Jonathan Wilson (writer)

Wilson studied English at Oxford University and was the sports editor of the student paper, The Oxford Student. He read for a Master's degree at Durham University, where he was a member of the Graduate Society. Wilson was the main contributor to a feature on The Guardian website, "The Question", in which he analyses modern trends and evolutions in football. "The Question" has included articles on the decline of the box-to-box midfielder, the importance of the modern full-back and the evolution of the defensive striker. He is currently the main football columnist for The Observer. His book, Inverting the Pyramid, was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2008, and won 'Best Football Book' at the British Sports Book Awards in 2009. Nine of his other books have also been shortlisted for the award. Inverting the Pyramid also won the Premio Antonio Ghirelli and was shortlisted for the German football book of the year award. His book, Angels with Dirty Faces, which covered the history of football in Argentina, won "Best Football Book" and "Best Historical Book" at the Polish Sports Book Awards (Sportowa Książka Roku) in 2018. The Names Heard Long Ago won "Best Foreign Football Book" at the awards in 2023. He won FSA Football Writer of the Year in 2012, 2017, 2021 and 2024. == Personal life ==

He supports Sunderland A.F.C. in football. He plays cricket on the Authors XI team with other British writers. He is also an occasional player for Hutton CC 5th XI, with whom his most memorable innings of an unbeaten 117 runs was achieved on July 9th 2022 against Belhus CC 5th XI. He appeared in series 10 of the quiz show Only Connect as part of the Nightwatchmen team. He resides in Wandsworth, South London. Wilson has boycotted Thistle Hotels since February 2004. In February 2004, he was assigned to cover a UEFA Cup match between Liverpool and Levski Sofia. Having covered a UEFA Champions' League round-of-16 tie between VfB Stuttgart and Chelsea the day before, he arrived in Liverpool after midnight, and when he arrived at the Thistle Hotel in Liverpool, the hotel had sold his room and assigned him another hotel a significant distance away in St Helens. The Thistle gave Wilson an "insultingly poor" bottle of red wine as an apology, and the room that the Thistle booked for him in St Helens was £140 cheaper than the room he had booked at the Thistle in Liverpool. On top of that, Wilson had to pay the taxi fare between St Helens and Anfield to cover the Liverpool match. == Books ==

• Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football (2006) • Sunderland: A Club Transformed (2007) • Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics (2008) • The Anatomy of England (2010) • Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You: The Biography (2011) • The Outsider: A History of the Goalkeeper (2012) • The Anatomy of Liverpool (2013) • Angels With Dirty Faces: The Footballing History of Argentina (2016) • The Anatomy of Manchester United: A History in Ten Matches (2017) • ''The Barcelona Legacy: Guardiola, Mourinho and the Fight For Football's Soul'' (2018) • The Names Heard Long Ago: How the Golden Age of Hungarian Football Shaped the Modern Game (2019) • Two Brothers: The Life and Times of Bobby and Jackie Charlton (2022) • The Power and the Glory: A New History of the World Cup (2025) == References ==