| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian Michael Walker[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-10-31)31 October 1971 (age 54)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Watford, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Shanghai SIPG (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1989 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–2001 | Tottenham Hotspur | 259 | (0) |
| 1990 | →Oxford United (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1990 | →Ipswich Town (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2005 | Leicester City | 140 | (0) |
| 2005–2008 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 401 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1990–1993 | England U21 | 9 | (0) |
| 1995–2004 | England | 4 | (0) |
| 1998 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2012 | Bishop's Stortford | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ian Michael Walker (born 31 October 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, he is the goalkeeping coach ofChinese Super League sideShanghai SIPG.
As a player, he was agoalkeeper who notably played in thePremier League forTottenham Hotspur andLeicester City. He made 259 league appearances for Spurs and was their first choice keeper from 1994 until just before his departure in 2001. He also finished his career with a three-year spell in the top flight withBolton Wanderers but all eight of his appearances came in cup competitions. He also had brief loan spells in theFootball League withOxford United andIpswich Town. Walker was capped four times byEngland, he was part of theEuro 96 squad and would go on to be selected forEuro 2004. He was also capped atU21 andB team level.
Following retirement, he later became manager of non-league sideBishop's Stortford, before moving toChina as the goalkeeping coach forShanghai Shenhua in 2012. Two-years later he moved to rivalsShanghai SIPG in a similar role.
After starting out with the team in the late 1980s as a trainee and having two loan spells away, atIpswich Town andOxford United Walker played in the winning 1989–90FA Youth Cup Tottenham team overcomingMiddlesbrough. During the early 1990s Walker was mainly used as the reserve keeper, making the odd cup appearance along the way, but after a serious injury to then Spurs keeperErik Thorstvedt Walker took his chance and soon became the number 1 at Spurs, cementing his place in the side and getting his chance in the team during the first season of the Premiership making a total of 17 appearances in the league.1992–93 season. Walker went on and made a total of 312 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur and played a big part during the 1999 season in helping Spurs win the1999 Football League Cup Final after beatingLeicester City 1–0 at Wembley Stadium. During the latter stages of Walkers career at Spurs he fell out of favour with the management and lost his place to the newly signedNeil Sullivan it was shortly after this, that the England international handed in a transfer request in September 2000.[4] He played his final game for Spurs againstWest Ham United on 31 January 2001.[5]
Walker signed a four-year contract withLeicester City in July 2001 for a fee of £2.5 million, rising to £3 million depending on appearances.[6] His first season at the club ended in relegation to theFirst Division,[7] which he felt may have ruined his dreams of an England call-up for the2002 World Cup.[8] Walker had an impressive season with Leicester as they regained promotion to thePremier League, earning his first England recall in six years in May 2003.[9]
A cult hero to many of the Foxes fans, Walker had an indifferent season back in the Premier League, producing moments of magic, but unfortunately it all unraveled in a match againstAston Villa at theWalkers Stadium on 31 January 2004, in which he conceded five goals in 18 minutes.[10] Walker put up such a poor display in the match that he was confronted by a Leicester fan who ran onto the pitch, telling him he "didn't think he was fit to be a Premiership player."[11] On 10 February 2004, Walker scored a bizarre own goal in a match againstBolton Wanderers to give them a 1–1 draw at Leicester.[12] Despite comfortably savingKevin Davies' shot, he lost grasp of the ball as it crawled over the goal line.[13] He did make a comeback performance in a goalless home draw againstWolves on 28 February,[14] putting up a "world-class save" to denyKenny Miller.[15] Walker pledged to stay at Leicester despite their relegation from the Premier League in the 2003–04 season.[16] He was released from Leicester City on 6 May 2005, after the club could not afford him a new contract.[17] Walker spent four years at Leicester.
Walker joined Bolton on a one-year contract. Walker was the goalkeeper for Bolton's first ever European match away from England againstBulgarian teamLokomotiv Plovdiv, which was also his debut.[18]
Walker was capped by theEngland national team four times, making his debut in 1996 againstHungary. His most infamous game was againstItaly in a qualification match for the 1998 World Cup where he is widely believed to have been at fault to aGianfranco Zola strike. England lost this game to Italy 1–0 atWembley Stadium. He backed upDavid James atEuro 2004 but was overtaken by others in the pecking order.[19] Despite Walker's club Leicester suffering relegation from the Premier League, he played his first England match in seven years as a 61st-minute substitute forPaul Robinson in a 6–1 win overIceland on 5 June 2004, which was also his last international.[20]
On 14 March 2011, Walker was appointed as manager ofBishop's Stortford who were playing in theConference South.[citation needed]
In April 2012, Walker joined his former Bolton teammateNicolas Anelka atChinese Super League sideShanghai Shenhua and became their goalkeeping coach.[21] On 2 January 2014, Walker became the goalkeeping coach ofShanghai East Asia, another Super League team in Shanghai.[22] On 15 May 2014, Walker signed a new contract with Shanghai East Asia, keeping him at the club until the end of 2017 season.[23]
Walker continues to coach the 1st team goalkeepers at Shanghai SIPG FC. Walker has produced two national team goalkeepers for China, Wang Dalei from Shanghai Shenhua in 2012–13 and Yan Junling from Shanghai SIPG in 2014–15, both continue to be in the national squad with Yan Junling who is still coached by Walker the China number 1 goalkeeper.[citation needed]
In the 2018 season Walker was the goalkeeper coach whenShanghai SIPG won their first league title ever.
Walker is the son ofMike Walker who was also a goalkeeper and managedNorwich City andEverton.[24]
Walker attendedGreat Cornard Upper School. He and his formerPage Three wife Suzi lived in a mock-Tudor mansion inCobham, Surrey, as featured onMTV Cribs.[25] After the birth of daughter Sophie in 1998, Suzi sufferedPost NatalEclampsia,[26] and is an ongoing sufferer ofMyalgic Encephalomyelitis.[27] He became a father just months after the death of his mother Jackie after a long battle against cancer.[24]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1989–90 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 1990–91 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 1991–92 | First Division | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 21 | 0 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 41 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 49 | 0 | ||
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 38 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | Premier League | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | ||
| 1997–98 | Premier League | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 33 | 0 | ||
| 1998–99 | Premier League | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Premier League | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 259 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 313 | 0 | ||
| Oxford United (loan) | 1990–91 | Second Division | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 1990–91 | Second Division | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Leicester City | 2001–02 | Premier League | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | |
| 2002–03 | First Division | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 51 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | Championship | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | ||
| Total | 140 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 156 | 0 | |||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2005–06 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 401 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 480 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1995 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
Tottenham Hotspur
England squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
