Michael Moore Walford (27 November 1915 – 16 January 2002), often known as "Micky Walford", was an all-round sportsman: a British
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
player who competed in the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
, a
first-class cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
player for
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, preceded_by =
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, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
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and a
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
centre three-quarter and stand-off half good enough to play in an international trial for the
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...
. He was born at
Norton-on-Tees
Norton is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England.
It stands on higher ground to the south, further away from the River Tees than Stockton town centre. They are small areas west of the area called Roseworth an ...
, County Durham and died at
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. T ...
, Dorset, where he was for many years a schoolmaster at
Sherborne School
(God and My Right)
, established = 705 by Aldhelm,
re-founded by King Edward VI 1550
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent, boarding school
, religion = Church of England
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.
He was a member of the British field hockey team at the 1948 summer Olympic Games, held in London. The team won the silver medal. He played all five matches as half-back.
Background and education
Walford was educated at
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...
, where he was in the rugby, hockey and cricket teams. As a school cricketer, he was a middle order batsman and a slow left-arm bowler and he appeared in the schools match at
Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...
against
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...
, part of the annual
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
s games held each year at the then "headquarters" of cricket, in four consecutive years from 1931 to 1934. He was captain of the cricket team at the school in 1934. In 1934, he played for the "Lord's Schools" side against "The Rest" in the annual match of the best of the public school cricketers, and then for the "Public Schools" side chosen to play
The Army cricket team.
As a rugby player, he first came to prominence as a 17-year-old when he was named as one of the centre three-quarters in the England public schoolboys' rugby team to play Scotland in the annual match at the start of 1933. In the same fixture in the 1933/34 season Walford's defensive play was singled out in the report in ''The Times'' as a factor in the English side's victory.
University sporting career
Walford was playing county standard rugby union before he went up to
Trinity College, Oxford
(That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody)
, named_for = The Holy Trinity
, established =
, sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge
, president = Dame Hilary Boulding
, location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH
, coordinates ...
, in autumn 1934. At Oxford, his first sporting success in November 1934 was to be selected for the university's hockey team, where he played at centre half. But within four weeks he was also playing for the rugby first fifteen as several players were rested in advance of the University Match. Hockey, however, remained Walford's main winter game in his first year at Oxford and he was awarded his
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
by the hockey captain,
Jake Seamer
John Wemyss "Jake" Seamer (23 June 1913 – 16 April 2006) was an amateur cricketer who played for Oxford University and Somerset either side of the Second World War. A bespectacled cricketer, Seamer was a right-handed batsman who played w ...
, later to be a cricket colleague at Somerset: the match with Cambridge finished as a goal-less draw.
References
External links
*
DatebaseOlympics profileObituary for Micky Walford, Sherborne Pilgrims Club Notes, 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walford, Michael
1915 births
2002 deaths
British male field hockey players
Olympic field hockey players for Great Britain
Field hockey players at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
English cricketers
Somerset cricketers
Dorset cricketers
Oxford University cricketers
North v South cricketers
Olympic medalists in field hockey
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Durham cricketers
Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers
Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics
People educated at Rugby School
Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers
People from Norton, County Durham
Sportspeople from County Durham
Rugby union players from County Durham
Cricketers from County Durham