| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Lloyd Wallace[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1964-01-21)21 January 1964 (age 61)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Greenwich,[1] England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Striker,winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1977 | Deal Town | ||
| 1977–1980 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1989 | Southampton | 253 | (64) |
| 1989–1993 | Manchester United | 47 | (6) |
| 1993 | →Millwall (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1993–1995 | Birmingham City | 16 | (2) |
| 1995 | Wycombe Wanderers | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 320 | (72) | |
| International career | |||
| 1981 | England Youth | 4 | (5) |
| 1981 | England U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 1983–1986 | England U21 | 14 | (1) |
| 1986 | England | 1 | (1) |
| 1990 | England B | 1 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
David Lloyd"Danny" Wallace (born 21 January 1964) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as a striker and winger. During his career, he played forSouthampton,Manchester United,Millwall,Birmingham City andWycombe Wanderers. He won onefull cap forEngland. His football career was ended prematurely by the effects ofmultiple sclerosis.
Wallace was born inGreenwich, south-eastLondon.[3] As a youngster, his skills attracted scouts from many London clubs, includingMillwall andArsenal, but he was snapped up bySouthampton, joining them as an associate schoolboy in February 1977.[3] He turned professional in January 1982, although he had made his first team debut more than a year earlier.[3]
He made his debut aged only 16 years and 313 days on 29 November 1980 atOld Trafford, thus becoming the youngest player to be picked for Southampton – a record that would remain unbroken untilTheo Walcott made his debut 25 years later.[4][3][5]
Over the next two seasons, his first-team appearances were limited, and he made only three starts (plus four substitute appearances) in the 1981–82 season. On 23 October 1982, he scored his first goal for the Saints in a 3–2 defeat atSwansea City.[6] This was the start of a scoring spree of seven goals in ten games, which saw him finish the 1982–83 season with 12 goals from 35 appearances.
Small, compact and explosive, Wallace delightedThe Dell crowds with his pace and superb individual goals. Most First Division defences struggled to cope with his speed and ability. He burst to national prominence with both goals in the first match televised live from The Dell, againstLiverpool on 16 March 1984, by which time Southampton were a major threat to Liverpool's bid for a third successive league title.[4] His first goal was an overhead kick, while his second saw himself to head home a cross fromMark Dennis.[7] The first goal was namedGoal of the Season for 1983–84.[8] Southampton had emerged as surprise contenders in the title race, but in the end Liverpool won the title and Southampton finished second – their highest-ever finish.[9] They had also emerged as unlikely contenders forthe double, but were beaten 1–0 in extra time by eventual winnersEverton in theFA Cup semi-final.[10][9]
Wallace's fine form continued, and the following month both he and Steve Moran scored hat-tricks in an 8–2 win overCoventry City.[4] Southampton had another strong season in the league, finishing fifth, but were unable to compete in theUEFA Cup the following season as theHeysel disaster resulted in English clubs receiving an indefinite ban from European competition.[11]
In the league, Wallace scored eight goals in 35 games in the 1985–86 season and reached double figures again in 1987–88 with 11 league goals.[12]
On 22 October 1988, his two brothers,Rod andRay, joined him in the team in a match at The Dell againstSheffield Wednesday; this was the first time three brothers had played in the same team in English professional top-flight football since 1920.[4] The three brothers continued to play together for the remainder of the 1988–89 season, with Danny and Rod playing in attack alongsideAlan Shearer andMatthew Le Tissier.
By this time, Wallace was growing restless at Southampton and was looking for a new club. He attracted interest from many of the top clubs, and in September 1989 he eventually departed forManchester United for £1.2 million, then a record fee for a Southampton player.[13] In all, he made 317 first-team appearances for Southampton, scoring 79 goals.[4]
He joined Manchester United at a time whenAlex Ferguson was still looking for his first trophy as manager of Manchester United three years after taking charge.[14][15] United had not won the league title since 1967, and when Ferguson had taken over in November 1986 he inherited a squad which had won two FA Cups underRon Atkinson but was soon being broken up, with many players being sold, while a few includingBryan Robson andMark Hughes remained an integral part of Ferguson's plans to take United a step further, with the major signings of this era includingBrian McClair,Steve Bruce andNeil Webb.[16]
After the departure ofJesper Olsen in November 1988, he had drafted in ScotsmanRalph Milne, but the player was hugely disappointing and Ferguson quickly decided that he needed a more talented player to fill this position.[17][18] 18-year-oldLee Sharpe had started the season as United's first choice left winger, but Ferguson wanted a more experienced player for this position and seemed to have found what he was looking for in Wallace.[18] One of his first appearances for United was a 5–1 league defeat toManchester City in theManchester derby atMaine Road.[19]
Wallace was never quite the player at United that he had been at Southampton, although he remained their first choice left winger in1989–90 and was chosen for theFA Cup final againstCrystal Palace, which United won 1–0 in the replay after a 3–3 draw.[20] However,1990–91 saw first team opportunities reduced when Sharpe ousted Wallace as the first choice left winger at Old Trafford, though he still managed his fair share of appearances; on 28 November 1990 he scored one goal and was involved in four others in United's 6–2 away victory overArsenal in theFootball League Cup fourth round, although it was 19-year-old Sharpe who made the headlines with a hat-trick.[21]
United reachedthe final of that competition on 21 April 1991 but suffered a shock defeat toSheffield Wednesday and Wallace was not included in the squad.[22] He did, however, make the squad for theCup Winners' Cup final, collecting a winner's medal as a non-playing substitute.[13]
But in1991–92,Ryan Giggs burst onto the scene and Wallace was now firmly out of the first team picture, failing to make a single appearance in the league all season as United came second toLeeds United after leading the table for most of the season.[23] In December 1991, he was put on the transfer list and held talks with managerIan Branfoot about a potential return to Southampton, but the return to The Dell never happened.[4]
Wallace was selected twice for United in theirfirst season in the newFA Premier League, and scored for them againstBrighton & Hove Albion in a League Cup tie.[24] A loan spell atMillwall followed.[25]
After a series of injuries and a puzzling loss of form which meant he rarely played during his last two years at Manchester United, he was sold toBirmingham City for £250,000.[13] It became obvious that the player was far from fit, and in March 1995 he made a free-transfer move toWycombe Wanderers where he made just one substitute appearance before ending his playing career.[26]
Wallace was capped by England at under-age levels,[27][28] including 14 appearances forthe under-21 team.[29] He was selected in theEngland senior squad on 29 January 1986 for a friendly againstEgypt inCairo. He scored in a 4–0 win but was never selected for the England senior side again.[30] He played in aB international in 1990.[31]
The reason for his problems was discovered in 1996 when he was diagnosed withmultiple sclerosis and he was forced to retire from football.[32]
On 17 May 2004, St Mary's Stadium hosted a testimonial match for Wallace, featuring a Southampton XI vs an All-Star XI, organised by his former Southampton teammateGeorge Lawrence. Other former Saints teammates playing in the match includedSteve Williams,Steve Moran, Mark Wright and his two younger twin brothers,Rodney andRaymond. Manchester United were preparing for the FA Cup Final, to be played five days later, but several of Wallace's former United teammates also turned out, includingMark Hughes,Denis Irwin,Paul Ince,Paul Parker andViv Anderson.[33]
In 2006, Wallace completed the 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi)London Marathon in five-and-a-half days.[4][34] His goal in completing the marathon was to raise money for the Danny Wallace Foundation, which provides aid for those with multiple sclerosis. He was greeted at the finish line by former boxerMichael Watson, who himself completed the marathon in seven days after suffering brain injuries in a 1991 boxing match.[35]
Southampton
Manchester United
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