James Walker (footballer)

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For the Australian rules footballer, see James Walker (Australian rules footballer).
Jimmy Walker
Personal information
Full name James Barry Walker
Date of birth July 9, 1973 (1973-07-09) (age 34)
Place of birth    Nottingham, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club West Ham United
Number 23
Youth clubs
1991-1993 Notts County
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1993-2004
2004-		 Walsall
West Ham United		 403 (0)
013 (0)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

James Barry Walker (born July 9, 1973 in Sutton-in-Ashfield) is a professional English association football player. Walker, a goalkeeper, plays for Premiership club, West Ham United, wearing squad number 23.

Contents

He is nicknamed "Wacka" because of the distance of his kicking,[1] a variation on his life-long family nickname of "Wack"[citation needed]. He is best known for his agility and ability to make world-class saves which defy his diminutive goalkeeper's frame of 5'11".

Walker joined Notts County as a trainee in July 1991 but failed to make a first appearance[2] and moved to Walsall in August 1993, making his debut in the same month.[1] He went on to make over 470 appearances in all competitions for Walsall in ten years,[2] 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 FC 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 2001.

The London club acquired Walker's services from Walsall on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2004.[3] Walker, who provided competition for Stephen Bywater,[4] was the second choice goalkeeper at Upton Park but gained a regular first team place within a year of his arrival. Walker helped West Ham win promotion in 2005 but a serious knee injury in the closing stages of the play-off final[5] saw him miss the majority of the 2005-06 season. He made 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.[6] He made only two more first team appearances but collected a FA Cup Final loser's medal as an unused substitute in May 2006.[7] 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 though he remained very popular at Upton Park. He is most respected by West Ham fans for saving a penalty taken by Frank Lampard (who is an unpopular figure at Upton Park) in the League Cup in October 2004.

  1. ^ a b "Player Profiles: Jimmy Walker", West Ham United Official Site. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. 
  2. ^ a b "Soccerbase: Jimmy Walker", The Racing Post. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. 
  3. ^ "Hammers snap up Walker", BBC Sport, 10 June 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Walker sad to leave Walsall", BBC Sport, 12 June 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Walker set for road to recovery", BBC Sport, 8 July 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  6. ^ "West Ham 2-4 Portsmouth", BBC Sport, 18 March 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  7. ^ "Liverpool 3-3 West Ham (aet)", BBC Sport, 13 May 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2007.

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West Ham United F.C. – current squad
1 Green • 2 Neill • 3 McCartney • 4 Gabbidon • 5 Ferdinand • 6 Upson • 7 Ljungberg • 8 Parker • 9 Ashton • 10 Bellamy • 11 Etherington • 12 Cole • 14 Paintsil • 15 Solano • 16 Noble • 17 Mullins • 18 Spector • 19 Collins • 20 Faubert • 21 Wright • 22 Stokes • 23 Walker • 24 Dailly • 25 Zamora • 26 Quashie • 27 Davenport • 28 Reid • 29 Bowyer • 30 Tomkins • 31 Ephraim • 32 Dyer • 33 Camara • 34 Boa Morte • 39 Collison • 40 Spence • Manager: Curbishley
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