So much to say about this guy. Let's have a look back at the wonderful career of the keeper who had his own unique chant - 'Who saves penalties? - Wallngton! Wallington!'.
This is not a chronological recap but a chance to look in a bit more detail at certain points of his career - and some stories that haven't been told before.
1) The Man Merseyside Couldn't Beat
1983/84 was a season that started terribly - worse, in fact, than any other season in our history. After ten games we had just two points and relegation looked inevitable.
It was the season that Merseyside won everything - Liverpool took the League, the European Cup, and in the League Cup they beat Everton in the Final. The Toffees soon got over that disappointment - they went back to Wembley six weeks later to win the FA Cup, and they also won the Youth Cup.
There was one team that season, though, that managed to remain undefeated against the Mersey duo - and that was Leicester City. We drew twice against Liverpool, and took four points off Everton. No other team in the top flight could make the same boast.
The home game against Everton was a turning point in our season. That was the 11th game - and finally we registered a victory.
The home game against Liverpool came towards the end of the season, and was perhaps the greatest game I ever saw at the old ground - a thrilling 3-3 draw.
In the two away games, one man in particular stood in the way of the Merseysiders.
Mark Wallington had started the season in dispute with the club, and new signing Mark Grew was in goal for the first five games. We conceded 14 goals in those matches, and lost the lot. It was time for Mr. Reliable to return.
By the time we went to Anfield on December 27th, we had hit a good run of form, and had risen to as high as 17th (out of 22). Liverpool were top, and looking good for their third title in a row.
City shocked the Reds by taking the lead in the first half when Alan Smith turned home a cross from Steve Lynex, who was giving Liverpool left back Alan Kennedy all sorts of trouble. The inevitable onslaught followed after the break, with Liverpool attacking the Kop end.
The equaliser wouldn't come, and then with 20 minutes left City went two up when Ian Banks slammed a shot through a wall of Liverpool defenders after an indirect free kick was awarded when Bruce Grobbelaar picked up a back pass.
Liverpool quickly fought back, and goals from Sammy Lee and Ian Rush tied things up with five minutes to go. They swarmed forward in search of the winner, and in the 87th minute, Wallington was adjudged to have fouled Rush, and Souness had the chance to win it from the spot.
This was the result:
The hairline might have been receding, but that spot kick stopping talent was undiminished. Leicester held on for a 2-2 draw and a priceless point that took them another step towards safety.
In March, City went to Goodison Park to face an Everton team that had lost just one of its last 19 games. City were 16th, six points above the drop zone. Kevin Richardson put Everton ahead in the first half, but after the break Gary Lineker beat the offside trap to race away and equalise in front of the Gwladys Street end. Straight after that Everton went up the other end and were given a penalty and a chance to win it.
This is what happened:
Andy Peake watches as Wallington gets down to save Andy King's penalty. In the scramble for the rebound, Andy Gray put the ball in the net, but it was disallowed for offside:
Ian Wilson's the City man in the picture.
Leicester held out for the draw, with Wallington completing an Anfield-Goodison double - not just saving a penalty on each ground but helping City to a crucial point on each occasion.
Those photos are pretty rare. I don't think any of them have appeared in a Leicester publication before. The Anfield picture is from the Liverpool - Leicester programme from the following season. The Everton pics are from the Liverpool Echo the day after the game and have remained in the collection of yours truly ever since.
I can't claim many brownie points as a regular Leicester watcher (it's a bit tricky when you live 10,000 miles away) but I was at both of those matches on Merseyside in 1983/84, and I must be one of very few who can say that. There was a good away following at the Anfield match, but the Goodison game was on a Tuesday night and there were probably fewer than 100 City fans in the Park End behind the goal in which Wallington made that save.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that one. More Wallo stories on the way - and please add some of your own!
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