The Rangers academy graduate aiming to unearth future Ibrox stars in Northern Ireland - Aidan Wilson interview

The 23-year-old defender is currently plying his trade for Glentoran in Northern Ireland where he combines playing with coaching.

Wilson’s Rangers journey began at the tender age of seven but it would culminate in a handful of appearances for the first team.

He feels a strong sense of gratitude to the club for the standards and principles they instilled which is why he’s decided to give something back.

Despite injury curtailing his Ibrox career, Wilson says he owes Rangers a lot: “I do a bit of coaching at the Soccer Schools over here in Northern Ireland and that’s where I started.

“I began at 7, every Sunday and then I quickly got drafted into the Under 11s at the time which was a year older than me. I then joined in with the pro-youth setup and left when I was 21, so a 14-year stint.

“When you’re there for so long you end up falling in love with the club, no doubt. There was only one team for me.

“I know Phil Cowen really well from when I was at Rangers. He used to come over with the Northern Irish lads and a few of them would come on trial and get signed.

“When I came over I rang Phil and said that I wanted to get involved in the Soccer Schools and I want to give a wee bit back.

“I’ve still got loads to learn but although I’m only 23, I know a good part of the game. I’m quite experienced for my age to be fair and it was an opportunity for me to give something back. I wanted to do it and I love it.

“It keeps me thinking as well. For me, down the line, coaching is definitely something that’s in my head and to do it with those kids and put on sessions for them and see how sessions work and see what they like and don’t like. As a player and as a coach, you can learn from that and just get better.

“It’s a really good opportunity for me.”

On the pitch, Wilson and The Glens have started the season well and sit proudly top of the Irish Premiership after six games.

After signing from fellow Irish side Crusaders in the summer, Wilson is enjoying life at The Oval: “I’m doing well and I’m enjoying it a lot more,” he said. “I came over and signed for Crusaders and they sort of had a hybrid full-time system. A lot of the lads were still part-time so it’s difficult to adapt to, especially coming from Rangers where I was proper full-time.

“It was difficult to adjust but now I’m at Glentoran and it’s proper full-time, there are some really good coaches there, the gaffer is brilliant as well so I’m enjoying it and when you’re enjoying your football that’s when you play your best football.

“Everything’s all good and we’ve had a good start as well which always makes things better.”

Wilson was part of the Glentoran side that defeated Rangers B Team 6-3 in July but was blown away by the talent displayed by his former club: “It was weird because I’ve not played against any Rangers side since I left the club,” he admitted. “It was good to see a lot of familiar faces. A lot of the coaching staff are still there and I knew quite a lot of the players but a lot of them were young lads. The boys are talented. A lot of our boys were shocked at how good they are and how well-coached they were.”

And well-coached is something Wilson was as he progressed through the Academy all the way to the Rangers first team. It was coaching that has helped shape him into the player and man he is today. 

He explained: “I always look back on my time at Rangers in two stints. There was the Jim Sinclair era which I grew up between my young days from seven up to 15 or 16 and then Craig Mulholland took over.

“The first part of the Jim Sinclair era, everything was about winning. If you threw on that jersey you were going out there to win. The coaches I had through the years installed that in us.

“I had some great coaches. Andy Kennedy, Jim McNee, Robin Gibson, all these coaches who I think are still there now are absolutely vital to the club. They’ve been there for so many years but they’re still giving their wisdom to the lads, you’ve got to keep those guys at the club.

“Towards my second half when I got a bit older it was more about development. You’re still wanting to win, that never went away but it was more development where if you lose you learn which is fine.

“What you learn as a kid, I don’t think you ever lose it, it stays with you and it stays with me now. I was so grateful for the coaches that I had as a kid, I think they mould you into the person and player that you are now.”

“When I was getting to 16/17 I think it was Mark Warburton who was the manager but he never really brought too many young boys round to train with the first team.

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“Then Pedro got the job and there were more young boys filtering round. I ended up going round and training and I seemed to do well enough to the point where Pedro wanted you to come round and was actually asking for me.

“At that age, you don’t really have too much of an opinion. You just go round and give 100 per cent, try your best and try and learn as much as you can.

“I look back now and think, ‘Wow! What an experience to learn from some of these guys and what an opportunity to try and get better.’

“I loved the training, it was brilliant. You were training with experienced boys like Bruno Alves, who won the Euros with Portugal. You could go through them all and they’ve all done amazing things in their career so, for me, at that age it was just about going around and trying to learn off these guys.

“Everything was just so much quicker. Physically, they were quicker and stronger and mentally they did things quicker. Everything was one, two touch. That was the one thing you noticed was the pace of the game, everything just went up a couple of gears.

“Clint Hill really helped me. He used to sit and watch my clips with me and just give me wee pointers here and there. He was probably the most influential of the centre-halves at the time. I actually speak to Clint here and there now and if I need anything I’ll just drop him a message and he’ll always reply. He was great for me.”

Wilson would make his senior debut at Ibrox against Aberdeen in May 2017 and while the Dons would emerge victorious from Govan for the first time in 26 years, it was a momentous occasion for the 18-year-old although one that caught him by surprise: “It was a last-minute thing,” he admitted.

