Gary Walsh

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Gary Walsh
Personal information
Full name Gary Walsh [1]
Date of birth (1968-03-21) 21 March 1968 (age 56) [2]
Place of birth Wigan, England [2]
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) [3]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
19??–1984 Wigan Athletic
1983–1985 Manchester United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1985–1995 Manchester United 50 (0)
1988 → Airdrieonians (loan) 3 (0)
1993–1994 → Oldham Athletic (loan) 6 (0)
1995–1997 Middlesbrough 44 (0)
1997 → Bradford City (loan) 5 (0)
1997–2003 Bradford City 128 (0)
2000 → Middlesbrough (loan) 3 (0)
2003–2006 Wigan Athletic 3 (0)
Total242(0)
International career
1987 England U21 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gary Walsh (born 21 March 1968) is an English football coach and former professional player who is a goalkeeping coach at EFL League Two club Port Vale. He played as a goalkeeper in a 21-year professional career, making 282 league and cup appearances. He was also capped twice at England U21 level.

Contents

Walsh spent ten years as a backup goalkeeper at Manchester United, where he played 50 First Division and Premier League games. He kept goal in the 1985 FA Youth Cup final and was an unused substitute in the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final, 1991 European Super Cup, 1994 FA Charity Shield, 1994 League Cup final, 1994 FA Cup final, and the 1995 FA Cup final. He also had brief loan spells at Airdrieonians and Oldham Athletic. He joined Middlesbrough for £600,000 in August 1995 and played 44 Premier League games before a £500,000 move to Bradford City in 1997. He was named the club's Player of the Year for the 1997–98 season and helped them to win promotion out of the First Division the following campaign. He spent a brief spell in 2000 on loan at Middlesbrough and ended his career in 2006 following three years with Wigan Athletic.

Following his retirement, he moved into coaching. He worked as a goalkeeping coach at Wigan Athletic, Derby County, Hartlepool United, Hull City and Aston Villa.

Playing career

Manchester United

Born in Wigan, Walsh left school in 1984 and signed for Wigan Athletic as an apprentice. He was originally a striker but was fielded as goalkeeper in a game being watched by a Manchester United scout. [4] He was promptly offered an apprenticeship by Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson, and accepted the offer. He kept goal for United as they finished runners-up to Manchester derby rivals Manchester City in the 1986 FA Youth Cup, though was praised for "keeping the score down" by coach Eric Harrison. [5]

Walsh was given a professional contract for the 1986–87 campaign, during which Ron Atkinson was sacked in favour of Alex Ferguson and made his First Division debut against Aston Villa on 13 December 1986. [6] Clean sheets at home to Leicester City and away to Liverpool followed. He played a total of 14 league games that season. [4] For a short time in the 1987–88 season, a 19-year-old Walsh was made first-choice goalkeeper after Gary Bailey retired due to injury and Chris Turner was dropped from the team. He was named Barclay's Young Eagle of the Month for October. [7] He played in 16 league games before his run in the first-team was halted by a head injury sustained in a mid-season friendly in Bermuda. A succession of further injuries dogged his career for the next six years. [8] [9] [10]

He began the 1988–89 season on loan at Scottish First Division club Airdrieonians, being described as "a real class act" by manager Gordon McQueen after keeping a clean sheet on his debut at Falkirk. [11] He made an "uncharacteristic blunder" to concede in a 1–1 draw with Greenock Morton, though saw out his three-game spell at Broomfield Park with a clean sheet in a 3–0 win over Queen of the South. [12] [13] He next played first-team football at Manchester United in the 1990–91 season, when he played six games. He was an unused substitute in the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final win over FC Barcelona at De Kuip. [14] He similarly sat on the bench for the 1991 European Super Cup win over Red Star Belgrade at Old Trafford. [15]

Walsh played six games of the 1991–92 season and featured in two cup games during the 1992–93 campaign. Ferguson tried to find him a new club for the 1993–94 season, but nowhere was willing to take him due to his injury record. He did manage to play six games on loan at Premier League rivals Oldham Athletic. Aberdeen tried to sign him on loan in March but were denied permission by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) as the SFA felt that the club having one fit goalkeeper in Derek Stillie was sufficient not to be deemed as an emergency. [16] This meant he was able to sit on the bench at Wembley for the 1994 League Cup final defeat to Aston Villa, with Les Sealey conceded three goals to Villa. [17] An ankle ligament injury suffered by Peter Schmeichel saw Walsh play the last three Premier League games as United were crowned English champions. [18] Schmeichel did recover in time to play the 1994 FA Cup final, leaving Walsh to sit on the bench and then lift the trophy with his teammates following a 4–0 win over Chelsea. [19]

