Paul Walsh (soccer player)

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Paul Walsh
Paul Walsh.JPG
Personnel
Surname Paul Anthony Walsh
birthday October 1, 1962
place of birth Plumstead , London ,  England
size 173 cm
position striker
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1979-1982 Charlton Athletic 87 (24)
1982-1984 Luton Town 80 (24)
1984-1988 Liverpool FC 77 (25)
1988-1992 Tottenham Hotspur 128 (19)
1991 →  Queens Park Rangers  (loan) 2 0(0)
1992-1994 Portsmouth FC 73 (14)
1994-1995 Manchester City 53 (16)
1995-1997 Portsmouth FC 21 0(5)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1982-1984 England U-21 7 0(4)
1983-1984 England 5 0(1)
1 Only league games are given.

Paul Anthony Walsh (born October 1, 1962 in Plumstead , London ) is a former English football player . The strong dribbling and fighting striker won the English championship with Liverpool FC in 1986 and the FA Cup five years later with Tottenham Hotspur . Previously, he had already played five full international matches for the English national team and in 1984 won the junior election for England's Footballer of the Year .

Athletic career

Club career

Charlton Athletic & Luton Town (1979-1984)

At the age of just 16 years Walsh made his debut in the 1979/80 season for the second division Charlton Athletic against Shrewsbury Town and after the first substitution, he completed eight more league games, which ended, however, with relegation to the third division. There, however, as part of a change, he got the opportunity to form the storm line permanently at the side of Derek Hales . This paid off and with eleven league goals in the 1980/81 season, Walsh contributed significantly to the direct resurgence - he reached the fifth main round in the FA Cup with his club . In the second division, Walsh acclimatized very quickly and with 13 goals even exceeded the previous year's quota. His club was comfortably placed in the middle of the second division and the just 19-year-old Walsh had recommended himself for higher tasks. The choice finally fell on the first division promoted Luton Town , who had the transfer of the dribbling and somewhat small striker cost 400,000 pounds.

Even with the "Hatters" Walsh had little difficulty getting used to it and with three goals for a 5-3 win against Notts County he was immediately dangerous. Other milestones were his performance in the respectable 3: 3 against Liverpool and the relegation, which he secured with Luton on the last day of the game with a 1-0 win at Manchester City . Another year later, after Walsh made it into the English U-21 selection and even briefly in the senior national team , it was not surprising that he had attracted the interest of more prestigious clubs and so he joined in May 1984 the old and new champions Liverpool FC.

Liverpool FC (1984–1988)

In the race to sign Walsh, Liverpool had outperformed Manchester United and the newcomer came on for the first time as a substitute on August 18, 1984 in the Charity Shield defeat against Everton (0: 1). In his second league appearance, he introduced himself spectacularly to his home at Anfield Road with a goal after just 14 seconds and since the regular center forward Ian Rush was absent due to injury, he was in the starting line-up in the following eight league games before he took the regular place because of his own Injury again lost to Rush and only found his form again towards the end of the 1984/85 season. He played a significant role in the semi-finals in the European Cup when he scored two of the four goals in the 4-1 second leg win against Austria Wien . He was also in the starting line-up in the final against Juventus Turin (0-1), which was pushed into the background as a disaster by Heysel , but was replaced by Craig Johnston in the second half .

In the subsequent 1985/86 season, Walsh faced a number of changes. His teammate Kenny Dalglish took over as coach and since he only rarely intended to be on the pitch, Walsh formed the storm duo with Rush from then on. Especially between the beginning of October and the beginning of December 1985, he scored ten goals in ten games. In February 1985, however, his ankle tore against Manchester United and since Dalglish came on more frequently in the decisive phase, his contribution in the second half of the season, which led to the double win from the FA Cup and the English championship , was small. Nevertheless, with eleven goals in 20 league encounters, he had a significant share on the way to the championship title and received an official medal for it. He then had to wait until the end of October 1986 for the next appearance in the starting XI, but ultimately the 1986/87 season was disappointing for him with the exception of a three-goal win against Norwich City (6-2) with only three goals from the 22 other league games. Walsh was also unlucky in the 1987 league cup final against Arsenal (1: 2) and was replaced after 73 minutes when the score was 1: 1. The beginning of the end, however, marked the newly signed John Aldridge and Peter Beardsley in the 1987/88 season . Aldridge was in very good shape at the start of the season, scored in nine consecutive games and since Beardsley was an ideal match for him, it became obvious that Walsh no longer had a future with the "Reds". He completed on November 28, 1987 against Tottenham Hotspur his only league game in the season from the start and to this opponent it took him then in February 1988 for a transfer fee of 500,000 pounds.

