Born in February 1910 and passing away in April 1993, Albert Walker played 174 times for the Hammers between 1932 and 1937. Albert signed for the Hammers from then third division side Barrow. Playing as a left back, he failed to score in his time at West Ham, but he was to spend the best part of a lifetime helping the Hammers cause. Albert joined the Hammers because Barrow could no longer pay his wages and West Ham promised to pay him the princely sum of 8 quid a week.
When Albert arrived at Euston Station to complete his move, he had problems with understanding the London accent. The lad from Lancashire wondered what people were on about when they told him he had to catch the Barking train to East Ham. He had never heard of Barking and he didn’t think trains barked! He thought West Ham trainer at the time Charlie Paynter was a bit strange too – he wore a straw panama hat and Albert had only seen men wear cloth peaked caps before.
Albert played his 100th consecutive game for West Ham on Good Friday in 1936. He was very proud of this milestone but his run was ruined by a bout of flu. The Hammers sent him off to Southend to recover! He played with the likes of Big Jim Barrett, Jimmy Ruffell and Vic Watson and the highlight and low point of his career was the 2-1 FA Cup semi final loss to Everton. Albert said, “Big Jim played the great Dixie Dean off the park that day – but we lost to a late goal. The semi-final is a sad way to lose when you are so close”. Albert returned home to play for Doncaster before the war put paid to his football career. The war years saw him work with the National Fire Service.
In 1949, West Ham manager Ted Fenton asked Albert to join him on the Upton Park staff and the offer was accepted. He was to retire from the club in 1980 after coaching duties with all tiers of the club set up. Some of Albert’s graduates that he took under his wing at the club were Noel Cantwell, John Bond and Ken Brown. The Moore, Hurst and Peters trio also graduated through Albert Walker’s sides in the lower ranks. West Ham’s semi final defeat of Manchester United in 1964 was Albert’s happiest moment in football. Albert said; “I saw a few Manchester players chatting up some of the Dagenham Girl Pipers who were playing at the match. I then walked back into our dressing room and saw the atmosphere in there – I knew then we were going to win”.
Albert was to later say; “You get to know the mannerisms of players on match days. You develop a feeling of how they are going to play. It’s a West Ham atmosphere. When players leave here they are sorry. They keep coming back to visit us – it’s something here, not something that has built up over 12 months. It’s……West Ham.