Scott Wiseman

Scott Nigel Kenneth Wiseman (born 9 October 1985) is a former professional footballer who last played as a defender for Lincoln Red Imps. His preferred position is right-back. In November 2013 he made his debut for Gibraltar, qualifying through his mother, who was born in Gibraltar. Upon his retirement from football in May 2023, he was appointed Women's Football Development manager for the Gibraltar Football Association, and served as interim manager in June 2023.

Club career

Hull City
Born in Hull, Humberside, Wiseman had been involved with his hometown club, Hull City, since the age of six and progressed through the youth teams under Billy Russell. Wiseman made his senior debut for the Tigers in a 1–1 draw against Kidderminster Harriers in the 2003–04 season. Wiseman also made another appearance in the 2003–04 season, in a 3–2 loss against Northampton Town on 10 April 2004.

Wiseman made only four appearances for Hull City in the 2004–05 season and saw him being loaned out to Boston United on 18 February 2005. Wiseman made his Boston United debut the next day, where he made his first start, in a 1–1 draw against Bristol Rovers. He also made another appearance for the club against Northampton Town on 26 February 2005 before returning to his parent club.

He made an increased number of appearances for Hull City in 2005–06, but then spent the first half of the 2006–07 season on loan to Rotherham United. Wiseman made his Rotherham United debut, in the opening game of the season, coming on as a substitute in the second half, in a 1–0 loss against Brighton & Hove Albion. Wiseman scored his first senior goal, in a match against Leyton Orient on 23 September 2006. After making eighteen appearances for the club, where Wiseman was featured in the first team regularly, his loan spell at Rotherham United came to an end in February 2007.

Darlington
On 9 March 2007, Wiseman joined Darlington on loan until the end of the season. Wiseman made his Darlington debut the next day, making his first start and played 90 minutes, in a 0–0 draw against Rochdale. While on loan at Darlington, Wiseman made ten appearances for them before returning to his parent club, with Manager Dave Penney's chance of keeping him is unlikely.

He joined Darlington permanently on 24 May 2007. However, Wiseman suffered a setback when he suffered an achilles injury that kept him out for the start of the season. After appearing two times as an unused substitute on 2 October 2007 and 6 October 2007, Wiseman, once again, suffered an injury that kept him throughout 2007. After making his return, Wiseman made his Rochdale debut, coming on as a substitute in the second half, on 1 January 2008, in a 1–1 draw against Rochdale. Wiseman appeared both play-off semi-final legs against Rochdale, winning the first game and losing the second a week later. The tie went to penalties which Darlington lost 5–4, where he played the whole leg in both games. After the game, Wiseman was among six players to be released by the club.

Rochdale
Wiseman signed for Rochdale on a free following his release from Darlington in the summer of 2008, signing a six-month deal.

Wiseman made his Rochdale debut, where he made his first start and played for 75 minutes, in a 0–0 draw against Grimsby Town in the opening game of the season. In a match against Luton Town on 22 November 2008, he set up a goal for Lee Thorpe to score the opener, in a 2–0 win. With seventeen appearances made so far, Wiseman was rewarded with a contract extension, keeping until the end of the season. After missing a game, due to an injury, Wiseman made his return, only to be sent-off, just 31 minutes to the game, in a 4–1 loss against Exeter City on 20 December 2008. Despite suffering an injury as the season came to an end, he finished his first season at the club, making thirty-four appearances in all competition. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Wiseman was released by the club.

However, in the unexpected turn of an event, Wiseman re-joined the club on 9 June 2009 after Simon Ramsden left Rochdale for Bradford City. Following his return, Wiseman continued to established himself in the first team despite suffering injuries. Wiseman scored his first goal for Rochdale on 5 December 2009 against Macclesfield Town, which saw them win 3-0 and for his performance, Wiseman was named Team of the Week, alongside Jason Taylor. As the 2009–10 season progressed, Wiseman made thirty-six appearances and scoring once for the club and helping the club reach promotion to League One next season. For his performance, Wiseman signed a two-year contract with the club.

