Walley Barnes (16 January 1920 – 4 September 1975) was a Welsh

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 ...

and broadcaster. Whilst playing as a defender he featured for

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

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and captained the Welsh national side.

Early career

He was born in

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

to English parents as his father who was a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

, was at the time stationed there. Barnes initially played as an inside-forward for

in wartime games, making 32 appearances between 1941 and 1943, scoring 14 goals in all

Arsenal

Barnes was then spotted and signed by

in September 1943. At and away from

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

he played in virtually every position on the pitch for Arsenal in wartime matches including a match where he featured as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, but suffered a serious knee injury which was incurred in 1944. Despite a poor prognosis at the time, he recovered, and forced himself back in the Arsenal side after insisting on playing a reserves match against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He made his League debut for the Gunners against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

on 9 November 1946. Barnes became noted for his assured performances at left-back, with his tidy distribution and effortless ability to cut out crosses. He soon found a regular place in the Arsenal side, and was part of their First Division Championship-winning side of 1947–48. Barnes switched to right back following an injury to skipper Laurie Scott, and won an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winners' medal in 1949–50 after Arsenal beat

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Two years later, Arsenal got to the Cup final again, this time against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, but Barnes twisted his knee badly trying to tackle

George Robledo Jorge "George" Robledo Oliver (14 April 1926 – 1 April 1989) was a Chilean professional footballer. He played as a striker, and is most notable for his time spent with Newcastle United. He was the first non-British-registered foreign player ...

and had to come off the pitch after 35 minutes; with no substitutes permitted, Arsenal were down to ten men, and went on to lose 1–0. As a result of his Cup final injury, Barnes was out for the entire 1952–53 season (in which Arsenal won the League). Although he was back in the side for the next three seasons, his appearances were now less regular and he only played eight times in 1955–56, with

Len Wills Leonard Edward Wills (8 November 1927 – September 2010) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Arsenal. Life and career Born in Hackney, London, Wills first played for the youth teams of non-league Eton Manor, befo ...

and Joe Wade competing for the same place. With age as well as past injury now counting against him, he retired from playing in the summer of 1956. In all, he played 294 matches and scored 12 goals (he was often the club's designated

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

taker).

International career

By 1948 Barnes had also become a regular for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, winning his first cap against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 18 October 1947, where he was given the unenviable task of having to mark

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

; England won 3–0 and the young Barnes was given a harsh footballing lesson by Matthews. Unbowed, Barnes went on to win 22 caps, and became captain of his country.

Later career

During the last two years of his playing career, Barnes was also manager of the Welsh national team, being in the role between May 1954 and October 1956. He was one of many signatories in a letter to ''The Times'' on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'. He entered the world of

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

, joining the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. He presented coverage of FA Cup finals and, with

Kenneth Wolstenholme Kenneth Wolstenholme, DFC & Bar (17 July 1920 – 25 March 2002) was an English football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best remembered for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final; in the closing min ...

, was one of the commentators for the very first edition of ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary L ...

'' in 1964. He also assisted Wolstenholme in the live commentary to the

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

final of England versus Germany to which he provided sporadic expert opinion. Barnes wrote his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, titled ''Captain of Wales'' which was published in 1953. He continued to serve the BBC in various capacities, until his death in a London hospital, at the age of 55, in 1975.

Honours

;

* First Division: 1947–48 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

Bibliography

References

* Brown, Geoff and Hogsbjerg, Christian. ''Apartheid is not a Game: Remembering the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign.'' London: Redwords, 2020. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Walley 1920 births 1975 deaths Sportspeople from Brecon Welsh footballers Association football fullbacks Wales international footballers English Football League players Welsh football managers Wales national football team managers Southampton F.C. wartime guest players Arsenal F.C. players British association football commentators FA Cup Final players Welsh autobiographers 20th-century Welsh writers Welsh male writers