Ronald Wallwork, born Newton Heath, England, September 10, 1977. Ronnie Wallwork joined the Manchester United Academy straight from school and he would sign his first trainee contract in July 1994. The granite hewn midfield combatant would later play for a host of clubs, including Carlisle United, West Bromwich Albion, and Barnsley.
Born and bred in Newton Heath, Ronnie Wallwork signed his first professional contract with Manchester United in March 1995, and made his first English Premier League appearance for the club as a replacement for Three Lions international central half Gary Pallister during an overwhelming 7-0 win over Danny Wilson´s Barnsley at Old Trafford on the 25th of October 1997. In a completely one-sided match, Andy Cole gave the aggressive home side the lead in the 19th minute of action, before the same man produced a second goal only a couple of minutes later. Ryan Giggs then made it 3-0 to the hosts as the rocket-heeled flanker powered the ball past the Barnsley goalkeeper and into the top corner of the net in the 43rd minute of play, and two minutes later Giggsy sent a magnificent through ball to Cole who completed his hat-trick to make the half-time score 4-0 in favour of the men in red shirts. Then, thirteen minutes into the second half, Ryan Giggs went on to net his second goal of the contest when the winger fired another unstoppable effort past helpless Barnsley net custodian David Watson. Manchester United proceeded to dominate the game and Paul Scholes and Karel Poborsky eventually rounded off the scoring with a goal each. Wallwork never managed to establish himself in the first team under Alex Ferguson, though, and his self-confidence was slowly but surely undermined. With the constant competition for first team places at the Old Trafford club, the locally born midfield dog of war continued to struggle to make a real impact at the club, and he eventually descended down the pecking order.
Then as soon as the 2001-02 season was over, demanding Manchester United gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson deemed his services surplus to requirements after having appeared in only twenty-eight first team matches for his boyhood club, and the frustrated and restless footballer subsequently left the club for Barclaycard Premiership new boys West Bromwich Albion where he became a massive favourite with the supporters at The Hawthorns. A determined and versatile midfielder, Wallwork was given his Premier League debut for West Bromwich by head coach Gary Megson when he took the pitch as a late second half substitute for former Morton, Rangers, and Toulouse midfield warrior Derek McInnes during a 3–1 defeat against Leeds United in front of a 26,000 strong home crowd at The Hawthorns on the 24th of August 2002, and he proceeded to play in twenty-seven of the Midlands club´s thirty-eight Premier League fixtures in the 2002–03 campaign. While with The Throstles, the football hard man needed a lifesaving operation after suffering seven stab wounds to his stomach, back and hand when he was attacked in a Manchester night club on the 30th of November 2006, and he was never quite the same player ever again. Widely recognised for his commitment and dedication, the defensive oriented midfield workhorse amassed close to 100 league appearances for West Bromwich before he decided to make a free transfer move to Football League Championship side Sheffield Wednesday midway through the 2007-08 season and he was handed his first team debut for The Owls when he entered the field as a half-time substitute for fellow midfielder Steve Watson during a 1–0 loss to Cardiff City at Ninian Park on the 12th of January 2008, but he only managed to make seven League outings for The Owls while at Hillsborough.
During his professional soccer career, Ronnie Wallwork was also shipped out on loan to a string of Football League teams in order to obtain some much needed first team football experience. The much traveled footballer accumulated close to 200 League appearances for Manchester United, Carlisle United, Stockport County, Royal Antwerp FC, West Bromwich Albion, Bradford City, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town, and then finally Sheffield Wednesday, before he announced an early retirement from his sport because of persistent problems with injuries at the end of the 2007-08 campaign. Unfortunately, Wallwork´s life after playing professional soccer was somewhat less composed with a number of ill-fated attempts at business management and the previous Premier League player was sentenced to fifteen months of imprisonment in December 2011 after he pleaded guilty to three counts of receiving stolen property. Ronnie Wallwork Playing Career: Manchester United, Carlisle United, Stockport County, Royal Antwerp FC, West Bromwich Albion, Bradford City, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Ashton United. Managing Career: None.