Bill Walton (footballer)

William Henry Walton (3 September 1894 – 24 July 1953[1]) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

For the English footballer, see Billy Walton.

Bill Walton
Walton in 1919
Personal information
Full name William Henry Walton
Date of birth (1894-09-03)3 September 1894
Place of birth Abbotsford, Victoria
Date of death 24 July 1953(1953-07-24) (aged 58)
Place of death St. Kilda
Original team(s) Port Melbourne
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 82 kg (181 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1918–1919 Collingwood 27 (17)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1919.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Walton started his career at Victorian Football Association (VFA) club Port Melbourne and was their leading goal-kicker in 1914. When the VFA went into recess due to WWI, Walton agreed to captain South Melbourne District in the VJFA for 1916. [2] Enticed to join Collingwood in 1918, Walton appeared in Grand Finals in both his seasons with Collingwood. He played centre half forward in the 1918 VFL Grand Final loss to South Melbourne and centre half back in the 1919 premiership team.

Walton returned to Port Melbourne in 1920 and was appointed captain-coach of Hawthorn (then playing in the VFA) in 1922. He was however refused a clearance by Port Melbourne and as a result spent the season playing for them, while coaching Hawthorn during the week. Twice that season, he had the unusual situation of playing a VFA game against the club that he coached. In one of those matches a Port Melbourne teammate had to be restrained from striking Walton over Walton's vocal support for the player's opponent.[3] In 1923 he was granted his clearance and steered Hawthorn into the finals.

In 1925 he accepted a position to captain-coach Stawell in the Wimmera District Football League. He led the team to a premiership but left town the following year.[4] Walton became the captain-coach of the Castlemaine Football Club for 3 years before moving to Albury and coaching East Albury in the Ovens and Murray Football League.

In 1930 he retired as a player and took up being the licensee for the Rising Sun Hotel in South Melbourne. Later on he was the licensee of the Sir Henry Loch Hotel in Collingwood. [5] He died after a short illness leaving a wife and a daughter and a son.

References
  1. "Bill Walton". Collingwood Forever. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  2. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/75012373?searchTerm=ascot%20vale%20football&searchLimits=l-decade=191%7C%7C%7Cl-year=1916
  3. Atkinson, p. 168.
  4. History of the Stawell Football Club ISBN 9780987139412
  5. Former Magpie player dead

Sources
  • Atkinson, G. (1982) Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking, The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0 86788 009 0.
  • Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
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