Walter McMurray Galbraith (26 May 1918 – November 1995) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played as a defender for Queen's Park, Clyde, New Brighton and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. He then managed

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

, New Brighton,

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

and

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

.Mackay, pp193. Like most players of his generation, Galbraith's league career was delayed by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which meant that league football in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

was not held from 1939 until the start of the 1946–47 season. Galbraith played for Clyde for two seasons before moving to

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

club New Brighton, for which he made over 100 league appearances in three seasons. He then moved to

, where he stayed for two seasons. Galbraith was then appointed as player-manager of

in 1953, making 21 league appearances in the 1953–1954 season before ending his playing career. As manager, Galbraith took Accrington to their highest ever finishing position in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, as they narrowly missed out on promotion to Division Two. He once selected a team of eleven Scots for Accrington in a Football League match, and fans joked that players wouldn't be selected unless they were Scottish. Galbraith resigned in August 1958 after the club's directors advised him that they would be cutting his budget for players. Galbraith had stints as manager of

and New Brighton. This was followed by a short, unsuccessful stint as Tranmere Rovers manager in 1961. The club was relegated to

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier L ...

and were eliminated from the FA Cup by non-league opposition. Galbraith left Tranmere near the end of the year, when Hibs were seeking to replace Hugh Shaw, who had resigned in November.Mackay, pp192.

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer of new jack swing: a fusion of hip-hop and Contemporary R&B, R ...

and

Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...

were the preferred choices of the Hibs board, but Brown did not want the job and

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

refused to allow Stein to move. Galbraith was the next choice for Hibs, who had signed Gerry Baker from

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

while the club did not have a manager. Hibs just avoided relegation in both seasons that Galbraith managed the club, but he introduced

Pat Stanton Patrick Gordon Stanton (born 13 September 1944) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Stanton played for Hibernian for most of his career, making nearly 400 league appearances. Late in his career, he had a short and successful spe ...

into the team and signed players such as

Neil Martin Neil Martin (born 20 October 1940) is a Scottish former association football, football player, who scored 100 league goals in both Scotland and England and won three full international caps for Scotland in the 1960s and 1970s. Known for his str ...

, Pat Quinn,

John Parke John Grubb Parke (September 22, 1827 – December 16, 1900) was a United States Army engineer and a Union general in the American Civil War. Parke's Civil War service was closely associated with Ambrose E. Burnside, often serving him as c ...

and

Willie Hamilton William Winter Hamilton (26 June 1917 – 23 January 2000) was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament for constituencies in Fife, Scotland for 37 years, between 1950 and 1987. He was known for his strong republican ...

. Galbraith resigned from his position after the club had secured their Division One status near the end of the 1963–64 season, without acrimony or lining up another club.Mackay, pp195. Galbraith was unsuccessful as Hibs manager, but the relative success of his successors (

and

Bob Shankly Robert Fleming Blyth Shankly (25 February 1910 – 5 May 1982) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He was an elder brother of Bill Shankly, the former Liverpool manager. Shankly is considered one of Dundee's greatest manage ...

) was due to the players mentioned above. In fact, Stein only signed one player ( John McNamee) before the start of the 1964–65 season, as he was able to make a good team out of the good players Galbraith had introduced.Mackay, pp197. After leaving Hibs, Galbraith had brief spells in charge of

and

. He died in November 1995, at the age of 77.

References

;Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galbraith, Walter 1918 births 1995 deaths Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) managers Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Berwick Rangers F.C. managers Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. managers Clyde F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Hibernian F.C. managers New Brighton A.F.C. managers New Brighton A.F.C. players Footballers from Glasgow Queen's Park F.C. players Scottish football managers Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers Stockport County F.C. managers English Football League players Tranmere Rovers F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers Men's association football fullbacks 20th-century Scottish sportsmen