Wally Radford

Walter Robert "Wally" Radford (July 1886–1943) was an English footballer, who played as an inside-forward in the 1900s with Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1908.

Football career

Radford was born in Pinxton, Derbyshire, where he played football as a youth before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers, then in the Football League First Division, as a trainee. He made two first-team appearances in the 1905–06 season, at the end of which the "Wolves" were relegated.

In January 1906, he moved to the south coast, to join Southampton of the Southern League. The "Saints" finished the season as runners-up, and were hopeful of regaining the championship title in 1907, which they had won six times in the previous ten years. Radford made his debut in the opening match of the 1906–07 season, playing at centre-forward; after the team picked up only one point from the first three matches, Radford moved to outside-right, with Fred Harrison moving into the centre. This had little effect on the team's performances, and Radford lost his place to Frank Jefferis. Radford was recalled at the end of the season, initially replacing George Harris at inside-left, before three games back at centre-forward. In the first of these, away to Northampton Town on 6 April, Radford scored his only goals for the Saints in a 4–2 victory. Saints finished the season 11th in the League, their lowest position since joining the Southern League in 1894.