Tottenham Hotspur (1988-1992)

Under his new coach Terry Venables , Walsh made his debut in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United and the month after he scored his first goal for the "Spurs" on the occasion of the 2-1 home win against Everton . During the 1988-89 season, Walsh only missed five league games when he stormed alongside Paul Stewart . He scored six goals, including both goals to another 2-1 win against Everton. With the Spurs also ending up in a respectable sixth place , Walsh's perspective seemed positive, but after the signing of Gary Lineker it was only a matter of "fighting out" the place at Lineker's side with Stewart. Walsh played 26 league games in the 1989/90 season, but often only found himself on the bench. A year later he won his first title in Tottenham when he won the FA Cup after beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the final and was substituted on for Vinny Samways after 82 minutes .

In his last full season for Tottenham in 1991/92 he remained a popular player with the fans, but despite his 28 league and cup appearances, Gordon Durie increasingly ousted him from the squad and half of his appearances he had initially sat on the bench. A final highlight was reaching the League Cup semi-finals, which was lost to Nottingham Forest. Finally, he moved to second division Portsmouth FC in May 1992 , with the deal including a simultaneous transfer of Darren Anderton in the opposite direction.

Portsmouth FC & Manchester City (1992–1997)

Within a year Walsh became a crowd favorite at Portsmouth FC and together with Guy Whittingham he formed a very successful storm duo. In the end, “Pompey” narrowly missed direct promotion in third place. When Whittingham left the club for Aston Villa , a new partner was found for Walsh in John Durnin , but this new formation lacked the previous effectiveness. Nevertheless, Walsh came to some respectable successes, especially his contribution with two goals counted to the surprising 2-2 in the League Cup against Manchester United , which forced "United" into a replay (0-1). However, it should be Walsh's last sporting highlight in Portsmouth for the time being, because a short time later he took advantage of his move to Manchester City the opportunity to return to the Premier League .

With Uwe Rösler and Peter Beagrie, Walsh was one of three new signings for coach Brian Horton at the end of the 1993/94 season. After a disappointing debut in a 0-1 home defeat against Wimbledon FC , he completed all ten remaining league games and his four goals ensured that the "Citizens" stayed away from the relegation zone and finished in 16th place in the end . He was also in good shape at the beginning of the 1994/95 season and had already accumulated ten league goals for Manchester City by the beginning of November 1994 - including a “double” in a 5-2 win against the former club from Tottenham. With a total of 15 competitive goals, he was the second best scorer of his club behind Rösler and it was all the more surprising that the new coach Alan Ball transferred him back to Portsmouth FC in September 1995 in exchange for Gerry Creaney . There he scored five more goals in 21 league games before a cruciate ligament rupture marked the end of his playing career. He announced his official resignation in December 1997.

English national team

At the age of just 20, Walsh was appointed to the “Three Lions” squad by England coach Bobby Robson . The striker who was active at Luton Town at the time had already made a name for himself as a goalscorer in the U-21 squad and was part of the squad that Robson experimented with on a trip to Australia in the summer of 1983. Walsh played three international matches against the hosts and scored the only goal to win 1-0 on his second appearance. When the English national team then went into the qualifying games for the European Championship finals in France in 1984 , those responsible found his commitment to be too risky and Walsh's career in England was only continued in February 1984 after failing in the qualification. At the side of his club mate Brian Stein , he stormed in the sobering 2-0 defeat against France and also in the 0-1 defeat against Wales a good two months later, the sense of achievement was missing. Although he subsequently catapulted himself into the "Beletage" of English club football with his move to Liverpool FC, Robson had seen enough and from then on refrained from another nomination.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "England - U-21 International Results 1976-1985 - Details" (RSSSF)
  2. ↑ "Paul Walsh: Liverpool FC 1984-1988, Part 1" (Sporting Heroes)
  3. ↑ "Paul Walsh: Liverpool FC 1984-1988, Part 2" (Sporting Heroes)
  4. ↑ "Paul Walsh: Tottenham Hotspur FC 1988-1992" (Sporting Heroes)
  5. ↑ "Paul Walsh: Manchester City FC 1994-1995" (Sporting Heroes)
  6. ↑ "Paul Walsh: England 1983-1984" (Sporting Heroes)
personal data
SURNAME Walsh, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walsh, Paul Anthony (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Plumstead , London , England