William Howard T. "Billy" Walton (6 August 1871 – 10 February 1963) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er who played for Small Heath

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 (now Birmingham City) for fourteen years. He made 232 appearances and scored 70 goals in all competitions.

Biography

Walton was born in Hockley Brook, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

. He followed Small Heath from a young age; as a 14-year-old he watched the then Small Heath Alliance outclassed 4–0 by West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

 in the semi-final of the 1886

1885-86 in English football

The 1885–1886 season was the 15th season of competitive football in England.-National team:England were joint winners of the 1886 British Home Championship with Scotland.* England score given firstKey* A = Away match...

 FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

. On leaving school he trained to be a silversmith

Silversmith

A silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...

 in the Hockley

Hockley, Birmingham

Hockley is a central inner-city district in the city of Birmingham, England. It lies about one mile north-west of the city centre, and is served by the Jewellery Quarter station...

 area of Birmingham now known as the Jewellery Quarter

Jewellery Quarter

The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre, England, situated in the south of the Hockley area. It is covered by the Ladywood district. There is a population of around 3,000 people in a area....

, and remained employed in that trade while playing football part-time.

In his younger days he played at inside forward

Inside forward

In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...

. He was skilful on the ball with good movement and shooting ability. In Small Heath's first season in the Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

, 1892–93

1892-93 in English football

The 1892–93 season was the 22nd season of competitive football in England.-Events:The Football League and the Football Alliance formally merged, and so the Football League Second Division was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs...

, the front three of Walton, Frank Mobley

Frank Mobley

Frank Mobley was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. He scored 64 goals in 103 appearances in all competitions for Small Heath, and was their leading scorer in three successive seasons at the club, from 1893–94 – when he was also overall top scorer in the Second...

 and Fred Wheldon scored over 50 goals between them in a 22-game season; the following season the same trio scored 62 goals in the 28 games, Walton contributing 16 in 20. Later in his career he moved back to wing half

Wing half

In association football, the position of wing half or wing half back) was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries...

, where his tireless encouragement of the younger players earned him the nickname "Mother".

Walton's support for Birmingham was life-long. He was a guest of the club for the official opening of the St Andrews

St Andrews (stadium)

St Andrew's is an association football stadium in the Bordesley district of Birmingham, England. It has been the home ground of Birmingham City Football Club for more than a century....

 ground on Boxing Day

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...

 1906, and helped clear snow from pitch and terraces so that the match could go ahead. He attended both of the FA Cup Finals involving Birmingham, in 1931 and 1956, and visited St Andrews regularly until not long before his death.

He died in Dudley Road Hospital

City Hospital, Birmingham

City Hospital is a major hospital in the city of Birmingham, England. It is located in the Winson Green area of the west of the city....

, Winson Green

Winson Green

Winson Green is a loosely-defined inner-city area in the west of the city of Birmingham, England. It is part of the ward of Soho.It is the location of HM Prison Birmingham and City Hospital .The area has a very multi-racial population, with large Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities.R&B singer...

, Birmingham, at the age of 91.

Honours

• With Small Heath
  • Football League Second Division
    Football League Second Division
    From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
    
     champions 1893.
  • Football League Second Division
    Football League Second Division
    From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
    
    runners-up and promotion 1894, 1901.