Tyler Walker (footballer)

Tyler Walker

Walker with Nottingham Forest in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Tyler J. Andrew Walker [1]
Date of birth	(1996-10-17) 17 October 1996 (age 28) [2]
Place of birth	Nottingham, England [3]
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.79 m) [4]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Lincoln City
Number	19
Youth career
2006–2015	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2020	Nottingham Forest	40	(5)
2016	→ Burton Albion (loan)	6	(1)
2016–2017	→ Stevenage (loan)	8	(3)
2017	→ Port Vale (loan)	6	(2)
2018	→ Bolton Wanderers (loan)	5	(0)
2018–2019	→ Mansfield Town (loan)	44	(22)
2019–2020	→ Lincoln City (loan)	29	(14)
2020–2023	Coventry City	68	(10)
2022	→ Portsmouth (loan)	15	(1)
2023–	Lincoln City	6	(0)
International career
2015–2016	England U20	7	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:39, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

Tyler J. Andrew Walker (born 17 October 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL League One club Lincoln City. He is the son of former England defender Des Walker.

An England under-20 international, he made his first-team debut for hometown club Nottingham Forest in March 2015. He has played on loan at Burton Albion, Stevenage, Port Vale, Bolton Wanderers, Mansfield Town, and Lincoln City, and was named on the EFL League Two PFA Team of the Year for the 2018–19 season whilst with Mansfield. He was sold to Coventry City in August 2020 and joined Portsmouth on loan in January 2022. He joined Lincoln City on a free transfer in July 2023.

Club career

Nottingham Forest

2014–15 season

Walker made his professional debut for Nottingham Forest in the Championship as a substitute for Chris Burke in the 92nd minute of a 2–0 win over Rotherham United on 18 March 2015. ^[5] Walker's first professional goal followed on 7 April in a 2–2 draw with Brentford at Griffin Park after he entered the game as a first-half substitute, on only his fourth first-team appearance. ^[6] He signed a four-year contract with Forest in June 2015. ^[7]

2015–16 season

Owing much to a shortage of strikers and manager Dougie Freedman's willingness to give youth an opportunity, Walker played some games at the beginning of Forest's 2015–16 season. This included a start in the League Cup, a 4–3 defeat by Walsall at the City Ground on 11 August; a game in which he scored his second goal in professional football. ^[8] On 24 March, Walker joined League One club Burton Albion on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season, where he would link-up with former Forest striker and Burton manager Nigel Clough. ^[9] Walker made his Burton debut four days later as a half-time substitute in a 2–0 defeat at Millwall. ^[10] In 'The Brewers' following game on 2 April, he came off the bench to score an injury-time equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Bury at the Pirelli Stadium. ^[11] He returned to Forest at the end of the season having made six appearances for Burton Albion, scoring one goal.

2016–17 season

In August 2016, new Forest manager Philippe Montanier stated that he could not assess Walker due to an injury that left him unable to play a part in pre-season. ^[12] On 31 August, Walker signed on loan with EFL League Two side Stevenage for the remainder of the 2016–17 season. ^[13] He made his debut in a 6–1 win over Hartlepool United at Broadhall Way on 2 September; he scored a brace in the match, the first of which was an overhead kick from close range – this performance earned him a place on the EFL team of the week. ^{[14] [15]} On 4 October, Walker scored on his debut in the EFL Trophy in a 2–2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion's U-23 side. ^[16] Having scored four goals in his first six games for 'The Boro', Walker missed a home game against Plymouth Argyle on 8 October after picking up a "freak injury" in training. ^[17] He eventually made his return from injury as a substitute in a 4–2 home defeat to Colchester United on 31 December. ^[18] Speaking after the match, manager Darren Sarll admitted that he "forgot just how good" Walker was. ^[19]

Walker's loan spell with Stevenage ended earlier than planned, as Forest recalled the player on 13 January intending to secure him with a loan move to a League One club. ^{[20] [21]} Four days after his recall from Stevenage, Walker joined League One side Port Vale on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. ^[22] He scored the opening goal on his debut with a "superb 20 yards (18 m) strike" for 'The Valiants', before also going on to win a penalty in a 2–2 draw with Bury at Vale Park on 20 January. ^{[23] [21]} Walker's poor luck with injuries continued, however, as he sustained a knee ligament injury the following month which caretaker manager Michael Brown said would keep him out of action for the rest of the season. ^{[24] [25]}

