Gordon Wallace (football player, 1944)
| Gordon Wallace | ||
| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Gordon Henry Wallace | |
| birthday | June 13, 1944 | |
| place of birth | Lanark , Scotland | |
| position | Half-forward (left) | |
| Juniors | ||
| Years | station | |
| 1960-1961 | Liverpool FC | |
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| 1961-1967 | Liverpool FC | 20 ( 3) |
| 1967-1972 | Crewe Alexandra | 93 (21) |
| 1 Only league games are given. | ||
Gordon Henry Wallace (born June 13, 1944 in Lanark ) is a former Scottish football player . As a half-left offensive player, he was considered one of Liverpool FC's greatest talents at the beginning of the 1960s . He could not assert himself there permanently, but was the first European goal scorer of the "Reds" against KR Reykjavík in the club's history books. In addition, he scored two goals for a 3-2 win in the first match against Arsenal, shown on the TV program Match of the Day .
Athletic career
Born in Lanarkshire , Scotland , Wallace grew up in South Wales and began his footballing career in 1960 in the youth department of Liverpool FC. This was largely due to his good impressions during the trial training at Huddersfield Town , where the now Liverpool head coach Bill Shankly had previously worked. Just over a month after his 17th birthday, Wallace signed his first professional contract with the Reds. After several appearances in the reserve elections, he made his debut in late October 1962 as a replacement for Alan A'Court at West Bromwich Albion in the first team; his direct opponent in the 1-0 defeat was the experienced former international Don Howe . In the further course of the 1962/63 season, which was the first season for Liverpool in the top division after eight years, Wallace played another six league games under coach Bill Shankly. Among them was the encounter against Birmingham City in May 1963 , in which he contributed his first goal to the 5-1 victory. The following year, Liverpool won the English championship for the first time since 1947 , to which Wallace only made a minor contribution. In the team ten players completed at least 33 league games and Wallace only came to the end of the season for the injured Roger Hunt against Burnley FC .
At the beginning of the 1964/65 season, Wallace suddenly catapulted himself into the public eye when he scored five goals in three parries within eight days. He started with a goal in the Charity Shield encounter against West Ham United (2-2), followed by two goals in the club's first European Cup game against Icelandic representatives KR Reykjavík and most recently two more goals in the 3-2 win at the start of the league season against Arsenal FC , which was shown as the first recap on the very first edition of the BBC's Match of the Day program . He played a total of the first eight games, but he could not preserve his good form. After three defeats in a row, he lost his place to Bobby Graham and Wallace had to wait five months for his next parole in the championship. In the following years he was only used very sporadically and after numerous injuries and two frustrating years on the reserve team Wallace left the club in October 1967. The main reason was his susceptibility to injuries and overall he looked too lank. According to his own statements, the latter was also due to the congenital gluten intolerance , which was not recognizable at the time and was only diagnosed in old age as part of an examination regarding his osteoporosis .
In October 1967 he moved to fourth division Crewe Alexandra . There he was promoted to the third highest division in the first year. After eleven games in the following season 1968/69, which ended with direct relegation , he broke his leg for the third time in his career. As a result, he had to take a longer break and after returning he felt so restricted in his performance that he ended his football career at the age of only 28. Nevertheless, he had scored 22 goals in just over 100 competitive games in Crewe.
After the end of his active career, he ran a workshop near Anfield Stadium together with Peter Thompson for 20 years , which he had already owned while playing.
Title / Awards
- Charity Shield (1): 1964 (shared)
Web links
Individual references / footnotes
- ↑ "Legend: Gordon Wallace (Interview)" (LFCHistory.net)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wallace, Gordon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wallace, Gordon Henry |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | scottish soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 13, 1944 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lanark |