Ian Walker

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Ian Walker
Personal information
Full name	Ian Michael Walker
Date of birth	October 31, 1971 (age 35)
Place of birth	Watford, England
Height	6'2"
Nickname	Ian Walker Texas Ranger
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Bolton Wanderers
Number	12
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989-2001 1990 1990 2001-2005 2005-	Tottenham Hotspur → Oxford United (loan) → Ipswich Town (loan) Leicester City Bolton Wanderers	260 (0) 2 (0) 0 (0) 140 (0) 0 (0)
National team2
1996-2004	England	4 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24/12/2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 24/12/2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Ian Michael Walker (born October 31, 1971 in Watford) is an English footballer currently playing for Bolton Wanderers.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 International 2 Personal life 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

Walker is the son of former Wales goalkeeper, and Norwich City and Everton manager Mike Walker.

Walker was for many years the primary goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur, starting out with them as a trainee and having two loan spells, for Ipswich and Oxford. Walker made 240 premiership appearances for Tottenham, but was transferred to Leicester City in July 2001 for £2,500,000, after the signing of Neil Sullivan.

It was with his time with spurs he earned the nick name Ian Walker Texas Ranger due to his no-nonsense attitude to the game.

Walker spent four years at Leicester before being released on 6 May 2005 and joining Bolton on a one year contract. In May 2006 Walker was rewarded for his patience in not playing a single league game by being given a further two year contract.

[edit] International

Walker has been capped for the England national team four times, making his debut in 1996 against Hungary. His most infamous game was against Italy in a qualification match for the 1998 World Cup where he is widely believed to have been at fault to a Gianfranco Zola strike. England lost this game to Italy 1:0 at Wembley Stadium. He backed up David James at Euro 2004 but has now been overtaken by Paul Robinson, Robert Green, Scott Carson, Ben Foster and Chris Kirkland in the pecking order. He has said to lots of people that he would love to go back to England 1 more time, even if it was a friendly.

[edit] Personal life

Until recently, Walker and his former Page Three wife Suzi lived in a mock-Tudor mansion in Cobham, Surrey ^[1]. After the birth of daughter Sophie in 1998, Suzi suffered Post Natal Eclampsia ^[2], and is an on-going sufferer of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis ^[3]

In November 2006, Suzi admitted Walker had met dancer Samantha Thurman, 33^[4], from Miami on a property investment trip to Las Vegas in May. Walker has had little contact with his family since, and Suzi supported through her illness by her parents, is now reportedly seeking a divorce ^{[5] [6]}. Walker is attending the Sporting Chance Clinic, set up by ex-Arsenal captain Tony Adams, to solve his current depression problem ^[7].

[edit] Trivia

• Walker was the Bolton goalkeeper for their first ever European match away from England against Bulgarian team Lokomotiv Plovdiv

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2006/10/17/ppast17.xml
2. ^ http://www.iconocast.com/News_Files/HNews23X23_X_05/Health7.htm
3. ^ http://www.celebagents.co.uk/Celebs/43/Suzi_Walker.html
4. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006510148,00.html
5. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2006500803,00.html
6. ^ http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=suzi%2D-my-husband%2Ds-run-off-with-pete-burns-lookalike%26method=full%26objectid=18046667%26siteid=62484-name_page.html
7. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006520346,00.html

[edit] External links

• Ian Walker career stats at Soccerbase

Bolton Wanderers F.C. - Current Squad
1 Al Habsi | 2 Hunt | 4 Nolan | 5 Méïté | 6 Speed | 7 Stelios | 8 Campo | 9 Pedersen | 11 Gardner | 12 Walker | 14 Davies | 15 Thompson | 16 Andranik | 17 Fortune | 21 Diouf | 22 Jääskeläinen | 23 Tal | 24 O'Brien | 25 Faye | 26 Ben Haim | 27 César | 29 Harsányi | 31 Sinclair | 39 Anelka | 41 Fojut | 46 Jamieson | Manager: Allardyce