Walley Barnes

Walley Barnes (16 January 1920 – 4 September 1975) was a Welsh footballer and broadcaster. Whilst playing as a defender he featured for Southampton and Arsenal and captained the Welsh national side.

Early career He was born in Brecon to English parents as his father who was a soldier, was at the time stationed there. Barnes initially played as an inside-forward for Southampton in wartime games, making 32 appearances between 1941 and 1943, scoring 14 goals in all

Arsenal Barnes was then spotted and signed by Arsenal in September 1943. At and away from Highbury he played in virtually every position on the pitch for Arsenal in wartime matches including a match where he featured as a goalkeeper, but suffered a serious knee injury which was incurred in 1944. Despite a poor prognosis at the time, he recovered, and forced himself back in the Arsenal side after insisting on playing a reserves match against Cambridge University. He made his League debut for the Gunners against Preston North End on 9 November 1946. He entered the world of broadcasting, joining the BBC. He presented coverage of FA Cup finals and, with Kenneth Wolstenholme, was one of the commentators for the very first edition of Match of the Day in 1964. He also assisted Wolstenholme in the live commentary to the 1966 World Cup final of England versus Germany to which he provided sporadic expert opinion. at the age of 55, in 1975. runner-up: 1951–52 FA Charity Shield: 1948, 1953