Ronnie Wallwork

Manchester United

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

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.

Wallwork runs a clothes business, D&R Designers, in Failsworth, Greater Manchester. In 2007, the business was burgled, with hundreds of pounds worth of goods stolen.

Controversies

On 30 November 2006, Wallwork was stabbed multiple times during a brawl in a Manchester nightclub, by his girlfriend's ex-partner. On 18 August 2008, Wallwork was seen to be talking on his mobile phone while driving his BMW 525, in Failsworth. He pleaded guilty to the offence five months later and was fined £35, ordered to pay £35 costs and a £15 victim surcharge, and was given three penalty points on his licence. In late 2010, whilst staking out the 10 Arches scrapyard in Clayton, Manchester, police on Operation Solomon who were attempting to track down a gang of armed robbers who had shot a Tesco security guard in Preston, noticed that Wallwork had his own, entirely separate, criminal enterprise. On 18 January 2011, Wallwork was charged with concealing criminal property in connection with offences relating to stolen cars. On 1 July 2011, he pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court to three counts of handling stolen cars. During the trial, it emerged in defence that Wallwork had had financial difficulties following his retirement from football, resulting in two failed business ventures, and police as a result believed he had got caught up in the criminal sub-culture of Newton Heath. Clarke Carlisle, then chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, said that "Ronnie has been…

Manchester United

Premier League: 2000–01 Intercontinental Cup: 1999 Individual

Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year: 1995–96 West Bromwich Albion Player of the Year: 2004–05