The life and times of the new England skipper
1979: Born Frimley, Surrey, May 25.
1997: Played for England Under-16s and scored 38 points for England Under-18s when they achieved junior Grand Slam.
Left school, toured Australia with England Schools and joined Newcastle in the summer.
Played for England Under-21s this season when they beat New Zealand 42-13, France 16-15 - scoring 11 points - and Wales 46-7.
Made his only start for Newcastle in competitive match at centre against Exeter in Tetley's Bitter Cup tie at centre.
Called on as replacement four times in Premiership.
Called into England's training squad twice during the winter.
1998: Named on replacements bench for Five Nations Championship match against
Scotland at Murrayfield at age of 18 years and 301 days.
1999: February: Made first start for England at age of 19 in Five Nations
Championship against Scotland and kicked four priceless goals as England won Calcutta Cup 24-21.
March: Named Allied Dunbar/Rugby World Player of the Month for March.
October: Scored 32 points for England in their 67-7 demolition of Italy.
Seen as player to lead England to World Cup glory but lost place to Paul
Grayson as England go out of World Cup in quarter-finals to South Africa.
2000: February: Scored all 15 points as England defeated France in crucial Six
Nations Championship match.
June: Kicks all 27 points as England beat South Africa 27-22 in second Test at
Bloemfontein. His eighth penalty sets a new England Test record but soon after he misses one that would have equalled the world international record - jointly held by three players - of nine penalties in a match.
2001: February - Claims Six Nations individual tournament record with 35 points in England's 80-23 thrashing of Italy.
November - Scores all 21 points as England beat Australia at Twickenham.
Follows that up with another 21-point haul in home win over South Africa.
December - Signed new one-year contract with Newcastle.
2002: March - Scores a remarkable 30 points in Six Nations victory over Wales at Twickenham.
April - English rugby fans voted Wilkinson as the greatest fly-half of all time, ahead of legends Barry John, Michael Lynagh and Grant Fox.
May - Suffered ankle ligament damage in Newcastle's defeat by Gloucester, ruling him out for the rest of the season.
November - Helps England cement their place as the top side in world rugby with 21 points as England beat New Zealand 31-28. A week later scores 22 points in 32-31 win over Australia and notches another eight points as England thrash
South Africa 53-3, although a shoulder injury forces him to miss the second half.
Named Zurich International Player of the Year for 2002.
December - Awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List.
2003: February-March - Scores 77 points as England clinch Six Nations Grand Slam, finishing as the competition's top scorer.
June 14 - Kicks all 15 points as England beat the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time.
June 21 - Kicks 10 points as England beat Australia to complete an historic southern hemisphere double.
October 18 - England all but secure top spot in their World Cup group with
25-6 win over South Africa. Wilkinson kicks 20 of England's points.
November 16 - Puts France to the sword and secures World Cup final berth by kicking all England's points in 24-7 victory.
November 22 - Is England's inevitable hero in the final, securing a dramatic 20-17 victory over Australia with a drop goal deep into extra time. Also contributed four penalties, the scoring pass to England's tryscorer Jason Robinson, accurate kicking out of hand, and some crunching tackles.
December 13 - Newcastle Falcons confirm Wilkinson has fractured a facet in his shoulder and may have suffered the injury `several weeks ago'. He is likely to be out for two to three weeks.
December 14 - Wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
December 28 - Suffers a recurrence of his shoulder injury and has to come off during Newcastle's win over Northampton.
December 31 - He receives an OBE in the 2004 New Year Honours list, and it is reported he is expected to return "within weeks" after it is revealed there is no serious damage to his shoulder.
2004: February 6 - Wilkinson sees a specialist who says he needs an operation on his shoulder. He is therefore ruled out of the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations Championship.
April - water-carrier for the day as Newcastle lift the Powergen Cup with a thrilling 37-33 victory over Sale Sharks at Twickenham.
May - Injury rules him out of England's three-Test tour to New Zealand and Australia.
August - Makes his comeback after eight months out in Newcastle's pre-season friendly against Connacht in Galway.
September - Kicks 15 points on his return to the Zurich Premiership as
Newcastle beat Worcester 30-9.
October 4 - Confirmed as Lawrence Dallaglio's successor as England captain for the three November Test matches.