2017–18 season

Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Forest manager Mark Warburton, who had been appointed as Montanier's permanent successor in March 2017, suggested that Walker would be involved with the first-team, claiming that he had "benefited from being in and around the first team squad here this summer" and that "other players need to go out on loan". ^[26] On 23 August, Walker came off the bench to score the winning goal in extra time of a 3–2 victory over Newcastle United at St James' Park in the second round of the EFL Cup. After the game Warburton confirmed in a post-match interview that Walker would remain at Forest for the season. He said: "We've had a host of clubs queuing up for Tyler Walker's services but he'll stay with us because of the reasons you've seen tonight. He's worked tirelessly to recover from injury, had a brilliant pre-season and that resulted in the quality of performance you've seen this evening." ^[27] On 4 November, he scored the first brace of his senior career in a 4–0 home win over Queens Park Rangers, earning himself a mention in the EFL team of the week. ^{[28] [29]} On 28 November, Walker signed a new contract at Forest, due to expire in 2021. ^[30]

On 31 January 2018, Walker joined fellow Championship side Bolton Wanderers on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season. ^[31] He made his Wanderers début in their 1–0 victory over Bristol City, starting the match and lasting 58 minutes before being substituted; he was replaced by fellow Forest loanee Zach Clough. ^[32] However, he featured just five times for the "Trotters" as manager Phil Parkinson instead demoted both Walker and Clough to playing for the youth team. ^[33]

2018–19 season

On 29 June 2018, Walker joined League Two side Mansfield Town on a season-long loan. ^[34] On 4 August, he scored 12 minutes into his debut for the "Stags" in a 3–0 win over Newport County at Field Mill. ^[35] He scored a first-half hat-trick ten days later as Mansfield recorded a 6–1 home victory over Accrington Stanley in the first round of the EFL Cup; manager David Flitcroft said that Walker was "pure class". ^[36] He scored his 15th goal of the season during a 2–1 Boxing day victory over Bury, taking Mansfield into the automatic promotion places. ^[37] His scoring tally resulted in speculation that Forest manager Aitor Karanka would recall him in the January transfer window. ^[38] He was named on League Two's PFA Team of the Year for the 2018–19 campaign, alongside Mansfield teammate Krystian Pearce. ^[39] He was named as man of the match in the play-off semi-final first-leg against Newport County, but had his penalty saved in the shootout at the end of the second leg as Mansfield were eliminated. ^{[40] [41]}

2019–20 season

On 2 August 2019, Walker joined League One side Lincoln City on loan for the 2019–20 season. ^{[42] [43]} Manager Danny Cowley said that "he's been on our wish list forever." ^[44] After scoring 16 goals in 34 games for the "Imps", Walker was recalled to parent club Nottingham Forest by manager Sabri Lamouchi on 30 January. ^[45] He was then restricted to appearances from the substitutes bench at Forest, though did manage to score against league leaders Leeds United on 8 February. ^[46] He was cited as being the "next in line" by star striker Lewis Grabban. ^[47]

Coventry City

On 28 August 2020, Walker joined newly promoted EFL Championship side Coventry City on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. ^{[48] [49]} Manager Mark Robins said he had monitored Walker for some years. ^[50] He scored on his debut for Coventry in a 1–0 EFL Cup win at Milton Keynes Dons on 5 September. ^[51] He scored his first league goal for Coventry in a 3–2 defeat at Watford on 7 November. ^[52] He scored eight goals from 33 appearances in the 2020–21 season. ^[53] Speaking in June 2022, Robins said that "we will just wipe the slate clean" following Walker's unsuccessful loan spell at Portsmouth. ^[54] Walker suffered a tore anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in October 2022. ^[55] He made nineteen appearances in the 2022–23 campaign, scoring one goal, and was released upon the expiry of his contract. ^{[56] [57]}

Portsmouth (loan)

On 18 January 2022, Walker joined League One side Portsmouth on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season after being signed by former Lincoln manager Danny Cowley. ^[58] The loan spell was largely disappointing as he scored just one goal in nine starts and six substitute appearances for "Pompey" and was an unused substitute in the final six matches of the campaign despite being the highest paid player at Fratton Park. ^{[59] [60]} Jordan Cross of the Portsmouth News wrote that "Walker will go down as one of the worst and most expensive loan mistakes seen at Pompey in recent years". ^[61]