In the 2010–11 season, Wiseman started the season well, where he helped the club made a good start with eight points and his performance were among singled out by Manager Keith Hill. After a month out, due to a stomach muscle problem, he made his return to the first team on 16 October 2010, in a 2–1 loss against Bristol Rovers. Wiseman then provided an assist and helped the club end their seven games without a win, in a 3–2 win over Tranmere Rovers on 1 January 2011. However, in the next game against Oldham Athletic on 3 January 2011, he received a straight red card, in a 2–1 win. As the 2010–11 season progressed towards the end of the season, Wiseman went on to make forty appearances in all competition.

Barnsley
On 21 June 2011, Wiseman left Rochdale to join Barnsley for an undisclosed fee, joining alongside his teammate Matt Done and Manager Hill. Upon joining the club, newly Manager Steve Eyre stated he allowed the pair to leave, refusing to intervene into staying at Rochdale.

Wiseman made his Barnsley debut, in the opening game of the season, making his first start as a right-back and played the whole minutes, in a 0–0 draw against Nottingham Forest. Wiseman then scored his first goal for Barnsley, in a 3–2 win against Derby County on 31 January 2012. As the 2011–12 season progressed, Wiseman played out in different position, mostly in the full-back. Wiseman went on to finish his first season at the club, making forty-five appearances and scoring once.

The 2012–13 season saw Wiseman captained his first match following the absence of Jimmy McNulty and played the whole game as captain, as they lost 5–1 against Brighton & Hove Albion on 25 August 2012. 
Following this, Wiseman captained for most of Barnsley matches for almost throughout 2012 and played a centre-back until he was dropped to the substitute for the match against Burnley on 27 November 2012. Wiseman returned to the squad as captain after spending two weeks as an unused substitute, in a 2–2 draw against Leicester City on 8 December 2012. In the January transfer window, Barnsley accepted a bid from Blackpool for Wiseman. However, the deal fell through. Though he rejected the move, Wiseman has increasingly become very unpopular among Barnsley supporters over his performance. Despite this, Wiseman continued to retain their place following newly appointed manager David Flitcroft used Wiseman as a right wing back due to the £3 million sale of youngster John Stones to Everton. In comparison to his somewhat average performances as a centre half under the Hill regime, Wiseman made the right wing back position his own and became an integral part of the 2013 Reds side that narrowly avoided relegation to League One. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Wiseman finished the season, making forty-one appearances in all competition.

In the 2013–14 season, Wiseman continued to be in a first team regular at the club, mostly in the right-back position. In a 2–1 loss against Leicester City on 28 September 2013, Wiseman had his wrongly goal disallowed following an offside blunder. Wiseman was a fault when he scored an own goal, in a 1–0 loss against Millwall on 25 November 2013. Following the match, Manager Flitcroft was quick to defend Wiseman for his performance against Millwall. Despite being a first team regular at Barnsley in the first half of the season, Wiseman was released by the club.

Preston North End
Shortly after leaving Barnsley, Wiseman signed for League One side Preston North End, signing an 18-month deal. even though he had offers to stay in The Championship.

The next day, Wiseman made his Preston North End debut, coming on as a substitute in the second half, in a 2–0 loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers. In a match against Tranmere Rovers on 8 February 2014, Wiseman set up one of the Joe Garner's goals, in a 2–1 win. Despite suffering from an injury, Wiseman made fifteen in the second half of the season.

In the 2014–15 season, Wiseman found himself competing with a right-back role with Calum Woods, which resulted him on the substitute in number of matches. Wiseman scored his first goal of the season, in a 4–2 win over Colchester United on 4 October 2014. Wiseman then scored his second goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against MK Dons on 13 December 2014. Despite suffering from injuries and international commitment, Wiseman helped the club gain promotion to the Championship and scored two times in thirty appearances in all competition. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Wiseman was released by the club following his expiry of his contract.

Scunthorpe United

After being released by Preston North End, Wiseman joined Scunthorpe United on 28 May 2015 on a two-year deal. Upon joining the club, Wiseman stated joining Scunthorpe United was the one team he would sign for when they were interested in signing him. Additionally, he was given number two shirt to a new season.

