Jon Wallis
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Jonathan Kevin Wallis (born 4 April 1986) is an English
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 ...
.


Career

He progressed through the youth ranks at Gillingham and signed his first professional contract, at the beginning of the 2005–06 season. Prior to this he had spent three months work experience at Hastings United where he made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals. Two of these goals were in the preliminary rounds of the FA Cup. He returned to the Pilot Field in September 2005 on a month's loan. Back at Gillingham, Wallis had been a mainstay in the youth and reserve teams and it was following some strong performances in the reserve team that
Neale Cooper Neale James Cooper (24 November 1963 – 28 May 2018) was a Scottish football player and coach. He played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s, most prominently for the Aberdeen team managed by Alex Ferguson, and later played for Aston ...
decided to hand Wallis his debut. Although normally a
central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
, Wallis made his debut at
right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
in the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
match at home to
Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...
. Gillingham won 2–0 that night in a game that went to extra time and Wallis played exceptionally well in an unfamiliar position. In particular, Wallis showed a willingness to get forward to support the attack, and was involved in the thick of the action when he cleared a goal-bound effort during normal time. Wallis went on to make around twenty performances in the 2005–06 season, almost entirely at right-back, however on 9 May 2006 he was released by Gillingham. A few weeks later he signed for
Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
. However, he made only two substitute appearances for the Bulls. On 28 October 2006, he went on loan to Dover as midfield cover, making 12 appearances and scoring his first goal of the season in the 4–0 win over Ashford Town. On 19 February 2007 he went out on loan again, this time to
Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...
, making two substitute appearances.Dagenham snap up Wallis and Eyre
/ref> On 27 March 2007, he left Hereford by mutual consent and subsequently signed for
Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...
until the end of the season.
Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at ...
was appointed Dover Athletic manager in June 2007, and Wallis turned down a Football League club in order to spend at least another year at the
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
club to develop his game under the former Gillingham manager. After Dover Athletic won the
Isthmian League Division One South The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...
title, Wallis opted to sign a new one-year deal in May 2008. The following season saw more success for the Kent club as they won the
Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...
at the first time of asking, which prompted Wallis to sign another new contract for Dover Athletic. Wallis joined
Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
side
Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...
in 2011 after a falling-out of a number of players with then Dover manager Martin Hayes.


Career statistics


References


External links

*
Dover Athletic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallis, Jon 1986 births Living people Gillingham F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Dartford F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Sportspeople from Gravesend, Kent Association football fullbacks Association football midfielders English footballers