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by Edward Giles (August 2008) Hardback
240x159mm
224 pages. Illustrated
ISBN: 978-1-905328-42-0
£14.99
Timing is everything, and Billy Walker certainly had great timing. Had he been born a few years earlier he would have lost his youth and maybe his life to the First World War. Instead in 1920, aged just 22, he helped Aston Villa claim the first post-war FA Cup. He didn't score that day, but by the time he hung up his boots thirteen years later he had racked up almost 250 Villa goals - a record which still stands.
Walker was only two years into management at Sheffield Wednesday when he masterminded what remains their last FA Cup triumph. Moving to Nottingham Forest in 1939 it took Walker somewhat longer to train his sights on Wembley. He would have to wait 20 years before completing his hat-trick in 1959, retiring a year later. Brian Clough never laid hands on the FA Cup, but Billy Walker was once, twice, three times a winner.
Contents:
ASTON VILLA (PLAYER)
1 Cup Winner in his First Season
2 Last England Cap after Six-Year Gap
3 An Epic Villa-Arsenal Encounter
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (MANAGER)
4 Into Management at Sheffield
5 Mixed Reaction in Transfer Market
6 Late Horseshoe ‘Luck’ at Wembley
7 A Close Escape from Relegation
8 Down to the Second Division
NOTTINGHAM FOREST (MANAGER)
9 Comeback at Nottingham
10 Forest in the War Years
11 Giant-Killing in Manchester
12 First Descent to the Third South
13 Enter Ardron the Record Breaker
14 Flying Start to Promotion
15 On the Fringe of Another Rise
16 A Poison-Pen Letter
17 Major Team Rebuilding
18 Up to the Top Flight
19 Vintage Game in Spectacular Start
20 A Wembley Preoccupation
21 Cup Final Triumph with Ten Men
22 His Last Season as Manager
NOTTINGHAM FOREST (FAREWELL)
23 Andrew Beattie Takes Over
24 Last Legacy with Carey in Charge