[1] Wilkes was born in Alcester and played amateur football with Redditch Town before joining Aston Villa in 1894.
[1] Wilkes enjoyed a considerable amount of success at Villa, winning the English league title on three occasions as well as earning two FA Cup victories.
However, he lost his place to Billy George; Wilkes subsequently went on loan to Stoke towards the end of the 1897–98 season.
[1] They had to play the end-of-season test matches against the best teams in the Second Division in order to stay up.
[1] Wilkes returned to Villa at the end of the season and played four matches in 1898–99 before he rejoined Stoke on a permanent basis in 1899.