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We’re nearing the end of the season, but that hasn’t stopped The Athletic from investigating football’s most serious problems. My call is Jacob Whitehead and we tell the story of Sam Wilson, the coach with three calls and a rape conviction.
After wasting their manager to a rival team in February, Warrington Rylands (who play in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football and six rungs of the Premier League) have temporarily signed senior players Sam Wilson and Dean Furman.
At this point, Wilson was not included as an official member of the team under that call-up; however, she had referred to him as Sam Egerton since his arrival in 2021. Early in his career, he was also known as Sam Egerton-Wilson.
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At first, his coaching era started well, but after he was appointed permanent director earlier this month, responses to Rylands’ social media accounts temporarily changed. Links were shared to a Manchester Evening News article from 2015, describing how Wilson, then 23, was convicted of rape and ordered to signal to the sex offender after assaulting a woman in a Manchester apartment.
Wilson was sentenced to five years in prison, but turned to football in 2018, when he signed for non-league side Trafford FC under the surname Egerton. Three years later, he signed for Rylands, after a spell at Matlock Town.
His reign as permanent manager of Rylands lasted only 3 days, with a “mutually agreed” departure announced on April 16 through a short film that did not explain the reason for the decision.
Conversations with a host of similar non-league football resources in the region (all of whom wanted to remain anonymous to protect their positions) revealed that Wilson’s story is an open secret in the game.
At the same time, it raises tough questions about whether background checks conducted through the NPL and its clubs are rigorous enough that sex offenders aren’t presented with roles that may simply raise coverage issues. There is no public record of a Manchester rapist named Sam. Egerton: Has your call replacement clouded your past?
It has also been reported that an injury suffered by Egerton shortly after his release helped him re-enter football without the kind of visibility that could raise tough questions, while the NPL told The Athletic that a lack of manpower made it difficult to stay. forensic records.
Trafford and Matlock Town declined to say they were aware of Wilson’s conviction.
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Wilson is still indexed on Rylands’ online page as a player, but the article declaring him coach is nowhere to be found. Almost every other line of the resolution to rent it has been removed from social media.
Since his departure, Rylands has not spoken publicly about the reasons for the sudden replacement: the league’s regulations are governed through the Football Association, whose regulations allow contracts to be terminated if the club or festival is discredited.
It’s unclear why Wilson decided to walk away from Egerton’s call and back to Wilson, the call under which he was convicted nine years ago. He told The Athletic’s Simon Hughes that he prefers not to comment, saying he “struggles with a number of contracts. “questions,” just another unanswered question that his case raised.
Three days of work for Tim Spires of The Athletic, and for what?For this select vision of the Premier League, the department where any club can beat any other. As stated earlier, this is the circle of life. While we’re on the subject, the team looks at the competitive strength of England’s most no-nonsense flight on The Athletic Football Tactics podcast.
On this day in 2008, one of the strangest referees ever made, the famous “ghost goal” occurred. ? pic. twitter. com/DmLBk23fgo
– Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) September 20, 2023
Remember Stuart Attwell’s questionable decisions not to concede 3 consequences to Nottingham Forest over the weekend?Well, for Watford fans, he’s remembered for anything else, since 2008. The classic game is “find the ball”; See “Finding the Ball. “”Goal” instead. Yes, it did, and it helped replace football forever.
As if you need to reduce Friday’s productivity degrees even further, welcome to a new weekly test feature. The first question: call up the five players who played in the Premier League in 2023-24 and 2007-08?The answer will be available here at 11:00 ET (16:00 UK time) or we will also let you know the answer in Monday’s newsletter.
Championship: QPR vs Leeds United (3 p. m. ET / 8 p. m. UK vs. ESPN, Sky Sports Main Event). Leicester City will be promoted if Leeds lose, sealing an instant return to the Premier League.
Premier League: West Ham vs. West Ham Liverpool (3 p. m. ET / 12:30 p. m. UK – USA Network, TNT Sports 1). If Liverpool want to get back into the Premier League title race, they will most likely want to win the remaining game. 4 games, and even that may not be enough.
Premier League: Tottenham vs. Tottenham Arsenal (9 a. m. ET / 2pm UK vs. USA Network, Sky Sports Main Event). There hasn’t been a north London derby so far this season, with a team chasing the title, since Arsenal won the championship at White Hart Lane in 2004. The stakes are high.
(Feature photos: Greater Manchester Police and Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)