Jonathan Kevin Wallis (born 4 April 1986) is an English

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 ...

Career

He progressed through the youth ranks at Gillingham and signed his first professional contract, at the beginning of the 2005–06 season. Prior to this he had spent three months work experience at Hastings United where he made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals. Two of these goals were in the preliminary rounds of the FA Cup. He returned to the Pilot Field in September 2005 on a month's loan. Back at Gillingham, Wallis had been a mainstay in the youth and reserve teams and it was following some strong performances in the reserve team that

Neale Cooper Neale James Cooper (24 November 1963 – 28 May 2018) was a Scottish football player and coach. He played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s, most prominently for the Aberdeen team managed by Alex Ferguson, and later played for Aston V ...

decided to hand Wallis his debut. Although normally a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, Wallis made his debut at

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

match at home to

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

. Gillingham won 2–0 that night in a game that went to extra time and Wallis played exceptionally well in an unfamiliar position. In particular, Wallis showed a willingness to get forward to support the attack, and was involved in the thick of the action when he cleared a goal-bound effort during normal time. Wallis went on to make around twenty performances in the 2005–06 season, almost entirely at right-back, however on 9 May 2006 he was released by Gillingham. A few weeks later he signed for

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

. However, he made only two substitute appearances for the Bulls. On 28 October 2006, he went on loan to Dover as midfield cover, making 12 appearances and scoring his first goal of the season in the 4–0 win over Ashford Town. On 19 February 2007 he went out on loan again, this time to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

, making two substitute appearances.Dagenham snap up Wallis and Eyre
/ref> On 27 March 2007, he left Hereford by mutual consent and subsequently signed for Dover Athletic until the end of the season.

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at the ...

was appointed Dover Athletic manager in June 2007, and Wallis turned down a Football League club in order to spend at least another year at the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

club to develop his game under the former Gillingham manager. After Dover Athletic won the

Isthmian League Division One South The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

title, Wallis opted to sign a new one-year deal in May 2008. The following season saw more success for the Kent club as they won the

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

at the first time of asking, which prompted Wallis to sign another new contract for Dover Athletic. Wallis joined

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

in 2011 after a falling-out of a number of players with then Dover manager Martin Hayes.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Dover Athletic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallis, Jon 1986 births Living people Gillingham F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Dartford F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Footballers from Gravesend, Kent People educated at Gravesend Grammar School Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers 21st-century English sportsmen