Walter William George "Wally" Akers (1917 – 1976) was an English professional association football player either side of the Second World War.

Playing career

Born in West Auckland

West Auckland

West Auckland is a village in County Durham, in North East England. It is situated to the west of Bishop Auckland, on the A688 road.It is not known exactly when West Auckland was first inhabited, but there is evidence of Auckland West in the history of St. Cuthbert in the 11th century...

, he began his professional career with Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

 in 1934, but left the club without ever playing for the first team, and joined Newport County

Newport County A.F.C.

Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...

, where he experienced a similar spell. He finally made his debut in The Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic

A.F.C. Bournemouth

A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....

, where he made 15 League starts in total. After a short spell with Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

, in which he again played no first-team football, he joined Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...

 for the start of the 1939–40 season. He played three times and scored three goals before the League was abandoned due to the start of the war. After the war, he joined Gillingham

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

 of the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

, where he played for two seasons, scoring 20 goals in 40 games. One of his goals came in a 12–1 win over Gloucester City, which remains the club's biggest-ever win in a competitive fixture. In 1948 he moved on to Corby Town

Corby Town F.C.

Corby Town F.C. is an English football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire. They will be members of the Conference North for the 2011–12 season. The Steelmen play their home games at the newly built Steel Park, adjacent to their previous ground, Rockingham Triangle Sports Stadium, which is...

 and later played for Goole Town.

Managerial career

In 1950 he took over as manager of Corby, and led the team to the United Counties League championship in both his first two seasons in charge. He later managed Kettering Town

Kettering Town F.C.

Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08...

.