A remarkable career in Victorian football reaches a milestone on Saturday evening as Bentleigh Greens skipper Wayne “Wally” Wallace laces up the boots for his 100th league club appearance.
With a decorated and well-respected reputation, the imposing Englishman has been an integral component of Bentleigh’s midfield since he first arrived at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex over four years ago.
“It feels like I’ve played 200 for the club,” Wallace said.
“It’s a nice milestone to get. I’ve seen it on the website where everybody has been getting them [milestones], like Ryan De Vries making 50 appearances, and I was wondering when mine was going to come up.”
The Hullesian’s career began at the age of 17 in Engalnd’s semi-professional conference tiers, playing for the likes of Hall Road and Bridlington Town AFC.
However, a broken foot later saw the midfielder sidelined for a long period of time before later returning to the park two years later.
A switch to Australia soon followed, with the 31-year-old crediting a former teammate for his move Down Under in 2008.
“A friend who played in the same team as me came out here and asked if I wanted to come – I did and signed for the Georgies [Sunshine George Cross],” he said.
“I spent two years at the Geogies in division one, won joint best player in the league, went home for a year and then came to Bentleigh for five years.”
Andy O’Dell recruited Wallace to the Greens in the summer of 2011, where he soon took on the responsibilities of captaining the side.
The midfielder quickly forged himself as one of the competition’s premier talents, earning a host of accolades, most recently the 2014 Bill Fleming [media’s player of the year] award.
After almost leading the Greens to the 2013 Victorian Premier League championship, Wallace attracted national headlines the next year during Bentleigh’s inaugural Westfield FFA Cup campaign.
An 87th minute equaliser against Adelaide City broadcast live across the country on Fox Sports prompted a stunning fightback, as the Greens overturned a 1-0 deficit to book a place in the semi-final against A-League outfit Perth Glory.
29th October 2014 |FFV| © Mark Avellino
“We just didn’t want to lose 1-0,” he said, describing the moment as one of the best in his career.
“We were beating them on the pitch and obviously losing 1-0 with two minutes to go thinking we’ll be out of the FFA Cup, luckily enough the ball crossed in, I got a header in and took it to extra time for Jamie to win.
“To be losing and then to come back and beat them and when you deserve to win [was satisfying],” he added.
29th October 2014 |FFV| © Mark Avellino
Silverware is on the agenda in 2015, as Wallace and the Greens will seek to capitalise on a golden era under John Anastasiadis.
After disappointingly missing out to Northcote City in 2013, Wallace believes this year’s squad can go one better than the star studded side which lined up on the AAMI Park surface two years ago.
“Just as good or even better, obviously 2013 was a great team and we should have won it,” he said.
“A few injuries maybe cost us but this team can go on and [win it], we’ll see what happens at the end of the year and then we’ll compare.”
Bentleigh will visit Port Melbourne’s JL Murphy Reserve tomorrow evening with kick-off scheduled at 5PM.
Graeme Furlong