John Young Hilley Walker (17 December 1928 – 23 January 2019) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as an inside forward in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Career

Walker began his professional career when he joined

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

side

in 1947. He had to wait until 18 February 1950 to make his senior debut, when he played in a 1–0 win against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, the first of twelve appearances during this season, which yielded eight goals. The forward scored eleven times during the 1950–51 campaign, but found himself out of favour with manager

Stan Cullis Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 – 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...

as time progressed, and by the next season he made only five appearances. Despite his record of 26 goals in 44 games, Walker was allowed to leave Molineux in October 1952 to join

for £12,000. He continued to score goals for his new club, netting 52 in total for the Saints during a six-season stay before he departed to join

in December 1957 for a £2,500 fee. He played for the Royals in the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

until retiring from playing in 1964. Walker later also served Reading as their reserve team coach before leaving football in 1979 to work for the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

. His death was reported on 24 January 2019.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Johnny 1928 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Reading F.C. players English Football League players Association football inside forwards