then managed by his ex-boss at Ross County Ian McNeill. He scored in his first game, a pre-season 2-1 win over Clyde.
He made his NPL debut in a home 1-1 draw with Boston United and scored his first goal in a 3-1 win at Altrincham days later. Latics were going through a difficult period but they won the Lancashire Challenge Trophy beating arch-rivals Chorley 1-0 at Victory Park. John was the top scorer with 17 (13 league ) goals.
In the 1977/78 season, he was again the top goalscorer for the Club with 26 (20 league) as Latics finished runners-up to Boston United in the league. He had scored two home hat-tricks (v Workington 4-1, v Barrow 4-1). His goal knocked York City out of the FA Cup and he also played in the 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday before Alf Ramsey’s Birmingham City defeated Latics 4-0 in the Third Round. He helped Latics retain the Lancashire Challenge Trophy after beating Chorley 2-0 at home.
John had the honour of scoring the last ever non-league goal at Springfield Park in a vital 2-1 victory against Bangor City. Following the election to the Football League, John was given a two-year full-time contract. He played in the club’s first-ever Football League game at Hereford United, a day never to be forgotten. He only managed seven league and cup games that season
After playing 120 (87 league) games for Latics and scoring 43 (33 league) goals, John was released aged 33 and he went to Chorley, under Les Rigby but left after a few games. John carried on playing football for his mate’s pub team in Warrington, scoring 50 goals in his first season.
John had studied accountancy throughout his career and in fact, he had spent two years at Wigan College while full-time at Wigan. He got a job as a chartered accountant in Wigan.
Later, he was to start up his own video delivery business, which got so big that he opened a shop in Penketh in Warrington.
John then bought a nightclub in Warrington and three houses in Spain to rent out. After his wife died suddenly, he sold everything to look after his two young boys, then aged just three and five. John had a caravan in Rhyl and got a job as a lifeguard around the swimming pool while the boys went to a school there.
Eventually, he moved on to become a compere, a kid’s entertainer, a bingo caller and a singer. John used to dress up as Crocodile Dundee because people said that he looked like him.
Our throughts are with John’s family, friends and former team-mates.
Rest in Peace John
