Before turning to coaching, Wilder was a right-back and represented 11 different clubs including Rotherham United, Notts County and his boyhood club, Sheffield United.
Wilder failed to win any trophies as a player, but since he turned to management in 2001, he has become a promotion specialist.
In 2010, he brought Oxford United into the Football League and six years later, he won promotion to League One with Northampton Town.
Then two promotions in three years with Sheffield United led the Blades to a first Premier League campaign in 12 years.
After securing a top-half finish in their first season back, Sheffield United suffered a horrible case of 'second season syndrome' as they were relegated back to the Championship and seemingly parted ways with Wilder for good.
Then came disappointing spells at Middlesborough and Watford for the 56-year-old, before the Blades came calling again and now Wilder faces one of the biggest challenges of his career as his troops find themselves in a perilous position at the foot of the Premier League table.
Sheffield-born Wilder started his career at Southampton as a trainee and was released without making it to the first team.
His professional debut came at Sheffield United as he joined them in 1986 and he made 14 appearances in his first full season with the club.
However, things turned sour for Wilder the following season as the Blades were relegated to the Third Division.
Wilder was a regular in the side that immediately returned to the Second Division and was part of the squad that won promotion to the First Division in the follwing season.
The right-back was a regular in their first season back in the First Division, but after that season he found first team football hard to come by, so he moved on to Rotherham United.
Wilder stayed with Rotherham for four seasons, making 158 appearances for the Millers and he then played for Notts County for two seasons before returning to the First Division with Bradford City.
Sheffield United once again came calling, but it was a short return as a year later he joined Brighton & Hove Albion before moving on to Halifax Town, where he finished his playing career.
Wilder began his career in management at Alfreton Town, he took over in October 2001 and in 27 weeks he won four trophies with the club: the Northern Counties (East) League Premier Division, the League Cup, the President's Cup and the Derbyshire Senior Cup.
He then returned to Halifax as a manger in 2002, just after the club had been relegated to the Conference Premier. He was in charge for over 300 games until the club went into liquidation in 2008.
Wilder then decided to join former Halifax defender, Alan Knill, as the assistant manager of Bury.
After fewer than six months at Bury, Wilder was appointed as the manager of Conference National side Oxford United and he narrowly missed out on a play-off place in his first season.
Wilder's first full season was successful, as at the mid-season point they were top of the league, however they were leapfrogged by Stevenage and had to settle for the play-offs.
They defeated Rushden & Diamonds in the semi-final, before defeating York City 3-1 in the final to secure a return to the Football League after a four year absence.
In Oxford's first season back in League Two, they finished comfortably in mid-table in 12th. In the following season, Wilder's side were occupying a play-off place for most of the season, but poor form at the end of the season meant that Oxford had to settle for ninth.
Despite failing to achieve a play-off place again in Oxford's third season back in the League, and intense speculation about his future at the club, Wilder was offered and accepted a further one-year contract for the 2013/14 season.
In January 2014, Wilder resigned as manager of Oxford, with the intention of joining fellow League Two club, Northampton Town.
When WIlder took on the Northampton job, the Cobblers found themselves in the relegation zone, but they eventually secured safety from the drop.
He then led the side to a mid-table finish in the 2014/15 season, before leading them to promotion in the following season as they won the League Two title with 99 points, despite financial difficulties at the club.
Then League One club Sheffield United appointed Wilder as manager in July 2016.
Wilder made Sheffield-born striker Billy Sharp captain, while having to deal with limted financial backing, therefore he brought in free agents such as John Fleck.
In his first season with the club, Wilder led his boyhood club to promotion as they secured the League One titles with 100 points, which is still a club record.
His second season in charge at Bramall Lane was full of highs and lows, a 4-2 win against city rivals Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough being a big highlight as the club finished 10th.
The following season saw Wilder win a third promotion in four seasons as he took Sheffield United back to the Premier League following a 12-year absence.
Promotion was secured as the Blades drew 1-1 against Yorkshire rivals Leeds United to secure a second place finish and subsequently Wilder won the LMA Manager of the Year award.
In their first season back in the big time Sheffield United secured a top-half finish, their highest finish since 1992 and also secured some big results including a 1-0 win at home to Arsenal and a 3-0 triumph over Chelsea.
Despite a brilliant first season back in the top flight, the Blades suffered a case of 'second season syndrome', as they failed to win any of their first 17 matches.
Wilder parted ways with the club in March 2021, with the club bottom of the Premier League after collecting just 14 points from 28 games.
Wilder was appointed Middlesbrough manager in October 2021 after the club had sacked Neil Warnock.
An unbeaten first month led to Wilder scooping the manager of the month award in December 2021, before leading narrowly missing out on a play-off place as they finished seventh.
Wilder was then sacked in October 2022, as the club were in the bottom three of the Championship after winning just two out of 11 league games.
In March 2023, Wilder was appointed Watford manager on a short-term contract, with the Hornets winning only three of Wilder's 11 games in charge.
Wilder was then re-appointed as Sheffield United manager in December 2023 after Paul Heckingbottom was sacked following a 5-0 defeat at Burnley.
Wilder won his second game back in the Bramall Lane dugout, with a 1-0 victory over Brentford.
Wilder married his wife Francesca Wilder in January 2017. Wilder has two daughters from a previous marriage, Evie Wilder and Martha Wilder.
Wilder is reportedly worth around £1million.
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