Port Vale
Wilson signed for Stoke City's rivals Port Vale in November 1963 for a £12,000 fee (in a package deal that also included Jackie Mudie).[3] Vale were then in the Third Division under manager Freddie Steele. He made 24 league appearances in 1963–64, and also played four games in the "Valiants" march to the FA Cup Fourth Round, where they took Liverpool to a replay after a goalless draw at Anfield. However, Vale suffered relegation in 1964–65, and Mudie replaced Steele as manager.
Having only played 23 games in 1964–65, Wilson enjoyed regular football in the Fourth Division, and missed just ten games of the 1965–66 campaign. He played 36 games in 1966–67, and also scored the first goal of his professional career on 28 March 1967, in a 5–0 demolition of Rochdale at Vale Park. Four days later at Kenilworth Road he doubled his goal tally, helping Vale to record a 1–1 draw with Luton Town.
Vale struggled under new manager Stanley Matthews (who was also a former teammate at Stoke) in the 1967–68 season, though Wilson played 45 games, missing just four league encounters. Vale improved under Gordon Lee in 1968–69, and Wilson posted 52 appearances, more even than club stalwart Roy Sproson. He also found the net against Southend United and Brentford. For his consistency he was named as Port Vale F.C. Player of the Year, becoming only the second winner of the award after Sproson.[4]
The club won promotion in fourth place in the 1969–70 season, with Wilson playing fifty games in an extremely consistent defence along with Sproson, Clint Boulton, and goalkeeper Keith Ball. Wilson opened the 1970–71 campaign by scoring the first goal of a 2–0 win over Swansea City at Vetch Field. He made a further sixteen appearances before December 1970, when he emigrated to South Africa due to his son's ill health.