James Walker (footballer born 1973)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Barry Walker | ||
| Date of birth | 9 July 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Sutton-in-Ashfield, England | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Lincoln City (player-goalkeeping coach) | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1993 | Notts County | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–2004 | Walsall | 406 | (0) |
| 2004–2009 | West Ham United | 15 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | → Colchester United (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | (0) |
| 2010–2013 | Walsall | 50 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Peterborough United | 0 | (0) |
| 2016– | Lincoln City | 0 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2013–2015 | Peterborough United (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| 2016– | Lincoln City (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:46, 6 September 2016 (UTC). |
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James Barry "Jimmy" Walker (born 9 July 1973) is an English professional football goalkeeper who plays for Lincoln City of the National League, where he is also employed as the goalkeeping coach.
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. 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.
Walker joined Notts County as a trainee in July 1991, but failed to make a first appearance 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, 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. 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 acquired Walker's services from Walsall on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2004. Walker, who provided competition for Stephen Bywater, 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. Walker helped West Ham win promotion in 2005, but a serious knee injury in the closing stages of the play-off final 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. He made only two more first team appearances, though collected a FA Cup Final runners up medal as an unused substitute in May 2006. 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.
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