Jimmy Walker (footballer, born 1973)

Jimmy Walker
Personal information
Full nameJames Barry Walker
Date of birth9 July 1973
Place of birthSutton-in-Ashfield, England
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Youth career
1991–1993Notts County
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1993–2004Walsall406(0)
2004–2009West Ham United15(0)
2008–2009→ Colchester United (loan)16(0)
2009–2010Tottenham Hotspur0(0)
2010–2013Walsall50(0)
2014–2015Peterborough United0(0)
Total487(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:31, 29 August 2014 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

James Barry "Jimmy" Walker (born 9 July 1973 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire) is an English professional football goalkeeper who most recently played for Peterborough United, where he was also employed as the club's goalkeeping coach.

Early life

Walker was born on 9 July 1973 at 3.00am in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, weighing 7lbs 13oz. His father, Barry, was employed as a miner before working in an office, while his mother ran her own hairdressing salon.[1] He has a younger sister, Elizabeth. When Walker was eleven years old, his parents divorced, and he continued to live with his mother. Within a year, his father married again to his step-mother, Hilary.[2]

Club career

Walsall

Walker joined Notts County as a trainee in July 1991, but failed to make a first appearance[3] and moved to Walsall in August 1993, making his debut in the same month. He went on to make 475 appearances in all competitions for Walsall in eleven years,[4] the most by any goalkeeper for the club, and became a cult hero at Bescot Stadium. While at Walsall, he was a key player in three promotion seasons, and won their Player of the Season award twice. He was awarded a testimonial in the summer of 2003.[4] Walker's popularity proved such that an autobiography was commissioned to coincide with his testimonial season; ghosted by Walsall programme editor, Andrew Poole, it proved to be a relative success with fans of Walsall and of West Ham United.

Walker's successes at Walsall included promotion from Division Three in 1995 and from Division Two in 1999 and again in 2001. He was nicknamed "Wacka" by the Walsall fans.

West Ham United

West Ham acquired Walker's services from Walsall on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2004.[5] Walker, who provided competition for Stephen Bywater,[6] was the second choice goalkeeper at Upton Park but gained a regular first team place within a year of his arrival. Walker gained praise from West Ham fans on saving a penalty taken by Frank Lampard in the League Cup in October 2004, in front of the West Ham supporters' end at Stamford Bridge. However, despite his heroics, the Hammers lost the tie 1–0.[7]Walker helped West Ham win promotion in 2005, but a serious knee injury in the closing stages of the play-off final[8] saw him miss the majority of the 2005–06 season. He made his first appearance since the knee injury, and his Premiership debut at the age of 32, in a 4–2 defeat to Portsmouth in March 2006.[9] He made only two more first team appearances, though collected a FA Cup Final runners up medal as an unused substitute in May 2006.[10] The presence of Roy Carroll and Robert Green as goalkeepers at West Ham during the 2006/07 season meant that Walker's first-team chances were limited; in spite of this, he still remained a popular figure at Upton Park.

On 27 November 2008, Walker signed on loan for Colchester United.[11] He made his debut for Colchester on 29 November 2008 in their 2–1 victory against Northampton Town.[12]

On 3 June 2009, West Ham announced that Walker had been released.[13]

Tottenham Hotspur

At the start of September 2009, at the age of 36, Walker was signed on a short-term contract by Tottenham Hotspur as a third choice goalkeeper.[14] He was released by Tottenham on 1 July 2010.

Return to Walsall

On 29 October 2010, Walker re-signed for Walsall, on a short-term contract due to end in January 2011.[15] On 28 January 2011 he extended his contract to the end of the 2010/2011 season.[16] On 12 April 2011 Walker made his 500th appearance for the Saddlers, against Brentford, which ended in a 3–2 win for Walsall.[17] On 8 June 2011, Jimmy Walker signed a one-year deal at Walsall.

On 7 January 2012, in a 2–2 home draw with Bournemouth, Walker made his 529th appearance in all competitions for the club, equalling Colin Harrison's appearance record. He broke the record, which had stood since 1981, when he was selected to play in an away fixture against Brentford the following week, on 14 January 2012. He kept a clean sheet in a match that finished 0–0.[18] In July 2012, Walker signed a fresh one-year deal with Walsall which saw him working in a player-coach role with the League One club.

On 7 February 2013, after making 533 appearances for the club during two separate spells over the past two decades, Walker left Walsall by mutual consent.[19] He failed to make a first-team appearance during his final season at the Banks's Stadium.

Coaching career

In 2013, Walker replaced Barry Richardson as the first team goalkeeper coach at Peterborough United.[20] On 21 February 2015, Walker left Peterborough following the sacking of manager Darren Ferguson.

Honours

Walsall F.C.

West Ham United

References

  1. ↑ Walker and Poole, p. 12
  2. ↑ Walker and Poole, p. 13
  3. ↑ "Soccerbase: Jimmy Walker". Racing Post. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Exclusive! Wacca's back". www.saddlers.co.uk. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "Hammers snap up Walker". BBC Sport. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  6. ↑ "Walker sad to leave Walsall". BBC Sport. 12 June 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  7. ↑ "Chelsea 1–0 West Ham". BBC Sport. 27 October 2004. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  8. ↑ "Walker set for road to recovery". BBC Sport. 8 July 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  9. ↑ "West Ham 2–4 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 18 March 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  10. ↑ "Liverpool 3–3 West Ham (aet)". BBC Sport. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  11. ↑ "Walker heads to Colchester". West Ham United F.C. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  12. ↑ "Northampton 1–2 Colchester". BBC Sport. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  13. ↑ "Summer squad latest". West Ham United F.C. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  14. ↑ "Jimmy joins". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  15. ↑ "Jimmy Walker returns to Walsall". www.expressandstar.com. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  16. ↑ "Jimmy Walker Extends Deal". www.BskyB.com. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  17. ↑ "Analysis of Walsall 3 Brentford 2 « Express & Star". Expressandstar.com. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "Smith hails record-breaker Walker". Eurosport.yahoo. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  19. ↑ BBC Sport - Jimmy Walker: Walsall part company with veteran goalkeeper
  20. ↑ New Posh goalkeeping coach - Peterborough United - Peterborough Telegraph


External links

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Bibliography