Ben Wilmot

Benjamin Lewis Wilmot (born 4 November 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays for Swansea City, on loan from Watford. He primarily plays in central defence, though he can also be deployed in midfield.

Ben Wilmot
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Lewis Wilmot[1]
Date of birth (1999-11-04) 4 November 1999[2]
Place of birth Stevenage, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Swansea City
(on loan from Watford)
Number 20
Youth career
0000–2014 Hitchin Town
2014–2016 Stevenage
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Stevenage 10 (0)
2018– Watford 2 (0)
2019 → Udinese (loan) 5 (0)
2019– → Swansea City (loan) 21 (2)
National team‡
2018 England U19 2 (0)
2018– England U20 2 (0)
2019– England U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:45, 12 October 2019 (UTC)

Wilmot began his career at Stevenage in the club's academy before breaking through into the first-team during the 2017–18 season. He subsequently signed for Watford in May 2018. Wilmot was loaned out to Serie A club Udinese in January 2019, before later joining Swansea City of the Championship on loan in July 2019. He has also represented England at U19, U20 and U21 level.

Club career

Stevenage

Wilmot joined Stevenage as an academy scholar,[3] and progressed through the youth ranks at his hometown club.[3] As a first-year scholar, he signed his first professional contract with the club in April 2017, having impressed throughout Stevenage's FA Youth Cup run during the 2016–17 season.[3][4]

He made his first-team debut on 3 October 2017, playing the whole match in the centre of defence as Stevenage drew 0–0 away at Milton Keynes Dons in the EFL Trophy.[5] He established himself as a first-team regular throughout January 2018, helping the club keep three clean sheets in six matches.[6] Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace stated the club had rejected three bids from Premier League clubs for Wilmot during the 2018 January transfer window,[7] which included a £500,000 bid from Watford, whilst Tottenham Hotspur offered "slightly less".[8] Wilmot was not included in any of Stevenage's matches from the start of April 2018 until the remainder of the season with a transfer "close" to being agreed.[9][10] He made 15 appearances during the campaign.[6]

Watford

Wilmot signed for Premier League side Watford on 24 May 2018, for an undisclosed fee and on a five-year deal.[11] Stevenage stated that the fee was a record transfer fee received by the club and that it could rise significantly based on Wilmot's future appearances.[12] Wilmot made his first-team debut for Watford in the club's EFL Cup tie away at Reading on 29 August 2018, starting and playing the whole match in a 2–0 win.[13]

Loan to Udinese

Wilmot joined Serie A club Udinese on loan on 31 January 2019 for the remainder of the 2018–19 season.[14] He made his Udinese debut in the club's 4–1 loss away to Juventus on 8 March 2019, playing the first half of the match.[15] Wilmot made five appearances for Udinese during the loan spell.[16]

Loan to Swansea

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, on 25 July 2019, Wilmot joined Championship club Swansea City on a season-long loan deal.[17] He made his Swansea debut in the club's 3–1 home victory over Northampton Town in the EFL Cup on 13 August 2019, playing the whole match.[18][19] Wilmot made just two appearances in the opening two months of the campaign,[19] eventually making his Championship debut as an late substitute in a 2–1 away win at Charlton Athletic on 2 October 2019.[20] He scored his first goal for the club in the South Wales derby; his first-half header proved decisive in an eventual 1–0 victory on 27 October 2019.[21]

International career

Wilmot was called up to represent England U19s in March 2018 for their three 2018 UEFA European U19 Championship qualification matches in Skopje.[22] Wilmot was the only player outside of the top two divisions to be named in the squad.[8] He made his England U19 debut in a 3–0 win over Latvia U19s on 24 March 2018, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute in the match.[23] In doing so, he became the first Stevenage player to represent England at youth level.[22]

Wilmot was included in the England U21 squad on 30 August 2019.[24] He was called up once again in October 2019 and eventually made his U21 debut in a 2–2 draw against Slovenia U21s in Maribor on 11 October 2019, coming on as a second-half substitute in the match.[25]

Style of play

Described as a "ball-playing midfielder" in the youth system at Stevenage,[8] Wilmot moved into central defence where he was deployed during his breakthrough season in the first-team with the club.[8][26] After signing for Watford, manager Javi Gracia stated that Wilmot "has the intelligence" to play in a holding midfield role in front of the two central defenders.[26] He was subsequently deployed there during the 2018–19 season for both Watford and Udinese.[26][27][28] Wilmot considers himself primarily a defender, but states he is also comfortable playing in midfield.[28] He has said he does not model his game on any other player, but "takes inspiration from technically-gifted players" such as Sergio Busquets.[28]

Personal life

He is the son of former Stevenage goalkeeper Richard Wilmot, who made over 150 appearances for the Hertfordshire club.[29][30]

Career Statistics
As of match played 22 February 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stevenage 2016–17[31] League Two 0000000000
2017–18[6] League Two 10030002[lower-alpha 1]0150
Total 100300020150
Watford 2018–19[32] Premier League 202020—60
2019–20[19] Premier League 0000——00
Total 202020—60
Udinese (loan) 2018–19[16] Serie A 50———50
Swansea City (loan) 2019–20[19] Championship 1720020—192
Career total 342504020452
  1. Appearances in the EFL Trophy

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Swansea City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 71. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  2. "Profile". 11v11. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  3. "Ben Wilmot signs professional terms". Stevenage F.C. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  4. "Stevenage duo put pen to paper on new deals". The Comet. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  5. "Report: MK Dons 0–0 Stevenage (5–4 pens)". Stevenage F.C. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  6. "Games played by Ben Wilmot in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  7. "Phil Wallace's inside story on the January Transfer Window". Stevenage F.C. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  8. "The rise and rise of Ben Wilmot: The England teenager bucking the trend". Independent. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  9. "Wilmot withdrawn from squad as club in talks over transfer". Stevenage F.C. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  10. "Ben Wilmot: Stevenage chairman says defender close to leaving club". BBC Sport. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  11. "Official: Watford Sign Wilmot". Watford F.C. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  12. "Ben Wilmot signs with Watford for club record fee". Stevenage F.C. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  13. "Reading 0–2 Watford". BBC Sport. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  14. "Official: Wilmot leaves on loan". Watford F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  15. "Juventus 4–1 Udinese". Soccerway. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  16. "Soccerway – Ben Wilmot". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  17. "Watford defender Ben Wilmot completes Swansea City loan switch". Evening Standard. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  18. "Swansea City 3–1 Northampton Town". BBC Sport. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  19. "Games played by Ben Wilmot in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  20. "Charlton Athletic 1–2 Swansea City". BBC Sport. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  21. "Swansea City 1–0 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  22. "Ben Wilmot named in England U19 squad". Stevenage F.C. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  23. "England U19 3–0 Latvia U19". Soccerway. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  24. "England U21s kick-off a new campaign and Aidy Boothroyd has picked his squad". The FA. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  25. "Goals from Eddie Nketiah and Sam Surridge cancelled out as Young Lions tie in Maribor". The FA. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  26. "Ben Wilmot: Watford boss Javi Gracia looking to mould 'intelligent' teenager into central midfielder". Watford Observer. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  27. "Wilmot: "It gives you that bit more desire to start"". Watford F.C. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  28. "Wilmot relishing 'Udinese opportunity'". Football Italia. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  29. "Boroguide – Ben Wilmot". Boroguide. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  30. "Boroguide – Richard Wilmot". Boroguide. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  31. "B. Wilmot: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  32. "Games played by Ben Wilmot in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  33. "EFL Awards: Ben Wilmot wins League Two Apprentice of the Year". Stevenage F.C. 15 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
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