David Joseph Walsh (28 April 1923 – 14 March 2016) was an Irish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a centre forward for, among others, Linfield,

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. Walsh was a dual international and played for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. In 1949, he was a member of the FAI XI that defeated

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

2–0 at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

, becoming the first team to beat England at home. Walsh was a player with an eye for goal. Nimble and decisive in front of goal, he had the knack for being in the right place at the right time. After retiring as a player Walsh owned a sports shop / general store in Droitwich and later ran holiday homes in Thurlestone and

Kingsbridge Kingsbridge is a market town in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population ...

in Devon. In June 2003, Walsh, together with such other notable

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

footballers as Paddy Coad,

Alfie Hale Alfred Hale (born 28 August 1939) is an Irish former football player and coach who played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the English League, most notably, Waterford, Aston Villa, Doncaster Rovers and Cork Celtic. During hi ...

, Peter Thomas, Jim Beglin and

John O'Shea John Francis O'Shea (; born 30 April 1981) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who is currently assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland men's national team. He was known for his versatility in playing several defensi ...

, was honoured by the city council and presented with

Waterford Crystal Waterford Crystal is an Irish manufacturer of crystal glassware, especially cut glass products. It is named after the city of Waterford in Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was cl ...

vase. He died in 2016.

Playing career

Irish Leagues

Walsh began his career playing youth football in

before joining Limerick United in 1942 making his debut on 4 October scoring twice against St James's Gate F.C. in the League of Ireland Shield. Despite Limerick finishing second from bottom in the competition Walsh scored 6 goals. At the end of a very successful goalscoring 1942–43 League of Ireland season he was loaned to Shelbourne for their Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup ties. In 1943 he moved north of the border and joined Irish League side Linfield. Walsh scored 122 goals in Ireland, including 73 during the 1945–46 season for Linfield. While at Linfield he helped them win the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

in 1945 and a Northern Regional League /

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in 1946.''Who's Who Of Aston Villa'' (2004): Tony Matthews
/ref> His teammates at Linfield included, among others Tommy Breen, Sammy McCrory and guest player

Billy Liddell William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 – 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 app ...

. On 8 June 1947, together with Jackie Vernon, Walsh returned to Ireland to play as a guest for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

in a friendly against Everton.

English League

In May 1946, Walsh joined

for a fee of £3,500 and subsequently made a terrific start to his English League career by scoring in each of his first six games. He continued to score regularly for WBA and, together with Reg Ryan and Jackie Vernon, he was a key figure when they gained promotion in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. He went on to score 100 goals for WBA before moving to

for a fee of £25,000 in December 1950. He made 114 appearances and scored 40 goals for Villa, averaging a goal every three games, before moving onto

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

in July 1955. After one season there he joined

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...

where he retired as a player in May 1957.

Irish international

When Walsh began his international career in 1946 there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland-based IFA and the Ireland-based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and selected players from the whole island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Walsh, played for both teams.

IFA XI

Between 1946 and 1950, Walsh made 11 appearances and scored seven goals for the IFA XI. These include two

Victory international The term Victory International or Victory Internationals refers to two series of international association football, football matches played by the national football teams of England national football team, England, Scotland national football team ...

s played in early 1946. On 2 February, at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

he made his debut for the IFA XI in a 3–2 defeat to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, scoring both of his team's goals. Then, on 4 May, he helped the IFA XI defeat

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

1–0 at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

. On 27 November 1946, he played for the IFA XI a 0–0 draw with Scotland. Together with

Johnny Carey John Joseph Carey (23 February 1919 – 22 August 1995) was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 195 ...

, Con Martin, Bill Gorman,

Tommy Eglington Thomas Joseph Eglington (15 January 1923 – 18 February 2004) was an Irish footballer who played as an outside-left for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Everton and Tranmere Rovers. Eglington was also a dual internationalist and played for b ...

Alex Stevenson Alexander Ernest Stevenson (9 August 1912 – 2 September 1985) was an Irish footballer who played for Rangers and Everton, amongst other teams. As an international, Stevenson also played for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. ...

and Peter Farrell, he was one of seven players born in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

to play for the IFA XI that day. The draw helped the team finish as runners-up in the 1947 British Home Championship. Walsh also helped the IFA XI gain some further respectable results, including a 2–0 win against

on 4 October 1947 and a 2–2 draw with

on 5 November 1947. It was at Goodison that Walsh scored his third goal for the IFA XI, in a game he was later to describe as the highlight of his footballing career. Walsh also scored both goals for the IFA XI on 9 October 1948 in a 6–2 defeat to England at

. He then scored twice in the first five minutes at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

against Scotland on 17 November 1948. However Walsh's goals could not prevent Scotland eventually winning 3–2. Despite both games ending in defeat, these four goals saw Walsh finish as top goalscorer during the

1949 British Home Championship Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Lui ...

. Walsh made his last appearance for the IFA XI in a 0–0 draw with Wales on 8 March 1950. As well as being part of the

1950 British Home Championship Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 f ...

, the game also doubled up as a qualifier for the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

. Walsh, together with Con Martin, Reg Ryan and Tom Aherne, was one of four players from the Republic, included in the IFA XI that day and as a result he played for two different associations in the same

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

tournament. This situation eventually led to intervention by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and as a result Walsh became one of the last four

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

-born players to play for the IFA XI.''The Boys In Green – The FAI International Story'' (1997): Sean Ryan
/ref>

FAI XI

Between 1946 and 1953, Walsh made 20 appearances and scored five goals for the FAI XI, making his debut for the team in a 3–1 defeat to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 16 June 1946. On 2 March 1947, Walsh scored twice against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, helping the FAI XI to 3–2 win. Both of his goals that day were set up by a fellow

footballer, Paddy Coad. On 2 June 1949, he scored his third goal in a 3–1 defeat to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, during a qualifier for the

. Then, on 21 September 1949, together with Con Martin,

and Peter Farrell, he was a member of the FAI XI that defeated

2–0 at

, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. He scored his fourth goal on 26 November 1950 against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in a 2–2 draw. He scored his last goal for the FAI XI against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 4 October 1953 and made his last appearance on 25 November 1953 in a 1–0 defeat against the same team. Both of these games were qualifiers for the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the 5th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June ...

. Ireland (FAI) stats
/ref>

Honours

Linfield *

**''Winners'' 1945, 1946 2 **''Runners-up'' 1944: 1 * Northern Regional League **''Winners'' 1944–45, 1945–46: 2 West Bromwich Albion * Second Division **''Runners-up'' 1948–49: 1 Ireland *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

**''Runners-up'' 1946–47: 1

References

External links

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Davy Association footballers from Waterford (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Ireland (FAI) men's international footballers Dual Irish men's international footballers Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Limerick F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Linfield F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players League of Ireland players NIFL Premiership players Shamrock Rovers F.C. guest players 2016 deaths 1923 births Association footballers from County Waterford Irish League representative players Men's association football forwards Ireland (IFA) men's wartime international footballers English Football League players