Introduction
William Henry "Billy" Walker (29 October 1897 – 28 November 1964) was a prominent English footballer of the 1920s and 1930s. He is considered by many to be the greatest footballer to ever play for Aston Villa Football Club and one of the greatest players to have played for England.
Playing career
Walker was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire. He joined Villa in 1914 and stayed at Villa Park for the rest of his playing career, retiring in 1934.
He made 531 appearances for Villa between 1914 and 1934, scoring 244 goals, of which 214 came in 478 league matches. He remains Aston Villa's all-time top goalscorer to this day. He was an FA Cup Winner with Villa in 1920. Walker is the only-player to have scored a hat-trick of penalty kicks in a Football League game, doing so against Bradford City in November 1921.
Walker played for England 18 times, scoring 9 goals.
Management
Sheffield Wednesday
He became manager of Sheffield Wednesday in December 1933, and he successfully steered them away from relegation. In 1935 he led them to an FA Cup victory, but Wednesday were relegated two years later and Walker resigned in November 1937.
Nottingham Forest
He managed Nottingham Forest from 1939 to 1960, bringing promotion to the First Division in 1956–57 and an FA Cup final triumph two years later (Beating Villa in the semis), becoming the only manager to win the trophy both before and after the second World War. He was also the first Englishman to score at Wembley, when he scored against Scotland on 12 April 1924. He died in November 1964, four years after retiring as Nottingham Forest manager.
In March 2003, nearly 40 years after his death, he was named by BBC Sport as the former player Aston Villa needed in their modern-day team – who were struggling for goals that season and narrowly avoided relegation from the FA Premier League (top flight of English football).
Career honours
Honours as player
Aston Villa
Football League First Division
- Runners-up: 1930–31, 1932–33
FA Cup
- Winner: 1920
- Runners-up: 1924
Honours as manager
Sheffield Wednesday
FA Cup
- Winner: 1935
Nottingham Forest
FA Cup
- Winner: 1959
Football League Second Division
- Runners-up: 1956–57
Football League Third Division (South)
- Champions: 1950–51
FA Charity Shield
- Runners-up: 1959