Mark Wilson
BEST MANAGER YOU PLAYED UNDER?
HAS to be Gordon Strachan. His training sessions were a joy to take part in, always fresh and high tempo.
BEST PLAYER YOU PLAYED WITH?
I’M lucky enough to have played alongside a few great ones. But Shunsuke Nakamura at Celtic gets the vote for his technical excellence and match-winning ability.
BEST PLAYER YOU PLAYED AGAINST?
AGAIN a tough choice, given I faced Kaka, Messi and Ronaldo, winners of nine Ballon D’Or awards between them! I’ll go for Cristiano, who seems to be getting better and better.
BIGGEST TURNING POINT IN YOUR CAREER?
REJECTING the chance to join Manchester City in order to stay with Dundee United as a 16-year-old. It helped propel me straight into first-team football.
BEST GOAL YOU SCORED?
THE one for United against Motherwell in 2004, which clinched the club a top-six place. I picked up the ball on the by-line, cut inside, did a step over and then, from fully 25 yards, curled it into the far top corner.
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT?
AS a kid I was obsessed with the Champions League, so to play a good few games in the competition was a dream come true for me. I’ll never forget my debut at Old Trafford, in front of 70,000, and the way the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when the music came on.
BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER?
GRAEME LIVESTON was the man who helped me make the decision to stay at United and he has remained a constant source of advice and support to this day.
MOST-MEMORABLE GAME YOU PLAYED IN?
CELTIC 1-0 Rangers, Scottish Cup, March 2, 2011. The so-called “shame game” in which Rangers had three players – Steven Whittaker, Madjid Bougherra and El-Hadji Diouf – sent off. With everything that went on, it almost gets overlooked that I scored the winner.
BEST STORY ABOUT A TEAM-MATE?
SCOTT BROWN once drove Chris Killen’s car across the astro pitch at Lennoxtown to ‘hide’ it while Chris was away doing something. The trick fooled him perfectly and we all cracked up.
SECRET ABOUT YOU?
I’M in the midst of a history degree through the Open University.