| Billy Walsh | |
| Fullname: | William Joseph Walsh |
| Birth Date: | 18 February 1911 |
| Birth Place: | Collingwood, Victoria |
| Death Place: | Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria |
| Originalteam: | Preston (VFA) |
| Height: | 177 cm |
| Weight: | 71 kg |
| Statsend: | 1945 |
| Years1: | 1932-33 |
| Games Goals1: | 23 (39) |
| Years2: | 1934 |
| Games Goals2: | 3 (2) |
| Years3: | 1935-37 |
| Games Goals3: | 23 (24) |
| Years4: | 1944 |
| Club4: | Fitzroy (VFL) |
| Games Goals4: | 1 (0) |
| Years5: | 1945 |
| Games Goals5: | 7 (7) |
| Games Goalstotal: | 57 (72) |
William Joseph Walsh (18 February 1911 – 11 September 1986)[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Preston Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), and with the Melbourne Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[2]
The son of John Walsh (1874-1952),[3] and Catherine Walsh (1876-1949), née Cleary,[4] William Joseph Walsh was born at Collingwood, Victoria on 18 February 1911.[5]
He married Roma Rubina Ward (1914–1992) in 1936.[6] [7]
He was educated at St Joseph's Technical School, Abbotsford.[8]
His senior career involved a wide range of teams and competitions over fourteen years (1932 to 1945).
He made his debut for Preston in the match against Yarraville, at the Yarraville Oval, on 14 May 1932,[9] and went on to play in 23 games (39 goals) in 1932 and 1933.
Cleared to Melbourne from Preston on 4 May 1934,[10] [11] he played for most of the season with the Melbourne Seconds.[12] He played in the last three home-and-away matches of the 1934 season for the Firsts, was best on the ground for the team that won the 1934 VFL Seconds Grand Final,[13] was released before the 1935 season began,[14] and cleared back to Preston.[15]
He played in 23 games for Preston from 1935 to 1937. In his first match back at Preston, playing against Oakleigh, at the Oakleigh Football Ground, on 11 May 1935, Walsh broke his leg and did not play again that season.[16]
In 1938 he was cleared from Preston to play with General Motors-Holdens in the Saturday Morning Football League.[17] [18] He played with the team for the entire 1938 and 1939 seasons, including the 1938 Grand Final winning team, and the 1939 Grand Final losing team.[19]
On 17 April 1940 he was cleared from Preston to the Moe Football Club,[20] where he had been appointed captain-coach.[21] Walsh, the captain-coach of Moe, did not play in the match between Moe and Leongatha on 29 June 1940; with the local paper reporting that he had returned to his former team, "Preston Seconds".[22]
In June 1942 he was playing for a representative RAAF team.[23] [24]
He was cleared from Moe to Fitzroy on 5 May 1944,[25] and played his only senior game for Fitzroy against St Kilda, at the Brunswick Street Oval, on 6 May 1944.
Cleared from Fitzroy to Preston on 27 April 1945,[26] he played in 7 games (7 goals) in 1945.
Walsh served in the Royal Australian Air Force (from 15 January 1942 to 30 November 1945) during World War II.[27] He did not serve overseas.[28]
He died at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, in Heidelberg, Victoria, on 11 September 1986.[29]