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William Henry Walker (29 October 1897 – 28 November 1964) was a prominent English footballer of the 1920s and 1930s.[2] He is considered by many to be one of the greatest footballers to ever play for Aston Villa and England. As a manager he won the FA Cup with each of Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, some 24 years apart, a record which stands to this day.

Billy Walker

Walker in 1925
Personal information
Full name	William Henry Walker
Date of birth	(1897-10-29)29 October 1897
Place of birth	Wednesbury, England
Date of death	28 November 1964(1964-11-28) (aged 67)
Place of death	Radcliffe-on-Trent,[lower-alpha 1] England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Inside forward
Youth career
1915–1919	Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1919–1933	Aston Villa	478	(214)
National team
1920–1932	England	18	(9)
Teams managed
1933–1937	Sheffield Wednesday
1938	Chelmsford City
1939–1960	Nottingham Forest
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Billy Walker was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire. His father George Walker, had played professional football for Crystal Palace from 1905 to 1909. The young Walker played schoolboy football for a number of clubs, Hednesford Town FC, Fallings Heath FC, Darlaston FC, Wednesbury Old Park FC and Wednesbury Old Athletic FC, before he was spotted by Aston Villa scouts, who signed him as a part-time professional in 1915. He signed as a full professional with the Villa in May 1919.[1]

Playing career

A one-club man, Walker made 531 appearances for Villa between 1920 and 1934, scoring 244 goals, of which 214 came in 478 league matches.[5] As of 2022, he remains Aston Villa's all-time top goalscorer.

Walker burst onto the scene in January 1920, scoring both goals in a 2–1 FA Cup first-round win over Queens Park Rangers on his senior debut. He was an FA Cup winner with Villa in his debut season, the club beating Huddersfield 1–0 in the final.

He again reached the FA-Cup final with Villa in 1924, this time losing 2–0 to Newcastle United.

Walker could shoot with either foot and was a superb header of the ball.[6] He was the first player to score a hat-trick of penalty kicks in a first division match, the second ever after William McAulay for Walsall in 1900, doing so in a 7–1 win against Bradford City in November 1921.[7]

Walker played for England 18 times, scoring nine goals. He had the distinction of scoring England's first-ever goal at Wembley in 1924.[2] He was only the second Aston Villa player to captain England, after Howard Spencer.

Towards the end of his career, Villa twice finished runners-up in the league to Arsenal in 1930–31 and 1932–33. The 1930–31 season saw Villa score a record 128 top-flight goals, with 33-year-old Walker contributing 15 goals.

Billy Walker was Villa's talisman throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, netting double figures in 12 consecutive seasons from 1919–20.[6] Full-back Tommy Smart is said to have once been asked: "What's the team for the match, Tommy?". "Oh, Billy Walker and ten others!" was the reply.[8]

In March 2003, nearly 40 years after his death, he was named by BBC Sport as the former player Aston Villa needed in their modern-day team – who were struggling for goals that season and narrowly avoided relegation from the FA Premier League.[9]

Managerial career

Sheffield Wednesday

Walker became manager of Sheffield Wednesday in December 1933, and he successfully steered them away from relegation. In 1935 he led them to an FA Cup victory, but Wednesday were relegated two years later and Walker resigned in November 1937.[10]

Chelmsford City

On 24 January 1938, Walker was appointed secretary-manager of newly formed club Chelmsford City. Walker's first signings as Chelmsford manager included former England international Eric Keen, Ireland international Jackie Coulter and Jack Palethorpe, whom he had managed at Sheffield Wednesday. On 20 October 1938, Walker resigned from Chelmsford due to conflict with Chelmsford's directors over transfers. Walker had intended to sign a player from Plymouth Argyle for free, before discovering a £500 fee was demanded, believing "that money was going to take a lot of finding" from the club.[11]

Nottingham Forest

Walker managed Nottingham Forest from 1939 to 1960, bringing promotion to the First Division in 1956–57 and an FA Cup final triumph two years later, beating former team Aston Villa in the semi-finals and becoming the only manager to win the trophy both before and after the Second World War. He retired in 1960.

Death

Walker died on 28 November 1964 in Saxondale Hospital, Radcliffe-on-Trent, near Nottingham, after a long illness.[lower-alpha 1] Another former Sheffield Wednesday manager, Jimmy McMullan, died on the same day.[12]

Honours

Player

Aston Villa

• FA Cup: 1919–20; runner-up: 1923–24
• Football League First Division runner-up: 1930–31, 1932–33

Manager

Sheffield Wednesday

• FA Cup: 1934–35
• FA Charity Shield: 1935[13]

Nottingham Forest

• FA Cup: 1958–59
• Football League Third Division South: 1950–51
• Football League Second Division runner-up: 1956–57
• FA Charity Shield runner-up: 1959

Notes

References

На других языках

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[de] Billy Walker (Fußballspieler, 1897)

William Henry „Billy“ Walker (* 29. Oktober 1897 in Wednesbury, Sandwell; † 28. November 1964 in Sheffield) war ein englischer Fußballspieler und -trainer. Als Spieler war er für Aston Villa aktiv. In seiner Trainerlaufbahn betreute er u. a. Sheffield Wednesday und Nottingham Forest.

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- [en] Billy Walker (footballer, born 1897)

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[fr] Billy Walker

William Henry Walker dit Billy Walker, né le 28 octobre 1897 à Wednesbury et mort le 28 novembre 1964 à Sheffield, est un footballeur anglais reconverti entraîneur.

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[it] Billy Walker

William Walker detto Billy (Wednesbury, 29 ottobre 1897 – Sheffield, 28 novembre 1964) è stato un calciatore e allenatore di calcio inglese, di ruolo attaccante.

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[ru] Уокер, Билли

Уи́льям Ге́нри Уо́кер (англ. William Henry Walker; 29 октября 1897, Уэнсбери — 28 ноября 1964, Шеффилд), более известный как Би́лли Уо́кер (англ. Billy Walker) — известный английский футболист в 1920-е и 1930-е годы, а впоследствии футбольный тренер.

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