Karen Walker (footballer)

Karen Walker

Personal information
Date of birth	(1969-07-29) 29 July 1969 (age 56)
Place of birth	Mexborough, England [1]
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–2004	Doncaster Rovers Belles
2004–2006	Leeds United Ladies
International career
1988–2003	England	86	(41)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Karen Walker (born 29 July 1969) ^[2] is an English former international football centre-forward. She played for Doncaster Belles for 20 years, starting at the age of 15, and began playing for England as a teenager, making 83 appearances and scoring a record 40 goals until she retired from international football in 2003. ^[3] Walker's uncompromising style of play earned her the sobriquet "Wacker". ^[4]

Walker is particularly remembered for her performances in the 1995 World Cup in Sweden. ^[5] She finished her career with two seasons at Leeds United, and in her last game, against Arsenal in the 2006 FA Cup Final, ^[6] she left the pitch to a standing ovation.

In 2007, she was part of the BBC team covering the FIFA Women's World Cup in China. ^[7] Later that year she was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. ^[3]

Club career

Walker's neighbour, Karen Skillcorn, was already playing for Doncaster Belles and recruited Walker as a fifteen-year-old. After a period as a substitute, Walker became first choice when the club's regular centre-forward became pregnant. ^[8] In a long career with the club she eventually played in 11 FA Women's Cup finals, winning five of them. ^[3] With the formation of the National Division in 1991, Walker scored 36 goals in 14 games to help Doncaster win the inaugural title. ^[9] Red Star Southampton were vanquished 4–0 in the 1992 WFA Cup Final as the club won a League and Cup double. Walker reportedly set a record by scoring a hat-trick in every round of the Cup, including the final. ^[10]

International career

In July 1988, Walker made her England debut as a teenager against an Italy B team in the Mundialito tournament. Scoring with her first kick of the ball inspired Walker to take her subsequent football career much more seriously. ^[8]

In November 2022, Walker was recognized by The Football Association as one of the England national team's legacy players, and as the 72nd women's player to be capped by England. ^{[11] [12]}

International goals

Since The Football Association took over the team in 1993. Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Scored
3	25 September 1993	Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana	Slovenia	10–0	1995 UEFA Championship Qual.	3
5	6 November 1993	KVV Coxyde, Koksijde	Belgium	3–0	1995 UEFA Championship Qual.	2
7	13 March 1994	City Ground, Nottingham	Belgium	6–0	1995 UEFA Championship Qual.	2
9	17 April 1994	Griffin Park, Brentford	Slovenia	10–0	1995 UEFA Championship Qual.	2
10	8 June 1995	Tingvalla IP, Karlstad	Nigeria	3–2	1995 World Cup	1
12	19 November 1995	The Valley, London	Croatia	5–0	1997 UEFA Championship Qual.	2
13	23 May 1998	Sportpark Olympia, Waalwijk	Netherlands	1–2	1999 World Cup Qual.	1
15	13 September 1998	Stadionul Poiana, Câmpina	Romania	4–1	1999 World Cup Qual.	2
16	11 October 1998	Adams Park, Wycombe	Romania	2–1	1999 World Cup Qual.	1
17	26 May 1999	Lugo, Emilia-Romagna	Italy	1–4	Friendly	1
18	22 August 1999	Odense Stadion, Odense	Denmark	1–0	Friendly	1
19	17 October 1999	Sportanlagen Trinermatten, Zofingen	Switzerland	3–0	2001 UEFA Championship Qual.	1
20	20 February 2000	Oakwell, Barnsley	Portugal	2–0	2001 UEFA Championship Qual.	1
21	30 October 2000	Kolos Stadium, Boryspil	Ukraine	2–1	2001 UEFA Championship Qual.	1
22	24 November 2001	Complexo Desportivo da Gafanha, Gafanha da Nazaré	Portugal	1–1	2003 World Cup Qual.	1
24	5 March 2002	Estádio Municipal, Lagos	Sweden	3–6	Algarve Cup	2
25	7 March 2002	Estádio Municipal, Quarteira	Scotland	4–1	Algarve Cup	1
25	23 March 2002	Zuiderpark Stadion, The Hague	Netherlands	4–0	2003 World Cup Qual.	1
27	16 September 2002	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík	Iceland	2–2	2003 World Cup Qual.	2

References

1. "READ UP ON TONIGHT'S ENGLAND STARS". Norwich City F.C. 23 July 2002. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
2. "England:Karen Walker". FIFA. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
3. "Hall of Fame Profile- Karen Walker". National Football Museum. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
4. "Karen's Diary". femaleSOCCER.net. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
5. Karen Walker – FIFA competition record (archived)
6. "Yankey delighted by Cup final win". BBC Sport. 1 May 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
7. "BBC to follow England in Fifa Women's World Cup China 2007 – live coverage on BBC Two". BBC. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
8. Davies, Pete (1996). I Lost My Heart to the Belles. London: Mandarin. p. 36. ISBN   0-7493-2085-0.
9. "1991–1992". The Owl Football Historian. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
10. Galvin, Robert. "Karen Walker". National Football Museum. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
11. "ENGLAND PLAYER LEGACY AND RESULTS ARCHIVE" (Press release). The Football Association. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
12. Lacey-Hatton, Jack (18 November 2022). "Lionesses introduce 'legacy numbers' for players past and present". Mirror . Retrieved 19 June 2023.