“Clint had something wrong with his calf and he did a fitness test on the morning of the game. I didn’t know whether he passed it or failed it so I didn’t know until I actually drove in and the manager announced the team that I was playing.

“As soon as I knew I was playing I was buzzing. I think if I had found out the night before I wouldn’t have got a good night’s sleep so it probably worked out well the way it did.

“I can remember walking out and the stuff in the changing room but the game not so much. Walking out to Simply the Best was definitely the best feeling of my life. I just remember doing a couple of wee sprints and you just go, ‘Wow!’ at the noise and the atmosphere.

“The roar from the fans was amazing, it was unbelievable and we should’ve nicked a draw at the end.”

The defeat was one of many under former boss Pedro Caixinha and the Portuguese was sent packing not long into the following season with Graeme Murty taking over on an interim basis for the second time.

Wilson and former Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha (Image: Wilson and former Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha)

For a teenage Wilson, his departure was tinged with sadness as he explained: “Yeah I think I definitely was sad to see him go. He trusted me and he told me that so the opportunity would’ve probably come around again. I was absolutely itching to play again.

“I think it’s tough when you don’t get that because then everything else becomes not as good. It’s difficult to go back and play reserve games and games that don’t necessarily mean as much. For me, playing for Rangers meant everything and to play and then go back was difficult.

“But these sort of things happen and at the end of the day it’s a result-driven business and at Rangers you have to win, that’s plain and simple and if you’re not doing that then it’s just the nature of football.

“Graeme was a very good coach. He did a lot for me when he was the reserve manager. We learned a lot from him. When he got the job I was a bit disappointed not to get a shot under him but again, that’s just football. He makes the decisions and that’s why I ended up going out on loan to play football because I was at that age when you have to play, you can’t just sit and play reserves.

“At that time, I just didn’t want to wait, I wanted to play football but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Loan spells at Dumbarton, Forfar and Edinburgh City would follow but Wilson admitted it was tough to adjust: “I think, at the time, I didn’t really enjoy it if I’m being totally honest.

“I look at the loans I had and I didn’t enjoy the football. I didn’t get to play much football as it was very direct and we were playing on worse pitches but, on the other hand, I learned so much about myself and football away from Rangers which probably stands me in good stead now.

“Once you leave Rangers you realise how good it is and how lucky you are to be there. Maybe I didn’t enjoy it much but undoubtedly I learned loads about myself and loads about football and looking back now it was a good thing for me.”

Wilson wasn’t alone in being excited at the prospect of Steven Gerrard becoming his manager but bad luck would strike in the form of a knee injury that would curtail any hopes he had of featuring under the former Rangers boss.

But Wilson’s outlook is a mature one: “When he stepped into a room, there was that aura about him and that respect straight away for what he did in the game. I think he raised the level big time at Rangers. Everything got better. Anything you can think of, facilities, players, staff, physios, everything got better. Him coming from Liverpool, you could see he knew the standard and the club at that time had a wee bit to go to get to the standard and he brought it up.

“I didn’t need any words from him. You look at the centre-halves he was bringing in at the time and the money he was spending on them, Goldson, Helander, Edmundson, so I looked at the money being spent and thought it was going to be tough. Unfortunately, I also had an issue with my knee which put me back a bit so it was always going to be an uphill battle from there.

“When Gerrard first came in, we were doing a lot of hard runs and stuff in pre-season and I just felt something wasn’t right with my knee. I tried to play through it but I just didn’t feel physically right. To be fair, when I spoke to Gerrard before I left, he was brilliant and Mick Beale was as well. They could see I wasn’t right but they looked after me brilliantly. It took quite a while to work out what was best for me in terms of operation-wise but eventually, I got the best treatment and best surgery and the club looked after me brilliantly.

“Again, injuries are part of football and just the timing of things didn’t work in my favour but you always grow and learn if things maybe don’t happen for you so I think I’m strong mentally because that was tough for me mentally.

“Rangers was home for me for so long. I felt comfortable there and I knew everyone. The time I left was difficult as well because it was the middle of the Covid pandemic so no one knew what was going on.

“There was nothing concrete from clubs in Scotland or teams were saying, ‘Look, come in and train and we’ll have a look at you and maybe offer you something.’

“I just thought I don’t want that. Crusaders rang me and I went over and they looked after me. I felt that the Irish league was a good avenue for me. The league was getting better, there is more money getting invested in it and it looked like it was going places. I think when you look at the league now, there’s a lot of players coming over from Scotland and lots coming back from England.

“I felt it was going to be good for me, especially just coming away from Scotland. I looked at the loans that I had and I didn’t really enjoy them and I thought the change would work and so far it’s been really good.”

And like most former Rangers players, Wilson keeps a close eye on the goings on at his beloved club: “I watch as many games as I can,” he beamed. “You look at the league table and we’re only two points behind Celtic. You’ve just got to keep pushing, you go through sticky patches sometimes in football but you’ve got to try and go through the gears and hope that you’re going to get to the top of your performance.

“The good thing is the win at the weekend and with Celtic dropping points you’re only two points back and now it’s time to kick on.”