He was an unused substitute in the 1994 FA Charity Shield, when he picked up another winner's medal as United beat Blackburn Rovers 2–0. [20] He made a total of 16 appearances in the 1994–95 season. United reached the 1995 FA Cup final, though this time Walsh picked up a runners-up medal as Everton won the match 1–0. [21]

Middlesbrough

Walsh moved to Middlesbrough, managed by his former teammate Bryan Robson, for £600,000 in August 1995. In the League Cup campaign, Walsh played in the quarter-final victory over Liverpool, [22] but was not selected in the final squad against Leicester City, who beat Middlesbrough in a replay. In the FA Cup run he played in the opening game of the campaign against Chester City, [23] but would not feature in the tournament again as his teammates went on to lose the final 2–0 to Chelsea.

Bradford City

Walsh signed for Bradford City on loan in October 1997, before manager Chris Kamara paid a £500,000 fee to make the transfer permanent. [24] He was named as the club's Player of the Year for the 1997–98 season. [25] [26] He was an ever-present in goal and in terrific form throughout as Bradford won automatic promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 1998–99 season. [27] He remained first-choice in the Premier League until he suffered an injury that was operated on in November 1999, which ruled him out for the remainder of the 1999–2000 season. [28] He then battled with Matt Clarke for a first-team place and was voted as the Players' Player of the Year for the 2000–01 relegation season by his teammates. [28] He rejoined his former club Middlesbrough on a one-month loan in September 2000 after Mark Schwarzer, Marlon Beresford, Mark Crossley and Brad Jones were all sidelined due to injury or illness. [29] [30] However, he struggled with injuries at Valley Parade and the administration afflicted club were unable to justify his high wages any longer, so he was released by Bradford manager Nicky Law at the end of the 2002–03 season. [27] [31]

Wigan Athletic

In July 2003, he joined Wigan Athletic as the backup to John Filan. [32] He was Filan's backup for three years before he retired in 2006. [27]

Coaching career

Walsh transitioned from goalkeeper to goalkeeping coach at Wigan Athletic, before he was taken to Derby County by former Wigan manager Paul Jewell in January 2008. [33] Upon hearing of the move, Wigan boss Steve Bruce said: "Gary has conducted himself very professionally throughout my short stay here and has behaved with integrity". [34] Following Jewell's departure from Derby, Walsh left in June 2009 and was subsequently appointed goalkeeping coach at Hartlepool United. [35] He was praised by new goalkeeper Jake Kean in September 2010 for helping him to settle at the club. [36] In December 2011, Walsh was recruited by his former Middlesbrough teammate Nick Barmby to take over as goalkeeping coach at Hull City. [14] In November 2016, Walsh left Hull City and joined Steve Bruce at Aston Villa as goalkeeping coach. [37] On 3 October 2018, head coach Steve Bruce and his entire coaching staff, including Walsh, were fired by the club. [38] Walsh was recruited by West Bromwich Albion manager Darren Moore in January 2019, in a move that reunited him not only with former Bradford teammate Moore, but also former Villa goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. [39] He stayed with the club for five years, leaving The Hawthorns after being fired by Carlos Corberán in July 2023. [40] He joined Darren Moore at Port Vale in February 2024. [41]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [42]
ClubSeasonLeague FA Cup League Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 1986–87 [43] First Division 1400000—140
1987–88 [43] First Division1600020—180
1988–89 [43] First Division000000—00
1989–90 [43] First Division000000—00
1990–91 [43] First Division5000001 [lower-alpha 1] 060
1991–92 [43] First Division2000101 [lower-alpha 1] 040
1992–93 [43] Premier League 0000101 [lower-alpha 2] 020
1993–94 [43] Premier League3000000030
1994–95 [43] Premier League10000303 [lower-alpha 3] 0160
Total500007060630
Airdrieonians (loan) 1988–89 [2] Scottish First Division 30———30
Oldham Athletic (loan) 1993–94 [2] Premier League600000—60
Middlesbrough 1995–96 [2] Premier League3203060—410
1996–97 [44] Premier League1201030—160
Total440409000570
Bradford City 1997–98 [45] First Division3401000—350
1998–99 [46] First Division4602050—530
1999–2000 [47] Premier League1100020—130
2000–01 [48] Premier League19010001 [lower-alpha 4] 0210
2001–02 [49] First Division1800000—180
2002–03 [50] First Division300000—30
Total13304070101450
Middlesbrough (loan) 2000–01 [48] Premier League300000—30
Wigan Athletic 2003–04 [51] First Division300020—50
2004–05 [52] First Division000010—10
2005–06 [53] Premier League000000—00
Total3000300060
Career total242080260702830
  1. 1 2 Appearance/s in the European Cup Winners' Cup
  2. ↑ Appearance/s in the UEFA Cup
  3. ↑ Appearance/s in the UEFA Champions League
  4. ↑ Appearance/s in the UEFA Intertoto Cup

