| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joshua Walker[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 21 February 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Watford | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2006 | Middlesbrough | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006–2010 | Middlesbrough | 8 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Bournemouth (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2008 | → Aberdeen (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | → Northampton Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Rotherham United (loan) | 15 | (3) |
| 2010– | Watford | 6 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Stevenage (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Northampton Town (loan) | 19 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Stevenage (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009 | England U20 | 4 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:53, 1 October 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Joshua "Josh" Walker (born 21 February 1989 in Newcastle upon Tyne) is an English footballer. He currently plays as a midfielder for Championship side Watford.
Walker started his career at Middlesbrough, progressing through the club's youth academy and was part of the club's FA Youth Cup winning team in 2004. He subsequently made his first-team debut for Middlesbrough in 2006, and made a handful of appearances during his four year profressional tenure at the club. During his time at Middlesbrough, Walker was loaned out on four separate occasions, playing for Football League clubs in the form of Bournemouth, Northampton Town, and Rotherham United respectively, as well as Scottish Premier League outfit Aberdeen.
He was released by Middlesbrough at the start of the 2010–11 season, and joined Championship side Watford on a free transfer in August 2010. Walker made four appearances for Watford, before joining Stevenage on loan in November 2010. He then rejoined Northampton Town on loan in January 2011. In August 2011, Walker joined Stevenage on loan for a second time.
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Walker was a graduate of the Middlesbrough's productive youth academy along with the likes of Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson, David Wheater, Lee Cattermole, Stuart Parnaby, Jonathan Franks and James Morrison.[3] Having been part of Middlesbrough's FA Youth Cup winning team of 2003–04, Walker made his first team debut, scoring the final goal in a 4–2 friendly victory over Carlisle United in July 2005.[3] His league debut came on the last game of the 2005–06 season, when Middlesbrough fielded a team largely filled with academy graduates in a 1–0 defeat to Fulham.[4]
During the 2008–09 season, Walker came on as a substitute in Middlesbrough's 5–1 home win over Yeovil Town in the League Cup.[5] In January 2009, he started his first game for the club, playing the whole 90 minutes in the club's 2–1 FA Cup victory against Barrow.[6] His performance led to him starting once more the following week, in a 1–1 draw with Sunderland in the Tees–Wear derby.[7] Just four days later, Walker was ruled out for six weeks after tests showed torn lateral ligaments.[8] In February 2009, after impressing Gareth Southgate, Walker signed a new two year contracting, keeping him at Middlesbrough until 2011.[3] In total, Walker featured nine times during the club's 2008–09 campaign.[9] The following season, Walker did not play in the first-team until February 2010, when he started in Middlesbrough's 1–0 home win over Peterborough United – after injuries forced Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan to play Walker.[10] It was to be his only appearance of the season for the club, and admitted he "could still be on his way out".[10] Surprisingly, Walker remained at the club ahead of the 2010–11 season, and he started in the club's 2–1 away win at Chesterfield in the League Cup.[11] However, just ten days later, Walker was allowed to leave the club, and joined fellow Championship side Watford on a free transfer.[12]
Towards the latter stages of the 2006–07 season, Walker signed on a month's loan for Bournemouth.[13] He made his debut for Bournemouth in a 3–1 away loss at Northampton Town, and played in a further five games as Bournemouth narrowly avoided relegation.[14] He returned to Middlesbrough in April 2007 to see if his future lie at the club, and also expressed an interest in joining Bournemouth "if Middlesbrough were interested".[14]
Walker joined Aberdeen on 29 January 2008, where he was on loan till the end of the 2007–08 season.[15] It was announced shortly afterwards that he had signed a new one year contract with Middlesbrough, keeping him at the club until June 2009.[16] Walker scored his first career goal while on loan at Aberdeen on 14 February 2008 against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup Round of 32.[17] Walker played 13 games in all competitions for Aberdeen, scoring once, before returning to his parent club in May 2008.[18]
On 19 November 2009, Walker joined Northampton Town on loan until January 2010, but the loan spell was cut short due to injury.[19] He made just one appearance for the club, playing the whole match in a 2–2 draw at home to Crewe Alexandra.[20]
In February 2010, Walker was loaned to League Two side Rotherham United on an initial month's loan, making his debut in a 1–0 win against Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium.[21] He scored his first goal for Rotherham in the club's 2–1 away defeat to Accrington Stanley.[22] Just four days later, he was on the scoresheet again, this time scoring the only goal of the game from 25 yards as Rotherham beat Bury 1–0.[23] On 25 March 2010, his loan deal was extended until the end of the 2009–10 season.[24] Walker played 15 times for Rotherham, scoring three goals.[25] He played his last game for the club in a 0–0 draw with Crewe Alexandra, before returning to his parent club in May 2010.[26]
In August 2010, Walker signed for Watford on a free transfer, signing a two year contract, with Watford having the option on a third year.[12] He made his Watford debut a day after joining the club, coming on as a 76th minute substitute in a 0–0 draw away at Hull City.[27] Walker also came on as a late substitute in three more games in September 2010, including in Watford's 3–1 victory against his former employers, Middlesbrough.[28][29] Having made just four substitute appearances for Watford, Walker said "If I'm being honest, I expected to do more than I have done at Watford, I still believe I should have played a lot more than I have so far".[30]
In November 2010, Walker joined League Two side Stevenage on loan until January 2011.[31] He made his Stevenage debut just a day after signing for the club, starting in Stevenage's televised FA Cup tie away at AFC Wimbledon. It was to be a scoring debut for Walker, scoring a free-kick that went in off the post to give Stevenage the lead in a 2–0 victory.[32] He made his first league appearance for Stevenage in the club's 1–0 home loss to Northampton Town in December 2010, a game in which Walker hit the crossbar from a free-kick.[33] Despite being due to stay at Stevenage until the beginning of January 2011, Walker was recalled by his parent club Watford on 23 December, in order to provide cover for the injured Stephen McGinn.[34] Walker made two appearances for Stevenage, scoring one goal, as his loan spell at the club was disrupted by fixture postponements.[34] Walker re-joined League Two side Northampton Town on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season in January 2011.[35] Walker had previously played for Northampton during the 2009–10 campaign.[35] He made his second debut for the club on 1 February, playing the whole game as Northampton beat Crewe Alexandra 6–2 at Sixfields.[36] Walker made 19 appearances for Northampton as the club narrowly avoided relegation, finishing five points above the relegation zone.[37][38]
Walker returned to Watford ahead of the 2011–12 season, under new management in the form of Sean Dyche.[39] He made his first appearance of the season in Watford's 0–0 away draw against Coventry City, coming on as an 89th minute substitute.[40] Three days later, on 23 August, Walker started in the club's 1–1 League Cup fixture against Bristol Rovers, a game which the club lost on penalties.[41] A week after Walker's first starting appearance of the 2011–12 season, he signed for Stevenage on loan until January 2012.[42][43] It was announced that Walker's loan deal was made with a view to a permanent move come the January transfer window.[44] He made his second debut for the club on 3 September, coming on as a substitute in a 4–2 home win against Rochdale.[45] Walker scored his first goal for Stevenage during his second spell at the club on 1 October, coming on as a 90th minute substitute and scoring two minutes later in a 2–1 defeat to Scunthorpe United.[46] After making just six substitute appearances for Stevenage in all competitions, Walker's loan spell with the club was cut short, with the player returning to Watford on 17 November 2011.[47]
Walker captained England's U16 and U17 and U20 teams.[3] Walker was part of England's 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad, captaining the side in all three of England's games.[48]
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