Kenford Keith Ian Walwyn (17 February 1956 – 15 April 2003), more commonly known as Keith Walwyn, was a

Kittitian Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

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 ...

who played as a striker.

Career

Born in

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Ne ...

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

, Walwyn had trials for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

and Preston North End before playing for

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

from 1977 to 1978. Following a trial with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

he joined Winterton Rangers in 1979 before signing for

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in November 1979 for a fee of £5,000. He appeared only three times for the club's first team, scoring two goals, despite being a regular scorer in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. He was signed by

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

for a fee of £4,000 in July 1981. During his time with the club, Walwyn played 291 games and scored 140 goals (119 in the league), becoming the club's second all-time top scorer behind Norman Wilkinson. This tally included 25 goals in City's historic 1983–84 Fourth Division championship-winning side. He won the Clubman of the Year trophy for the 1981–82 and 1986–87 seasons. He was transferred to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

for a transfer tribunal-set fee of £35,000 in July 1987, and scored 16 league goals in 69 appearances for the club. He moved next, in July 1989, to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

, who would prove to be his last League club. The final club he played for was

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

side

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

, whom he signed for in February 1991. He made seven appearances and scored one goal for Kettering in the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

. He was forced to quit playing in March after he collapsed in a match against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. He later had a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

fitted.

Post-football and death

After his footballing career ended, Walwyn opened a sports store in the Preston area. In August 2002, he was guest of honour at the opening of Blackpool's new £7 million West Stand when

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

visited

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

. Walwyn died at 47 years of age, on 15 April 2003 while undergoing a heart operation. He is survived by his wife, Liz, and two children, James and Matthew."Walwyn a sad loss to the seasiders"
– ''

Blackpool Gazette The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...

'', 17 April 2003 His memory lives on at York's

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City football club and York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it is near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway station. York City leased land at B ...

, where one of the hospitality suites, the "Keith Walwyn Vice presidents' Lounge", bears his name. It was officially opened by his widow in August 2006. On 7 March 2004, a fundraising match was played at the ground of York featuring a "Past Players Festival". Players from the promotion winning 1983/84 team played the players from the play-off winning side of 1993. Taking Keith Walwyn's place in the squad was Keith's son, Matthew, who went on to score two goals. On 11 May 2008,

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

was on the bench for Kirkham & Wesham for the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

against Lowestoft Town. He was introduced in the 79th minute with his team losing 1–0, and subsequently struck an 84th-minute equaliser, and then an injury-time second, to win the game and the trophy for his side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walwyn, Keith 1956 births 2003 deaths Saint Kitts and Nevis footballers Association football forwards Guiseley A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players York City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players People from Nevis