Nathaniel Walton (28 May 1867 – 3 March 1930) was an English international

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 an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

Career

Born in Preston, Walton played professionally for

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, and earned one cap for

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 ...

in 1890. Like so many other players of his era, Walton graduated through local football (signed for Witton in 1883) to join the ranks (1884) of Blackburn Rovers at a time when the club was becoming the dominant force in the town. He was an industrious inside-forward who earned himself a regular place in the endless round of friendly fixtures during the 1884–1885 season. Unfortunately, he looked destined to continually miss out on the big occasions when he was overlooked for the FA Cup Finals of 1885 and 1886. He did play in the replayed final of 1886 against

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 Walton helped his team to win 2–0. Walton, playing as a forward, made his League debut at

Leamington Road Leamington Road was a football ground in Blackburn in England. It was the home ground of Blackburn Rovers between 1881 and 1890. History Blackburn Rovers moved to Leamington Road from their Alexandra Meadows ground in 1881.Paul Smith & Shirley ...

, then home of Blackburn Rovers, on 15 September 1888 in a match against

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

. The match was drawn 5–5. He scored his debut League goal on 22 September 1888 in a match played at Leamington Road, against West Bromwich Albion. Blackburn Rovers won 6-2 and Walton scored two of the six. Walton played in the two FA Cup semi-final matches against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

(the first match ended 1-1). Blackburn Rovers lost the replay 3–1. In season 1888–89 Nat Walton played 20 League matches and scored ten League goals. As a forward he played in a forward-line that scored three-League-goals-or-more-in-a-match on ten separate occasions. In scoring 10 League goals Walton scored two-in-a-match twice. Nat Walton played in all five of Blackburn Rovers

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

ties. He scored once, in a First Round Replay played on 9 February 1889 at

, against Accrington. Blackburn won 5-0. One source described Nat Walton thus, "Walton is always good, though, perhaps, rarely brilliant".

References

1867 births 1930 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football inside forwards Witton F.C. players Footballers from Preston, Lancashire {{England-footy-forward-1860s-stub