Des Walker

Nottingham Forest

Walker was spotted playing locally in London and was signed by Forest in 1980 as an apprentice. He had previously been part of the youth system at Tottenham Hotspur, but was released after a disagreement where he refused to get a haircut. Forest manager Brian Clough, known for giving opportunities to youth players, gave Walker his début in March 1984 at the age of 18. Forest finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup. In Walker's nine seasons of first team football at Forest, they finished in only three different league positions; third (three times), eighth (four times) and ninth (twice). In 1987 Walker earned the first of his club player of the year awards at Forest. Forest won the Football League Centenary Tournament in April 1988 (their first senior trophy since 1981). They finished third in the league in 1988. That form also carried them to the semi-finals of that season's FA Cup with Walker in outstanding form. Forest won the 1989 Full Members Cup beating Everton 4–3 in the final after extra time. They won a second cup that season, the League Cup with a 3–1 victory at Wembley over Luton Town. With Forest now chasing a unique cup treble tragedy struck a week after the League Cup triumph. Forest and Liverpool met for a consecutive season in the FA Cup semi-finals. The Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool fans. When the rescheduled game took place Forest struggled as Liverpool won 3–1. Forest finished third in the First…

Walker made his international debut as a substitute for Tony Adams in a game against Denmark in 1988. It was not long before Walker was a regular starter in the side against competition from Adams, Terry Butcher and Mark Wright.

1990 World Cup

At the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Walker started all seven of the games in which England would play, gaining international acclaim. Playing in a three-man defence alongside Wright and Butcher, Walker shrugged off knocks and fatigue to enjoy a superb tournament, which ended when England were knocked out in a penalty shootout by West Germany in the semi-finals. Rob Bagchi, writing for The Guardian in 2010, praised his performances, arguing that Walker's "speed, anticipation and mastery of the fair tackle were reminiscent of Bobby Moore."

Euro 1992

Walker subsequently became England's defensive lynchpin after Butcher's retirement, continuing to feature regularly after Graham Taylor had taken over as manager. As an almost ever-present during a period when England played a relatively large number of internationals, Walker became the fastest player in history to reach 50 caps, a feat he accomplished in just over four years from 53 internationals played by England. Walker travelled with the England squad to the 1992 UEFA European Football Championship in Sweden but England failed to progress beyond the group stages. Walker's trademark excellent defending made him one of the few bright spots of the England performance.

1994…

Described as a "stopper," Walker was a pacey and hard-tackling central defender, with a good physique and excellent anticipation, who was regarded for the consistently high quality of his defending through the first half of his playing career. Defensively he was among the best markers and timers of the tackle of the television era in English football. His speed allowed him to repeatedly recover difficult situations for his teams. Gary Lineker named Walker in the best One to Eleven that Lineker played beside during his career. Lineker said of him, "Des wasn't the greatest footballer in the world but he was unbelievably quick and had a brilliant defensive mind. Brian Clough used to stick him on me when we played – he always put him man-to-man which was quite unusual in those days – and he used to sing that song 'You'll never beat Des Walker!' – he used to drive you mad when you were playing against him!" At set pieces for his teams, Walker would stay back to provide defensive cover rather than supplement the attack, reflected in the fact that he only scored once in around 800 senior games. He played in 20 seasons of senior football, with all but the last three of those in the top flight. He played in seven cup finals with Nottingham Forest at Wembley, winning five. Perhaps a more useful indication of the consistency of his excellence are the individual accolades he collected when at his peak: in the last six seasons of his first spell at Forest he was Player of the Year three…

Walker was born in England and is of Jamaican descent. His two sons are both professional footballers. The elder son, Tyler, plays for Penybont, while the younger, Lewis, plays for Kidderminster Harriers.