Wally Bragg

Wally Bragg
Personal information
Full name	Walter Leonard Bragg
Date of birth	8 July 1929
Place of birth	Twickenham, England
Date of death	6 March 2016 (aged 86)
Place of death	Twickenham, England
Position(s)	Centre half
Youth career
	Twickenham Celtic
Senior career*
Years	Team
1946–1957	Brentford
1946–1947	→ Hounslow Town (loan)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Walter Leonard Bragg (8 July 1929 – 6 March 2016) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Brentford. At the time of his debut in March 1947, he was Brentford's then-youngest first team debutant.

Career

An amateur centre half, Bragg joined First Division club Brentford in early 1946 from local team Twickenham Celtic.^[2] After a spell out on loan at Corinthian League club Hounslow Town, he turned professional in January 1947.^[2] He made his debut at outside right, in place of Idris Hopkins for the visit of Grimsby Town on 29 March 1947 and his appearance in the 1–0 defeat made him Brentford's youngest debutant at that time.^[3] A call-up for national service saw him fail to appear again until the second half of the 1951–52 Second Division season,^[3] when he enjoyed a run of 10 appearances.^[4] He then went on to become a regular fixture in the team through the mid-1950s and made a career-high 44 appearances during a disastrous 1953–54 season, in which the Bees were relegated to the Third Division South.^[4]^[5] Bragg played on until the end of the 1956–57 season, when he retired from football after a succession of injuries.^[3] He was posthumously inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in May 2018.^[6]

Personal life

Prior to becoming a professional footballer, Bragg worked as a linotype operator for a printing firm in Richmond.^[2] He served his national service in the RAF.^[3] After retiring from football, he worked as an advertising manager for local newspapers in Twickenham.^[7] He was married with a son and two daughters and five grandchildren and at the time of his death in March 2016.^[7]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brentford	1946–47^[8]	First Division	1	0	0	0	1	0
	1951–52^[4]	Second Division	10	1	0	0	10	1
	1952–53^[4]		38	0	3	0	41	0
	1953–54^[4]		41	1	3	0	44	1
	1954–55^[4]	Third Division South	9	0	0	0	9	0
	1955–56^[4]		29	2	0	0	29	2
	1956–57^[4]		33	2	1	0	34	2
Career total			161	6	7	0	168	6

Honours

Brentford Hall of Fame^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "Wally Bragg". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Young Pivot". The Brentford & Chiswick Times. 10 January 1947.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. pp. 25–26. ISBN 978-0955294914.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h White 1989, p. 381–384.
^ Brentford F.C. at the Football Club History Database
^ ^a ^b "Prizes shared at last night's Player of the Year Awards". Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^ ^a ^b Brett, Ciaran. "Walter Bragg, Brentford's last surviving member of our Division One side, dies aged 86". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^ White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 378. ISBN 0951526200.