 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Walker | ||
| Date of birth | (1879-01-10)10 January 1879 | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 28 August 1930(1930-08-28) (aged 51) | ||
| Place of death | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Dalry Primrose | |||
| 1896–1919 | Heart of Midlothian | 327 | (124) |
| International career | |||
| 1900–1913 | Scotland | 29 | (8) |
| 1899–1911 | Scottish Football League XI | 14 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Robert Walker (10 January 1879 – 28 August 1930) was a Scottish professionalfootballer who played as aforward forHeart of Midlothian and theScotland national team.
Walker joined Hearts fromDalry Primrose in 1896, making his debut in a "trial" match vsSunderland. He played in a few games that clinched Hearts' secondLeague Championship in 1897. Walker was the first Hearts player to score over 100 league goals, and he scored their 1000th SFL goal. Other notable achievements are his 33 goals againstHibernian, which is the record tally in theEdinburgh Derby if local competitions are included. He scored twohat-tricks against Hearts' main rivals, the first at the age of 19 years and 9 months in a 5–1 victory atEaster Road on 28 October 1898. He repeated the feat on 18 September 1905, again at Easter Road, in a 3–0 win.
The 1901Scottish Cup was remembered as "Walker's Final", Hearts beatingCeltic 4–3. With the score poised at 3–3The Scotsman reported:"the Edinburgh team soon showed that they were not going to relinquish the grasp of the cup which their play entitled them to, and Walker once more proved himself the grandest forward on the field. Taking the ball some thirty yards right through the opposition, he shot straight and true.M'Arthur saved, but sent the "leather" toBell, who tipped it over toHouston. By the last named it was again sent towards the Celtic custodian who muddled his attempt to avert, and again the Hearts were one to the good." After this matchCharlie Thomson dubbed him "The Best Player in Europe" and his style of football, involving brilliant footwork and sublime passing was known as "Walkerism". He also played in Hearts Scottish Cup win of 1906.
During Hearts' first overseas tour to Norway in May 1912,King Haakon of Norway attended one of the games specifically to see Walker play.
Walker became a Hearts director in 1920. He died at the age of 51 in August 1930. Huge crowds lined the funeral route and thousands stood round his graveside. His obituary inThe Scotsman stated"The Hearts never had a more brilliant forward than Walker. He was amazingly clever in manipulating the ball, and , it was on skill alone that he relied, for he was never favoured with physique. With the ball at his feet he could turn on his course elusively, and in such little space, that he could often put a whole defence out of position with his deft movement."
The Football Encyclopaedia from 1934, edited by Frank Johnston, referred to him simply as"Bobby Walker, the greatest natural footballer who ever played."
Walker was the mostcapped Scottish footballer for Heart of Midlothian with 29 caps until the record was broken in 2006 bySteven Pressley. He held theScotland national team caps record at various points from 1905 to 1931.
If caps are "weighted" to measure the number of games that were possible to play in a season, he is third in the all time Scottish caps list. His Scotland career of 13 years, one month and three days places him at no. 11 in the all-time list. He shares the record of 11 Scottish caps versusEngland, along withAlan Morton ofQueen's Park andRangers. The record would have been 12 as he played in theIbrox disaster match of 5 April 1902 which has subsequently been declared unofficial. In addition he won 14Scottish Football League XI caps, which places him 7th in the all-time list.[1]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Heart of Midlothian[2] | 1896–97 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 1897–98 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | |
| 1898–99 | 18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 12 | |
| 1899–1900 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 8 | |
| 1900–01 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 6 | |
| 1901–02 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 5 | |
| 1902–03 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 11 | |
| 1903–04 | 25 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 13 | |
| 1904–05 | 20 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 14 | |
| 1905–06 | 27 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 32 | 21 | |
| 1906–07 | 26 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 34 | 8 | |
| 1907–08 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 10 | |
| 1908–09 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 5 | |
| 1909–10 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 26 | 5 | |
| 1910–11 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 8 | |
| 1911–12 | 22 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 3 | |
| 1912–13 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 7 | |
| Career totals | 327 | 124 | 62 | 21 | 389 | 145 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 March 1902 | Grosvenor Park,Belfast, Ireland |  Ireland | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1901–02 British Home Championship |
| 2 | 15 March 1902 | Cappielow,Greenock, Scotland |  Wales | 4–0 | 5–1 | |
| 3 | 4 April 1903 | Bramall Lane,Sheffield, England |  England | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1902–03 British Home Championship |
| 4 | 12 March 1904 | Dens Park,Dundee, Scotland | Wales | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1903–04 British Home Championship |
| 5 | 18 March 1905 | Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland | Ireland | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1904–05 British Home Championship |
| 6 | 16 March 1907 | Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland | Ireland | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1906–07 British Home Championship |
| 7 | 1 March 1909 | Racecourse Ground,Wrexham, Wales | Wales | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1908–09 British Home Championship |
| 8 | 16 March 1912 | Windsor Park,Belfast, Ireland | Ireland | 4–1 | 4–1 | 1911–12 British Home Championship |
His brotherAlex Walker also played for Hearts.
He was the uncle ofSt Mirren and Scotland defenderGeorge Walker, whose sisters also married footballers.[3]
Bobby Walker is buried inNorth Merchiston Cemetery in Edinburgh.[4]