The walker's

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The walker's
Des walker.jpg
Personnel
Surname Desmond Sinclair Walker
birthday November 26, 1965
place of birth Hackney , London ,  England
size 180 cm
position Defender
Juniors
Years station
1982-1984 Nottingham Forest
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1984-1992 Nottingham Forest 264 (1)
1992-1993 Sampdoria Genoa 30 0(0)
1993-2001 Sheffield Wednesday 309 (0)
2002-2004 Nottingham Forest 57 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1985-1988 England U-21 7 0(0)
1988-1993 England 59 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Desmond "Des" Sinclair Walker (born November 26, 1965 in Hackney / London , England ) is a former English football player and was active for the Nottingham Forest club for many years .

Athletic career

Walker, a fast-paced central defender who is strong in tackles , was discovered as a youth in London and hired by Nottingham Forest in 1982 for the junior division. There coach Brian Clough built a new team of young talents after his successful team was getting on in years after two victories in the European Cup . Walker made his debut in March 1984 at the age of only 18 and ended the season in the First Division with his club after three more appearances in third place.

Forest continued to develop positively with Walker and other young talents from their own junior academy and after repeated championship placements in the upper half of the table, the team reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1988 . Walker's good performance also meant that England coach Bobby Robson came under increasing pressure to consider Walker for future internationals.

After the club had to be eliminated in the FA Cup against Liverpool that year , Walker and Forest won the league cup, the first trophy in nine seasons with Forest, and defeated Luton Town 3-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium . This was followed by the second FA Cup semi-final in two years against Liverpool, which did not take place due to the Hillsborough disaster with 96 dead Liverpool supporters. A short time later, Liverpool won the rescheduled game 3-1.

Just a month later, Walker made his debut for the English national team and was substituted on for Tony Adams in the game against Denmark . Shortly thereafter, Walker was regularly used in the highly competitive places in central defense, with Adams, Terry Butcher and Mark Wright in particular being immediate competitors.

Walker defended the league cup title with Forest in 1990 by beating Oldham Athletic in the final and was called up by Robson in the 22-man English squad for the 1990 World Cup in Italy despite a disappointing championship season by Robson .

Walker was used in all seven England games at the World Cup and received international recognition for his good performance, which was only somewhat overshadowed by the new young star Paul Gascoigne . The defensive back three with Wright and Butcher, although Adams was not even in the squad, proved its worth in the tournament until England were eliminated in the semifinals on penalties against Germany .

After Butcher's resignation, Walker became a central fixture on the English defensive, even after Graham Taylor took over the English coaching post. Walker was also an important player at his club in Nottingham when Clough tried again with his team to win the FA Cup.

Forest reached the final at Wembley Stadium, but lost there to Tottenham Hotspur with 1: 2. Walker himself was unlucky enough to be involved in the crucial scene when a Spurs corner was shot dangerously towards the near post while the score was 1-1 in extra time .

Walker, who was posted at the far post and was put under pressure by opponents, tried to block the ball with his head, but directed it into his own goal. The Spurs thus won the game and Walker involuntarily ensured that the club, which was Walker's favorite club as a youth, won the title.

This goal was a curiosity because Walker was to remain almost goalless in his career and, unlike many other central defenders, was not called on the offensive in set pieces or in late stages of the game. By 1992 he hadn't scored a goal in his eight-year career.

This changed on New Year's Day in 1992 when Nottingham was down 1-0 in a league game against Luton Town just before the end. Walker ventured forward in one of the last game situations and immediately found himself in the situation of pursuing a long pass towards the opposing goal. Inexperienced in such a goal closure situation, he simply shot the ball hard and high into the goal and thus ensured the draw in the game. The own followers celebrated Walker's breakthrough exuberantly.

Later in the season, the club again reached the final in the League Cup and lost it to Manchester United . Walker was called up for the European Championships in Sweden in 1992 , when England was eliminated after the first group stage. After the tournament, the Italian club Sampdoria signed Genoa under the then coach Sven-Göran Eriksson Walker for a fee of 1.5 million pounds. There he completed only one season, however, and returned to England to Sheffield Wednesday for 2.7 million pounds .

After a long-term injury, Walker's speed suffered significantly and resulted in the termination of his national team career. He had previously played all English qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup in the USA , but England failed. Walker's international career came to an end after 59 games, and unsurprisingly, he failed to score.

He continued to focus on club football and was active for many years at Sheffield Wednesday, where he played more than 300 games under eight different coaches. He then briefly joined Burton Albion and his former teammate, Nigel Clough , in 2001 and then followed again the call of Nottingham Forest, who now played only lower class.

Walker played almost 60 games ten years after leaving Forest for the first time and then retired at the age of 38 after a total of 354 games and one goal for Forest. His career was rounded off with an official farewell game in May 2005.

He then took over the coaching position at the same club, but was then replaced by Gary Megson .

Oddities

Des Walker was a member of the band Englandneworder with the title World In Motion , which was recorded on the occasion of the Soccer World Cup in Italy in 1990, number 1 in the UK charts.

successes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 59 Days To Go
personal data
SURNAME Walker, Des
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walker, Desmond Sinclair
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Hackney , London