Wally Shanks

Walter George Shanks Date of Birth: May 1, 1923

Although born in Malta, Wally was raised in Scotland and was on the point of joining Aberdeen when war broke out. At the end of hostilities he followed his pal, Scottish international Tommy Walker, to Chelsea but with 70 professionals on their books at the time he decided to drop down a division and joined Luton in October 1946.

After biding his time with only an occasional first team game, Wally made the breakthrough in 1949 in his favoured defensive wing half position and apart from injury was an automatic choice until 1957 when he joined the Town’s coaching staff.

Following relegation from Division One in 1960, Wally left Kenilworth Road and then concentrated on his sports shop that he ran with record Luton goalscorer Gordon Turner. Wally later ran the ‘Brown Owl’ shop and lived in Luton in retirement until his death in 2010.