At club level Wilson played for Internapoli and Lazio, as well as representing the Italy national team three times in 1974.

Wilson was one of 15 named in the Italian football betting scandal in 1980 (along with Bruno Giordano, Massimo Cacciatori and Lionello Manfredonia, in the first instance).

When Joseph Wilson was just six months old, his family moved to Naples, his mother's hometown as she found it hard to settle in the United Kingdom due to the cold winters.

As his career wound down, Wilson spent a season in the United States, playing in the NASL league with the New York Cosmos during 1978, and winning the title.

[5] Wilson's success with Lazio gained him a place in the Italy national team, and he was in the squad for the 1974 FIFA World Cup.