Thomas Charles Walters (15 June 1909 – 27 January 1968) was a Welsh professional

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 ...

. He played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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

Merthyr Town Merthyr Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Merthyr) is a Welsh semi-professional association football, football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the , in the seventh tier of the English football league system. The ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

and

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

, as well as in the Southern League for

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 ...

Career

Born in

Trealaw Trealaw is a long village, also a community and electoral ward in the Rhondda Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It stretches over from the junction of Cemetery Road and Brithweunydd Road in the east, to the junction of Ynyscynon Road and Partrid ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, Walters started his working life as a coal miner, as well as a footballer for Merthyr Town. He moved to England shortly before his 21st birthday, joining Bolton Wanderers in May 1930, and later spending time at Crystal Palace, Exeter City and Torquay United. Walters joined

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

side Watford in 1935. He scored the only goal of the game on his debut, an away match at

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

on 19 October 1935, and also scored in the next two consecutive games. He only played two further matches between November and March, but finished the season in strong goalscoring form, with two hat-tricks and two further goals in the last nine games of the season. Walters played 28 games the following season, scoring 9 goals, including Watford's goal in the second leg of the

Third Division South Cup The Football League Third Division South Cup was a football knockout competition open to teams competing in Football League Third Division South. The competition was first held in 1933–34 and ran until the 1938–39 season. The cup was revived ...

final, which they drew 3–3 on aggregate with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

, thus sharing the trophy. In 1937–38, his last season at the club, he played 21 matches, scoring 11 goals. After leaving Watford, Walters joined Clapton Orient on a free transfer in June 1938, and joined Dartford a year later. He returned to Watford in 1940. The Football League was suspended due to the Second World War, but Walters made 34 appearances in wartime matches, scoring 16 goals. Following the war, Walters spent the remainder of his life as a publican. He died on 27 January 1968, aged 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Tom 1909 births 1968 deaths People from Trealaw Footballers from Rhondda Cynon Taf Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Southern Football League players Merthyr Town F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Watford F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Dartford F.C. players