Ron Walker (English footballer)

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For similarly named people, see Ronald Walker (disambiguation).

Ron Walker
Personal information
Full name Ronald Walker
Date of birth (1932-02-04)4 February 1932
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Date of death 29 October 2017(2017-10-29) (aged 85)
Position(s) Outside left
Youth career
−1950 Sunderland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1950−1961 Doncaster Rovers 240 (46)
1961−1967 Bath City 249 (52)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Ronald "Ron" "Ronnie" Walker (4 February 1932 – 29 October 2017) was an English footballer who played as an outside left for Doncaster Rovers and Bath City.

Playing career[]

Sunderland[]

Walker was an amateur at Sunderland before his move to Doncaster in 1950 at the age of 18.[1][2]

Doncaster Rovers[]

He made his debut first team appearance in the Division 2 game at Lincoln City on 30 August 1952 in front of a crowd of 20,775[1] and scored his first goal in his next match at Huddersfield on 9 September in a 3−1 defeat. In his first season, he played either outside left or inside left, scoring 4 times in his 21 games.[3]

The following season was similar, though for the 1954−55 season competition for places was tough with him playing 8 games, and without scoring.[3] Next season was marginally better with the same appearances but scoring 3 times, including the first time he had scored in a club win as he and Alick Jeffrey put goals past West Ham United in a 2−1 victory at Belle Vue.[3]

Walker featured more in the 1956−57 season with 9 goals in 30 games, leaving him as 3rd top scorer at the club.[3] Doncaster were relegated the next season but Walker ended up as top scorer with 9 goals and played in every League and FA Cup game.[3] A second successive relegation came for Doncaster, and with it Walker was again top scorer at the club, sharing this with . Now in Division 4, Walker played in all but 2 league and FA Cup games, scoring his very first FA Cup goal in the round 1 replay win at Gainsborough Trinity.[3]

In the 1960−61 season, his last at Doncaster, he played in 25 league and cup games including the first season of the Football League Cup in which he scored a brace in a 3−1 win against Stoke City.[3]

Bath City[]

Walker then moved to Bath City[3] where he was part of the side that drew 1−1 with Bolton Wanderers in the 3rd round of the FA Cup in January 1964. He played till the end of the 1966−67 season after which he became player-manager of Bath's reserve side for one year.[4]

Later life[]

He remained in Bath, working at Stothert & Pitts engineering works, continued to play local football for some years.[5]

He died on 29 October 2017.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Ron Walker profile". Doncasterrovers.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Ron Walker". Barry Hugman's Footballers.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bluff, Tony (2011). Donny:Doncaster Rovers F.C. The Complete History (1879−2010). Yore Publications. ISBN 978-0-9569848-3-8.
  4. ^ a b "Past Players W". Bath City official site. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Ronnie Walker". Bath City official site. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Ronald Walker Condolences". Sheffield Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
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