Kenford Keith Ian Walwyn (17 February 1956 – 15 April 2003) was a

Kittitian Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

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 striker.

Career

Born in

Nevis Nevis ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute the Saint Kitts and Nevis, Federation of Saint Kitts ...

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

, Walwyn had trials for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and Preston North End before playing for

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

from 1977 to 1978. Following a trial with Bradford City he joined Winterton Rangers in 1979 before signing for Chesterfield in November 1979 for a fee of £5,000. He appeared only three times for the club's first team, scoring two goals, despite being a regular scorer in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. He was signed by York City for a fee of £4,000 in July 1981. During his time with the club, Walwyn played 291 games and scored 140 goals (119 in the league), becoming the club's second all-time top scorer behind Norman Wilkinson. This tally included 25 goals in City's historic 1983–84 Fourth Division championship-winning side. He won the Clubman of the Year trophy for the 1981–82 and 1986–87 seasons. He was transferred to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

for a transfer tribunal-set fee of £35,000 in July 1987, and scored 16 league goals in 69 appearances for the club. He moved next, in July 1989, to Carlisle United, who would prove to be his last League club. The final club he played for was

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

side Kettering Town, whom he signed for in February 1991. He made seven appearances and scored one goal for Kettering in the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

. He was forced to quit playing in March after he collapsed in a match against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

. He later had a pacemaker fitted.

Post-football and death

After his footballing career ended, Walwyn opened a sports store in the Preston area. In August 2002, he was guest of honour at the opening of Blackpool's new £7 million West Stand when Blackburn Rovers visited

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

. Walwyn died at 47 years of age, on 15 April 2003 while undergoing a heart operation. He is survived by his wife, Liz, and two children, James and Matthew."Walwyn a sad loss to the seasiders"
– ''

Blackpool Gazette The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...

'', 17 April 2003 His memory lives on at York's

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City F.C., York City Football Club and York City Knights, York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it was near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway sta ...

, where one of the hospitality suites, the "Keith Walwyn Vice presidents' Lounge", bears his name. It was officially opened by his widow in August 2006. On 7 March 2004, a fundraising match was played at the ground of York featuring a "Past Players Festival". Players from the promotion winning 1983/84 team played the players from the play-off winning side of 1993. Taking Keith Walwyn's place in the squad was Keith's son, Matthew, who went on to score two goals. On 11 May 2008, Matthew was on the bench for Kirkham & Wesham for the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

against Lowestoft Town. He was introduced in the 79th minute with his team losing 1–0, and subsequently struck an 84th-minute equaliser, and then an injury-time second, to win the game and the trophy for his side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walwyn, Keith 1956 births 2003 deaths Saint Kitts and Nevis men's footballers Men's association football forwards Guiseley A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players York City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players People from Nevis Expatriate men's footballers in England