Charles Edward Walker (14 May 1911 – 7 May 1990) was an English

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 lea ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. Born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, Walker started his career at

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 ...

. He spent a period on loan to Arsenal's nursery club

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

, but never played a first-team game for Arsenal themselves, with opportunities limited by the presence of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

captain

Eddie Hapgood Edris Albert "Eddie" Hapgood (24 September 1908 – 20 April 1973) was an English association football, footballer, who captained both Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and England national football team, England during the 1930s. Playing career Hapgood wa ...

. Walker joined West Ham United in 1936, and went on to make 118 league and cup appearances for the east London club. After the outbreak of World War II, Walker's three Second Division appearances of 1939–40 were expunged from the records. He played in all but one of the

Football League War Cup The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945. It aimed to fill the gap left in English football by the suspension of the FA Cup during the Second World War. Though it was often referred to in conte ...

games of that season, leading to victory at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

in June 1940. He also played in 27 matches of the Football League South, which ended with West Ham finishing second in both A and C groups. The following season, he made nine League South appearances, and 1941–42 saw him make two appearances each in the League South and the

London War Cup The London War Cup was an English football (soccer), football competition held during the Second World War. It was established to be a wartime replacement for the FA Cup, which had been suspended for the duration of the conflict. Although calle ...

. Walker also played for St Mirren during the war, making nine appearances in the Southern League during the 1942–43 season. He saw service with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and toured the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

. Walker played in 21 games of the first peacetime League South season of 1945–46, which included pre-war First and Second Division clubs. His last game for West Ham was a 3–3 away draw against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

that season. After this, Walker rejoined Margate as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for two seasons (winning the Kent League). He then moved to Ashford Town (Kent), where he performed a similar role for the following three seasons (winning the Kent League in his first season). He later managed

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

in a part-time capacity.

Honours

*1937–1938 as a Margate player ** Southern League Championship winner **Southern League Eastern Section winner ** Southern League Central Section winner **

Kent Senior Cup The Kent Senior Cup is an English football knock-out competition played between senior clubs in the county of Kent. It is administered by the Kent County Football Association (KCFA). History Now known as the Kent Senior Cup it was originall ...

Winner **Kent Senior Shield Winner *1939–1940 as a West Ham player ** Football League War Cup Final winner *1946–1947 as Margate player/manager ** Kent League winner *1947–1948 as Margate player/manager ** Kent League winner **Kent League Cup winner **Kent Senior Shield Winner *1948–1949 as Ashford Town player/coach ** Kent League winner

Managerial statistics (League Matches)

References

External links

Charlie Walker
at westhamstats.info
Charlie Walker
at Margate Football Club History
Charlie Walker player profile
at Nuts and Bolts archive: History of Ashford Town {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Charlie 1911 births 1990 deaths Footballers from Nottingham English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Arsenal F.C. players Margate F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players St Mirren F.C. wartime guest players Margate F.C. managers Ashford United F.C. players Ashford United F.C. managers Ramsgate F.C. managers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II English football managers 20th-century English sportsmen