Return to Lincoln City

On 12 July 2023, he rejoined Lincoln City on a free transfer on a two-year deal; Jez George, the club's director of football, said that "this is a football decision" from Walker that did not risk "compromising our wage structure". ^[62] Head coach Mark Kennedy said that "with Ben House, he gives us two outstanding centre forwards". ^[63] On 5 August 2023, he made his permanent Lincoln City debut, starting against Bolton Wanderers. ^[64] However, just five games later he was ruled out for eight weeks with a hamstring injury. ^[65] On 7 December, it was confirmed that Walker suffered a recurrence of the hamstring problem and was likely to miss the rest of the 2023–24 season. ^[66]

International career

On 5 September 2015, Walker made his debut for the England under-20s and scored a brace in a 5–0 win over the Czech Republic. ^[67]

Style of play

Walker is a pacey and athletic forward. ^[68] Danny Cowley nicknamed him "the Ghost" for his ability to appear from nowhere to score a goal. ^[61] He is a natural finisher, however, his work rate has been criticised. ^[61]

Personal life

Walker is the son of former Forest and England defender Des Walker ^{[69] [70]} and elder brother of former Queens Park Rangers striker Lewis Walker. ^[71] He is of Jamaican descent through his father. ^[72]

Career statistics

As of match played on 27 April 2024 ^[73]

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nottingham Forest	2014–15 [74]	Championship	7	1	0	0	0	0	—		7	1
	2015–16 [75]	Championship	14	0	0	0	1	1	—		15	1
	2016–17 [76]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2017–18 [77]	Championship	12	3	1	0	3	1	—		16	4
	2018–19 [78]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2019–20 [79]	Championship	7	1	0	0	0	0	—		7	1
	Total		40	5	1	0	4	2	0	0	45	7
Burton Albion (loan)	2015–16 [75]	League One	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Stevenage (loan)	2016–17 [76]	League Two	8	3	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	1	9	4
Port Vale (loan)	2016–17 [76]	League One	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2
Bolton Wanderers (loan)	2017–18 [77]	Championship	5	0	0	0	0	0	—		5	0
Mansfield Town (loan)	2018–19 [78]	League Two	44	22	2	0	2	3	4 [lower-alpha 2]	1	50	26
Lincoln City (loan)	2019–20 [79]	League One	29	14	2	1	1	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	1	34	16
Coventry City	2020–21 [53]	Championship	31	7	0	0	2	1	—		33	8
	2021–22 [80]	Championship	19	2	0	0	1	1	—		20	3
	2022–23 [56]	Championship	18	1	0	0	1	0	—		19	1
	Total		68	10	0	0	4	2	0	0	72	12
Portsmouth (loan)	2021–22 [80]	League One	15	1	0	0	0	0	—		15	1
Lincoln City	2023–24 [81]	League One	6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
	2024–25 [82]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
Career totals			227	58	5	1	12	7	7	3	251	69

1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
2. Two appearances in EFL Trophy and Two appearances in 2019 EFL League Two play-offs

