Wally Bragg

Wally Bragg
Personal information
Full name Walter Leonard Bragg[1]
Date of birth (1929-07-08)8 July 1929
Place of birth Twickenham, England
Date of death 6 March 2016(2016-03-06) (aged 86)[1]
Place of death Twickenham, England
Playing position Centre half
Youth career
Twickenham Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1957 Brentford 161 (6)
→ Hounslow Town (loan)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


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

Career

A centre half, Bragg joined Division One side Brentford in 1946 from local team Twickenham Celtic.[2] After a spell out on loan at Corinthian League club Hounslow Town, Bragg returned to Griffin Park to make his debut on the right wing in place of Idris Hopkins for the visit of Grimsby Town on 29 March 1947.[2] Bragg's appearance in the 1–0 defeat made him Brentford's youngest debutant at that time.[2] A call-up for national service saw him fail to appear again until the second half of the 1951–52 Division Two season,[2] enjoying a run of 10 appearances.[3] He then went on to become a regular fixture in the team through the mid-1950s,[4] making a career-high 44 appearances during a disastrous 1953–54 season in which the Bees were relegated to the Division Three South.[4][5] Bragg played on until the end of the 1956–57 season, when he retired from football after a succession of injuries.[2]

Personal life

Bragg served his national service in the RAF.[2] After retiring from football, he worked as an advertising manager for local newspapers in Twickenham.[6] He was married with a son and two daughters and five grandchildren and at the time of his death in March 2016.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Barry Hugman's Footballers - Wally Bragg". hugmansfootballers.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Yore Publications. pp. 25–26. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  3. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  4. 1 2 "Brentford Football Club History". www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  5. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Brentford". www.fchd.info. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  6. 1 2 Brett, Ciaran. "Walter Bragg, Brentford's last surviving member of our Division One side, dies aged 86". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
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