Wiseman made his Scunthorpe United debut, in the opening game of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Burton Albion. Wiseman continued to remain in the first team despite being dropped to the substitute in handful of matches, as he competed with a right-back position with Jordan Clarke. Around the same time he's competing for the right-back role, Wiseman played out in different position on two occasions. Wiseman then provided two assists in two league matches against Gillingham and Barnsley between 20 October 2015 and 31 October 2015. However, as the 2015–16 season, Wiseman suffered two injuries before one of them saw him out for the remainder of the season. Wiseman went on to finish the 2015–16 season, making twenty-nine appearances in all competition.

In the 2016–17 season, Wiseman continued to compete with Clark over a right-back position in the first team and made his return to training in the pre-season. Wiseman made his first appearance since returning from injury, coming on as a late substitute, in a 3–1 win against Bristol Rovers in the opening game of the season. Wiseman then provided an assist for Josh Morris, who scored a hat-trick, in a 4–1 win over Walsall on 27 September 2016, followed up by scoring his first goal for the club in the next game and set up a winning goal for Morris, in a 2–1 win over Bury. On 11 May 2017, Wiseman was released by the club.

Chesterfield
On 19 May 2017, Wiseman joined League Two club Chesterfield on a two-year contract.

Salford City
Following the end of his contract with Chesterfield, in June 2018 he signed for Salford City on a one-year contract. He made his debut in the opening match of the 2018–19 season on 4 August as Salford drew 1–1 at home to Leyton Orient. At the end of the 2018–19 season he signed a new one-year contract. Wiseman was released from the club on 17 May 2020.

Lincoln Red Imps
In June 2020, following his release from Salford City, Wiseman moved to Gibraltar to sign for Lincoln Red Imps.

After 3 years at the club, Wiseman announced his retirement from playing on 18 May 2023. The next day, he was appointed Women's Football Development Manager at the GFA, where he had previously served as a Youth Development Officer during his playing career.

International career

England national youth teams
Wiseman has also represented England at Under-20 level in the Toulon Tournament, a competition which saw then Hull City and England Under-21s manager Peter Taylor take charge of the England team.

Gibraltar
Wiseman called up by the Gibraltar national football team for the first time on 19 November 2013 after it was revealed that he is eligible to play for the national team through his mother. Wiseman made his debut for Gibraltar in their first UEFA match on 19 November 2013, a 0–0 draw against Slovakia. This was Gibraltar's first game since being admitted to UEFA.

Wiseman started in Gibraltar's World Cup qualifying match against Greece on the 6 September 2016. He assisted Liam Walker to score Gibraltar's first ever goal in a World Cup Qualifier in the 26th minute and equalize 1-1. However, in the 44th minute Wiseman unfortunately scored an own goal to give Greece the lead back. Greece then followed up with two quickfire goals before halftime and won the match 4–1.

Coaching career
In March 2023 Wiseman put his international playing career on hold to take charge of the Gibraltar national under-16 football team in their upcoming UEFA Development Tournament in Bulgaria.

Personal life
While growing up in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Wiseman grew supporting Hull City and was a pupil at Malet Lambert School. Wiseman is married and had a Twitter account before he closed it following abuse from Barnsley supporters he received in January 2013.

Career statistics

Club

Managerial statistics

Includes accredited UEFA fixture(s) only:

Honours
Salford City
National League play-offs: 2019

Lincoln Red Imps
Gibraltar Football League: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
Rock Cup: 2021, 2021–22

References

External links

Living people
1985 births
Footballers from Kingston upon Hull
English men's footballers
Gibraltarian men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Hull City A.F.C. players
Boston United F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Darlington F.C. players
Rochdale A.F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
Preston North End F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Chesterfield F.C. players
Salford City F.C. players
Lincoln Red Imps F.C. players
English Football League players
England men's youth international footballers
Gibraltar men's international footballers
English people of Gibraltarian descent