Honours

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2018–19 League Two ^[39]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Lincoln City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 38. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
2. Tyler Walker at Soccerbase
3. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2016/2017". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
4. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2016/17". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
5. "Forest 2-0 Rotherham" (Press release). Nottingham Forest F.C. 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
6. "Brentford 2-2 Forest" (Press release). Nottingham Forest F.C. 7 April 2015. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
7. "Tyler Walker: Nottingham Forest Deal for Des Walker's Son". BBC Sport. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
8. "Forest 3-4 Walsall" (Press release). Nottingham Forest F.C. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
9. "Walker joins Burton" (Press release). Nottingham Forest FC. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
10. "Millwall 2-0 Burton Albion". BBC Sport. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
11. "Burton Albion 1-1 Bury". BBC Sport. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
12. "Montanier hoping young Reds can emerge victorious from Lions' Den". Nottingham Post. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
13. "Walker makes loan move" (Press release). Nottingham Forest F.C. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
14. Hannah, Alex (5 September 2016). "Sky Bet EFL: Team of the Week". www.efl.com. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
15. "Match Report" (Press release). Stevenage F.C. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
16. "Match Report: Stevenage 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 2" (Press release). Stevenage F.C. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
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18. "Stevenage 2-4 Colchester United". BBC Sport. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
19. Storey, Matt (5 January 2017). "Sarll 'forgot how good' Tyler Walker is". Hertfordshire Mercury. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
20. "Loan Players Return" (Press release). Nottingham Forest F.C. 13 January 2017.
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23. "Port Vale 2-2 Bury". BBC Sport. 20 January 2017.
24. Baggaley, Mike (18 February 2017). "Port Vale 1, Bristol Rovers 1: Walker could be out for the season". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
25. Baggaley, Mike (8 April 2017). "Port Vale lose three players to long-term injury, manager reveals". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
26. Paul Taylor (5 August 2017). "Grant will return to Notts County but Walker will get the chance to impress with Nottingham Forest". Nottingham Post.
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29. "Team of the Week: 3rd-5th November 2017". www.efl.com. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
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31. "Walker joins Bolton on loan" (Press release). Nottingham Forest. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
32. "Championship: Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Bristol City - Live". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
33. Clapson, Sarah (4 April 2018). "Bolton boss explains why on-loan Forest duo were dropped to Under-23s". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
34. "Mansfield Town: Craig Davies, Otis Khan and Tyler Walker all join the Stags". BBC Sport. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
35. "Mansfield Town 3-0 Newport County: Assistant referee stretchered off". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
36. Cusack, Richard (15 August 2018). "'Pure class' Tyler Walker's hat-trick sees Stags through". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
37. Cooper, Barry (27 December 2018). "Walker focused on Mansfield and not events at Forest". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
38. Birtles, Garry (28 December 2018). "Is Tyler Walker giving Forest boss Karanka food for thought?". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
39. "League Two: Lincoln and Bury dominate PFA selection of team of 2018-19". BBC Sport. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
40. Leach, Tom (10 May 2019). "Tyler Walker named in FIFA's team of the season". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
41. Clapson, Sarah (13 May 2019). "Tyler Walker 'distraught' at costly penalty miss". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
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44. Whiley, Mark (2 August 2019). "Imps clinch signing of highly-rated Forest striker Tyler Walker". lincolnshirelive. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
45. Whiley, Mark (30 January 2020). "City lose top scorer as Walker returns to Forest". lincolnshirelive. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
46. Tonge, Jake (13 March 2020). "Feature: Have Nottingham Forest really made the right call with Tyler Walker following impressive Imps form?". footballleagueworld.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
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50. Nicholson, Steve (28 August 2020). "Mark Robins' verdict on Coventry City's new striker Tyler Walker". CoventryLive. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
51. "MK Dons 0-1 Coventry". BBC. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
52. "Watford 3-2 Coventry City". BBC. 7 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
53. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
54. Coley, Tom (23 June 2022). "Mark Robins says Tyler Walker will be given pre-season chance after Pompey loan". hampshirelive. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
55. Turner, Andy (14 October 2022). "Coventry City striker Tyler Walker suffers major injury scare with ACL tear". CoventryLive. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
56. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
57. Hornby, Mark (30 May 2023). "Coventry City confirm players that are leaving the Club at the end of the 2022/23 season". Coventry City F.C. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
58. "Blues Bring In Walker". www.portsmouthfc.co.uk. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
59. Allen, Neil (2 May 2022). "The curious case of Tyler Walker - the Coventry star going down in Pompey history for all the wrong reasons". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
60. Turner, Andy (6 May 2022). "Tyler Walker back at Coventry City amid damning Pompey verdict". CoventryLive. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
61. Frost, Sam (27 May 2022). "From glorious goalscoring to a ghost: The lowdown on Rovers target Tyler Walker". BristolLive. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
62. "Tyler Walker back at the Imps". Lincoln City FC. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
63. Watson, Chris (12 July 2023). "Tyler Walker finds new club after Coventry City exit". CoventryLive. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
64. "Bolton Wanderers 3 Imps 0". www.weareimps.com. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
65. "Imps strikers House & Walker out 'long-term'". BBC Sport. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
66. "Lincoln City boss Michael Skubala fears striker may miss rest of season". BBC Sport. 7 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
67. "Two for Tyler on 20 Debut" (Press release). Nottingham Forest. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
68. Yousif, Layth (3 September 2016). "FEATURE: Tyler Walker looks forward to achieving goals with Stevenage". The Comet. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
69. "Tyler Walker: Nottingham Forest forward needs support - Jason Lee". BBC Sport. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
70. "Des Walker says son Tyler has much more talent than he did". BBC Sport. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
71. "Youngsters Rowan and Walker sign pro deals" (Press release). QPR. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
72. "Flying the flags: The influence of the Caribbean on England's Euros teams". ucfb.ac.uk. 21 July 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
73. Tyler Walker at Soccerway
74. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
75. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
76. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
77. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
78. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
79. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
80. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
81. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
82. "Games played by Tyler Walker in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 July 2022.

External links

• Tyler Walker at Soccerway
• Tyler Walker at Soccerbase
• England profile at The FA