Wally Carter

{{Short description|Australian rules footballer and coach}}

{{for|the Melbourne footballer|Wally Carter (footballer born 1898)}}

{{Use Australian English|date=January 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Wally Carter

| image =

| fullname = Wallace Francis Carter

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|2|4|df=y}}

| birth_place = Carlton, Victoria

| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|6|6|1909|2|4|df=yes}}

| death_place = Essendon, Victoria

| originalteam = Balmain

| height = 175 cm

| weight = 72 kg

| position =

| statsend = 1963

| years1 = 1929–1940

| club1 = North Melbourne

| games_goals1 = 137 (32)

| coachyears1 = 1940, 1948–1953

| coachclub1 = North Melbourne

| coachgames_wins1 = 127 (63-64-0)

| coachyears2 = 1954–1957

| coachclub2 = Williamstown

| coachgames_wins2 = 91 (76-15-0)

| coachyears3 = 1958–1962

| coachclub3 = North Melbourne

| coachgames_wins3 = 92 (35-56-1)

| coachclub4 = Brunswick

| coachyears4 = 1963–1964

| coachgames_wins4 = 36 (11-24-1)

| careerhighlights =

}}

Wallace Francis Carter (4 February 1909 – 6 June 2001) was an Australian rules footballer who played for and coached North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Carter made his debut for North Melbourne in 1929 and played with the club for over a decade, winning the inaugural Syd Barker Medal for their best and fairest player in 1937. Towards the end of the 1940 season he acted as caretaker coach but with little success. It was his last season as a player but he would return to the club in 1948 as coach. He acted as coach from 1948 to 1953, and became the first North Melbourne coach to lead the club to a VFL Grand Final.

In 1954, Carter signed to coach Victorian Football Association club Williamstown.{{cite book|last=Fiddian|first=Marc|title=The VFA – A History of the Victorian Football Association 1877 – 1995|year=2013|publisher=Melbourne Sports Books}} He demanded his players train to the same standard as his former VFL club, and led the club into its most successful era. Under Carter's four-year tenure, Williamstown won consecutive premierships in 1954, 1955 and 1956, and was the unbeaten minor premier in 1957 before being eliminated from the finals in straight sets.{{citation|title=Seagulls over Williamstown|last=Fiddian|first=Marc|year=2003|publisher=Williamstown Football Club|publication-place=Williamstown, VIC|page=88}} He was coach of the VFA representative team in 1957.{{sfn|Fiddian|2003|p=96}}

Carter returned to coach North Melbourne again from 1958 to 1962. During this time he became the first ever person to coach over 200 games for North Melbourne. He then coached Brunswick, in 1963 and 1964.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19621129&id=EZFVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=w5YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5259,4865573&hl=en|title=Wally Carter for Brunswick|date=29 November 1962|work=The Age|page=24|access-date=21 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406075521/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19621129&id=EZFVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=w5YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5259,4865573&hl=en|archive-date=6 April 2016}}

He was inducted into the North Melbourne Hall of Fame in 2002. He was named as coach of the Williamstown Team of the Century in 2003, and was an inaugural inductee in the Williamstown Hall of Fame in 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.williamstownfc.com.au/hall-of-fame-inductees/|title=Williamstown FC Hall of Fame Inductees|access-date=11 September 2014}}