He may not have been one of Glory’s most flamboyant overseas recruits, but there’s no doubt that Gavin Wilkinson was one of the most influential, both on and off the pitch.
For in addition to claiming the inaugural Most Glorious Player Award in 1996 and making nearly 70 appearances for the club, the New Zealand international was also Glory’s first development officer.
So when not training or playing, he’d be out promoting the start-up club through coaching clinics and attending all manner of events and functions, more often than not travelling to his destination in the famous Glory mini-bus.
And the man from Auckland clearly took a lot from the experience, because he subsequently worked in a similar dual role at American Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers whom he initially joined in 2001 and where now, some 18 years later, is still employed as General Manager/President of Soccer.
A club man in the truest sense of the word, Wilkinson’s part in the evolution of Glory should not be underestimated and we’d love to get your memories of a character who never shirked a challenge on or off the field.
And if you’d also like to comment on one of the club’s most iconic away kits (as sported by Wilkinson in the picture above), feel free!
#OneGlory
