Ronnie Wallwork

Ronald Wallwork (born 10 September 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

A lifelong Manchester United supporter, he joined the club as an apprentice in April 1993, following a spell playing Sunday league football.

Wallwork signed his first trainee contract in July 1994, before turning professional in March 1995.

He became a regular in the Manchester United junior sides, making 77 appearances for the club's various youth teams from 1994 to 1997.

Wallwork helped United to win the FA Youth Cup in 1995 and was named as the club's Young Player of the Year in 1996.

An England under-20 international, he began his career at Manchester United, where he made his professional debut in 1997.

He never fully established himself in the United first-team however, and was loaned out to Carlisle United and Stockport County.

During a further loan spell at Royal Antwerp, he was banned from football for life for attacking a Belgian referee, although the ban was later substantially reduced.

In the summer of 1997, he represented the England under-20 team at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia, where he played in all four of his country's matches.

England won all three group games to progress to the knockout stages but lost to Argentina in the round of 16.

By the start of the 1997–98 season, he had become a regular in the Manchester United reserve team and made his senior debut on 25 October 1997, when he came on as a 64th-minute substitute for Gary Pallister in the 7–0 home win against Barnsley.

Later that season, Wallwork was loaned out twice: firstly to Carlisle United, where he scored his first goal in professional football, and then to Stockport County.

He joined Royal Antwerp on loan during the following season and helped them to reach the play-offs, but their hopes of promotion to the First Division were ended by a defeat to La Louvière.

After the match, Wallwork grabbed referee Amand Ancion by the throat, for which he was banned from football for life.

Another Manchester United loanee, Danny Higginbotham, was banned for a year for his part in the attack.

A Belgian court reduced Wallwork's sentence to a three-year suspension, of which two years were probational, while Higginbotham's ban was reduced to four months.

The remaining twelve months of Wallwork's ban applied only in Belgium, rather than the worldwide ban given under the initial ruling.

The 1999–2000 season saw Wallwork make further progress at Manchester United as he made seven appearances for the first-team, mostly as a defensive midfielder.

Then, in 2000–01, he amassed enough league appearances to qualify for a Premier League winner's medal.

However, his spell in the United first-team was short-lived, as the signings of centre-back Laurent Blanc and central midfielder Juan Sebastián Verón made Wallwork surplus to requirements.

In 2002, Wallwork moved to West Bromwich Albion, where he was the Player of the Year for 2004–05.

He was not always a regular in the side however, and spent time on loan at Bradford City, Barnsley and Huddersfield Town.

He made his final appearance for United on 26 January 2002, playing 61 minutes of the FA Cup Fourth Round match against Middlesbrough before being replaced by Ryan Giggs.

In his seven years at United, Wallwork played just 28 times, and in the summer of 2002 his contract was not renewed.

In July 2002, Wallwork moved on to West Bromwich Albion on a Bosman free transfer, becoming the first player signed by Albion following their promotion to the Premier League.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson called him the "best Bosman of the summer".

Before the season started, Wallwork and his Albion teammates were involved in a dispute over bonuses with the club's new board of directors.

According to his agent, the player was said to be "shocked and disturbed" at the prospect of an 80% reduction in bonuses compared with that offered by the outgoing board.

Wallwork made his Albion debut as a substitute in a 3–1 home defeat to Leeds United on 24 August, and he went on to play in 27 of Albion's 38 Premier League games in 2002–03.

Following the death of his mother in February 2003, he and his teammates each wore a black armband for the match against Bolton Wanderers.

The club was eventually relegated at the end of the campaign and Wallwork fell out of favour during 2003–04, taking part in just five league matches during the first half of the season.

In January 2004, he joined Bradford City on an initial month-long loan, during which time he scored in his first and last games.

Albion initially refused an extension to the loan, citing concerns over the financial situation at Bradford, who were on the verge of administration.

A second loan deal for a further two months at Bradford was agreed shortly afterwards, and Wallwork scored a further two goals, taking his total with Bradford to four in seven games.

His spell at Barnsley was cut short when he was stabbed several times in a nightclub, suffering wounds to his hand, stomach and back, which caused him to miss more than two months of the 2006–07 season.

Wallwork was transferred to Sheffield Wednesday in January 2008, but was released just four months later.

In December 2011, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of handling stolen cars.

He returned to football in 2014 signing for Ashton United.

In March 2021, he received an 18-month suspended sentence and was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Born in Manchester, Wallwork attended The Football Association's School of Excellence at Lilleshall as a teenager.