Ian Walker (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian Michael Walker | ||
| Date of birth | 31 October 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Watford, Hertfordshire, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–2001 | Tottenham Hotspur | 260 | (0) |
| 1990 | → Oxford United (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1990 | → Ipswich Town (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2005 | Leicester City | 140 | (0) |
| 2005–2008 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 402 | (0) | |
| National team | |||
| 1990–1993 | England U21 | 9 | (0) |
| 1996–2004 | England | 4 | (0) |
| 1998 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2011 | Bishop's Stortford | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Ian Michael Walker (born 31 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His former clubs include Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers. Walker is the son of Mike Walker who also was a goalkeeper. His father was the manager of the Wales national team, Norwich City and Everton.
Walker for many years was the number one goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur, starting out with them as a trainee and having two loan spells, for Ipswich Town and Oxford United. Walker made 312 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur and won the 1999 League Cup after beating Leicester City 1-0 at the old Wembley Stadium. Walker handed in a transfer request in September 2000 after losing his place in the first team to Neil Sullivan. He played his final game for Spurs against West Ham United on 31 January 2001.
Walker signed a four-year contract with Leicester City in July 2001 for a fee of £2.5 million, rising to £3 million depending on appearances. His first season at the club ended in relegation to the First Division, which he felt may have ruined his dreams of an England call-up for the 2002 World Cup. Walker had an impressive season with Leicester as they regained promotion to the Premier League, earning his first England recall in six years in May 2003.
He struggled with life in the Premier League, particularly in a match against Aston Villa at the Walkers Stadium on 31 January 2004, in which he conceded five goals in 18 minutes. Walker put up such a poor display in the match that he was confronted by a Leicester fan who ran onto the pitch, telling him he "didn't think he was fit to be a Premiership player." On 10 February 2004, Walker scored a bizarre own goal in a match against Bolton Wanderers to give them a 1–1 draw at Leicester. Despite comfortably saving Kevin Davies' shot, he lost grasp of the ball as it crawled over the goal line. He did make a comeback performance in a goalless home draw against Wolves on 28 February, putting up a "world-class save" to deny Kenny Miller. Walker pledged to stay at Leicester despite their relegation from the Premier League in the 2003–04 season. He was released from Leicester City on 6 May 2005, after the club could not afford him a new contract. Walker spent four years at Leicester.
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