Honours

Manchester United

Bradford City

Individual

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References

  1. ↑ "Gary Walsh". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gary Walsh at Soccerbase
  3. ↑ "Gary Walsh: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. 1 2 Crabtree, Steve (3 January 2011). "Manchester United's Unsung Heroes – Gary Walsh". Red Flag Flying High. FootballFanCast.com Network. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Class of '86" . Manchester Evening News. 16 December 1999. p. 69. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Luckless Walsh is back" . Birmingham Mail. 15 December 1986. p. 31. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Old Trafford Scene" . Manchester Evening News. 7 November 1987. p. 56. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "Luckless Walsh is back" . Manchester Evening News. 29 November 1988. p. 60. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ "Walsh set for return" . Manchester Evening News. 3 August 1987. p. 40. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "Gary's Home Run" . Manchester Evening News. 3 December 1994. p. 48. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ↑ "Gary in Class of His Own" . Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser. 19 August 1988. p. 47. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ↑ "Gary's Blunder Costs a Point" . Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser. 26 August 1988. p. 47. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "Diamonds' Bandwagon Rolls Along" . Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser. 2 September 1988. p. 47. Retrieved 20 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. 1 2 3 "Tigers Welcome New Goalkeeper Coach". UEFA. 1 June 1991. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  15. 1 2 "Man United-Crvena zvezda | UEFA Super Cup 1991 Final". UEFA. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  16. ↑ "Dons keeper bid fails" . Aberdeen Press and Journal. 8 March 1994. p. 30. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. 1 2 Lovejoy, Joe (27 March 1994). "Football / Coca-Cola Cup Final: Saunders destroys United's dream". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  18. ↑ "Walsh holds key for United" . Manchester Evening News. 2 May 1994. p. 41. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. 1 2 Ridley, Ian (14 May 1994). "Football / FA Cup Final: Cantona's Double take: Rampant United realise". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  20. 1 2 Shaw, Phil (14 August 1994). "Football / Charity Shield: Ince quells the Blackburn resistance: Seven". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  21. 1 2 Moore, Glen (21 May 1995). "Limpar's three steps to heaven". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  22. ↑ "Evans slams sloppy Liverpool". lfchistory.net. 8 January 1997. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  23. ↑ Griffiths, David (6 January 1997). "Football: Beck instils belief at beleaguered Boro". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  24. ↑ "The Boy From Manchester: Gary Walsh". 1999.boyfrombrazil.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  25. 1 2 "Walsh can take the heat". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 22 January 1999. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  26. ↑ "Where are they now? – The 1999-2000 Bradford City team". Width of a Post. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  27. 1 2 3 4 "The top 10 Bradford City goalkeepers (in modern history) – part two". Width of a Post. 12 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  28. 1 2 "BfB: The Fourteen". 2003.boyfrombrazil.co.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  29. ↑ "Football: Bos Snub To Boro". The Mirror (London, England). 16 December 2000. Retrieved 14 February 2024– via The Free Library.
  30. ↑ "Walsh returns to ease Robson's keeper crisis". The Northern Echo. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  31. ↑ Foster, Neil. "Walsh to join Jewell in Holland". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  32. ↑ "Jewell keen to sign Walsh". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 12 July 2003. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  33. ↑ "Jewell appoints new goalkeeping coach". Derby County-Mad. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  34. ↑ "Jewell returns to Wigan for Walsh". BBC Sport. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  35. ↑ "Ex-goalkeeper joins Hartlepool's coaching ranks". The Football Network. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  36. ↑ Steel, Adam (21 September 2010). "Keeper Jake Kean thanks Gary Walsh". Teesside Live. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  37. ↑ "Walsh joins as goalkeeping coach". avfc.co.uk. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  38. ↑ "Aston Villa Football Club | The official club website". Aston Villa Football Club. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  39. ↑ "Walsh joins the Baggies | West Bromwich Albion". www.wba.co.uk. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  40. ↑ Lynch, Peter (9 July 2023). "West Brom manager Carlos Corberan sacks long-serving staff member". West Brom News. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  41. ↑ "Port Vale FC confirm Darren Moore's Coaching Staff". Port Vale F.C. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  42. ↑ Gary Walsh at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  43. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Gary Walsh - Manchester United Player Profile & Stats". www.mufcinfo.com. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  44. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  45. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  46. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  47. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  48. 1 2 "Games played by Gary Walsh in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  49. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  50. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  51. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  52. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  53. ↑ "Games played by Gary Walsh in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
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