Ken Wilkins had won a Youth cap for Durham County before joining Sunderland as an amateur, aged 18. Upon demob from the Army, he signed for Southampton.

Playing at centre-forward for the Reserves, he scored plenty of goals.

And he found the net on his Division II debut. Even so, his last senior outing followed three days later. His path was blocked by the likes of Ted Bates and Eddy Brown. Bill Dodgin signed him for Second Division Fulham but Ken faced a similar obstacle there, with Bedford Jezzard established at No.9 and about to be capped. Never getting a first-team start at Craven Cottage but becoming firm friends with Bobby Robson, Ken soon left League football. In 1964, he migrated to South Africa. Settling in Cape Town, he became a production supervisor at South Africa Nylon Spinners. He managed a local side, Bellville City, and qualified as a referee.

He and his wife Joy returned to Southampton in January 1994 but the following year back in Parow North in Cape Town the cancer that he had been resisting for three years claimed his life. Even at the very end when he spent four months in hospital he asked his wife to bring him the latest Southampton FC news.