‘I have come a long way but there is a long way still to go’
Striker Callum Wilson’s call-up by England is the latest step on a journey with many obstacles
When Callum Wilson’s England recognition was confirmed shortly after 2pm on Thursday it was natural that his first thought should be about the journey he had made.
“Days like this just prove that no matter what obstacles you face in life, you can always bounce back,” he says. It was no cliche.
In fact, it was actually more like an understatement. This, after all, was a player who spent a small part of his childhood in foster care after his father left and his mother, Tara, was forced to raise six children alone.
This was also a player who, only six years ago, was playing nonleague football at Tamworth. And this was a player who, when he did finally make it into the Premier League with Bournemouth, ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of each knee in the space of 16 months. Yet this is also now a player who stands to become the first Bournemouth footballer to start for England in the club’s 119-year history.
In a week when Der Spiegel and Manchester City combined to test even the most rosy-eyed optimist’s faith in football, it was also a timely reminder that the beautiful game can still throw up an authentic fairy tale.
“It is amazing,” Wilson says. “I never wanted to talk my way in. I wanted to let my football do the talking and get in on merit and feel like I deserved it.”
Next week will certainly mark a big difference from the previous international break. Wilson was back visiting old friends and family in Coventry last month, including the grandparents from his once absent father’s side of the family. “Me and my son were there eating and this key started going in the door,” he says. “My grandad was, ‘Ah, it must be your dad’. I was, ‘Really?’ We didn’t arrange to meet. It was the first time in two years.”
And how was it? “It’s like we are mates, not father and son. Like I know him but don’t know him. Passing ships. We had a little chat. He asked how I was doing. It’s a relationship where we speak. Obviously, with what happened – not that I hold it against him, I don’t really know the circumstances – but I’m not going to be letting him back into my life the way he would have been if he had been there from the start. He’s my dad, at the end of the day, but obviously I’m disappointed.
“I am willing to work on it but not willing to go out of my way. I don’t see why I should, really. If it fits in with my life, then perfect. If it doesn’t, then it stays how it is. I’m quite a stubborn person.”
Wilson’s candour on such a difficult subject is a revealing window into his personality. He is smiley, friendly and approachable, but there is an inner resilience which cannot be underestimated. It was certainly never easy to pursue his passion for football and he often relied upon lifts from coaches or friends.
Two moments became pivotal. The first, when he was 17, was meeting Stacey, who is now his wife. She introduced him to eating healthily and believed in his ambition to become a Premier League player. The second, three years later, was having their son, Oritse. “It was a case of having to grow up, be a dad and provide,” he says. “I always said that I would provide for my son differently to how I was provided for from my father. That was my desire when I was 20 and not even playing in League One. I would go on loan to Kettering, have a stinker, and think it’s a long way to go, but I believed.”
He saw friends go off the rails, and a conversation with Greg Rioch, Coventry’s former academy manager, still resonates. “He told me, ‘Hang around with people who have the same ambitions’. I had a massive circle. Friends who were good, friends who were bad. Friends who abided by the law, friends who didn’t.
“It was a case of whittling down who will be positive for me to have in a tighter circle. I still speak to the others. I would never, ever forget my roots. I am always going back. My mum is still in the house I grew up in. My brothers and sisters are still at home. My mum is proud; she enjoys the area.”
Wilson’s breakthrough season would come in 2013-14 when Coventry were in League One. He scored 22 goals, and promptly scored another 23 the following season in the Championship after being signed for £3.5 million by Eddie Howe at Bournemouth.
Wilson had just scored five Premier League goals in six games when the first anterior cruciate ligament injury struck. The second, in February 2017, provoked tears of frustration and yet he would adopt a more patient approach to rehabilitation that is yielding a long-term benefit.
He and Stacey now also have a one-year-old daughter, Orlagh – “she’s walking – a proper little madam” – and he laughs when he reveals that six-year-old Oritse has got the “Wilson” name back on his own replica shirt, after insisting on Josh King’s while his father was injured.
As he prepares now to join a dressing room with Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Wayne Rooney, he hopes to have learnt from his one Under-21 international appearance with Gareth Southgate.
“I was younger, not as mentally strong,” he says. “You can feel inferior. I feel like now, if I was to talk to myself, I would know I had been there for a reason, because I was doing well, rather than feeling lucky.
“Everything happened so quick. The most important thing has been for me, my wife and son to remain how we were. That is something I am proud of. We still do the same things, wear tracksuits every day. It’s nice to reminisce on how far I have come…” There is then a pause as Wilson’s face turns more serious “... but I have got a long way to go.”