William Herbert John Walker (born 23 February 1941 in

Huntly, New Zealand Huntly () (population ) is a town in the Waikato district and region of the North Island of New Zealand. It was on State Highway 1 (until Huntly bypass opened in March 2020), south of Auckland and north of Hamilton. It is situated on the ...

) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who represented in the West Australian National Football League (WANFL). He was the winner of the 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1970

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant an ...

Career

Born in

Huntly Huntly ( or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith ...

, New Zealand, Walker grew up in the wheatbelt town of Narembeen. Despite his being regarded as perhaps the best country prospect in Western Australia in 1960, Walker’s father thought him too small to be successful at WANFL football. Despite this, once all eight WANFL clubs showed interest in him, his father suggested Walker – who barracked for as a boy – should sign with Swan Districts, who implemented a major recruiting program during the 1960-61 off-season after spending 15 years in the doldrums, alongside the signing of Haydn Bunton junior as captain-coach. Playing in the grand final in his first season in 1961, Walker kicked 5.5, including the decisive goal, and went on to play in winning grand finals in the next two seasons. He is the only player to have won four

s, though his 1970 medal, which had previously been lost on countback to

Pat Dalton Patrick James Dalton (12 June 1942 – 8 January 2020) was an Australian rules footballer who played 217 games for Perth in the WANFL from 1960-71. He was named on the interchange bench in Perth's official "Team of the Century". A regular for ...

, was awarded retrospectively by Westar Rules in 1997. Walker had to be coaxed into playing again for each of three seasons after 1965, owing to his farm work and managing a Midland Junction hotel, but it was in this period that Walker reached his peak for a Swan Districts team that was struggling severely owing to the lack of ruckmen of even moderate ability. Between

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and 1971, Walker captain-coached Swans with very little success, but his experience was valuable as the black and whites climbed the ladder under Jack Ensor in the following four seasons, during which their scarcity of ruckmen turned into a glut as future VFL players, such as Bob Beecroft and

Garry Sidebottom Garry Thomas Sidebottom (21 November 1954 – 28 March 2019) was an Australian rules football player who played for the St Kilda, Geelong and Fitzroy Football Clubs in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Swan Districts in the West Austral ...

, joined the club. Walker served on Swan Districts’ Board of Directors from 1978 to 1983, and was appointed president of the club in 1983, a role in which he served until 1995. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1978 and life membership of the WAFL in 1985. In 1996 Walker was an inaugural inductee into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

and in 2004 he was awarded Legend Status in the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise significant contributors to Australian rules football in Western Australia. Candidates are players, coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives. The induct ...

.Walker Swans Favourite Son
– swandistrictsfc.com (archived) Published 3 June 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2011. His son, Greg Walker, played 139 games for Swan Districts, winning the 1990

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pl ...

References

External links

* *
AFL: Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Bill 1941 births Living people All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from Western Australia People from the Wheatbelt (Western Australia) Sportspeople from Huntly, New Zealand Sandover Medal winners Swan Districts Football Club administrators Swan Districts Football Club coaches Swan Districts Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Order of Australia