Gary Walsh

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. 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. 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. Clean sheets at home to Leicester City and away to Liverpool followed. He played a total of 14 league games that season. 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. 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. 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…

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. 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". Following Jewell's departure from Derby, Walsh left in June 2009 and was subsequently appointed goalkeeping coach at Hartlepool United. He was praised by new goalkeeper Jake Kean in September 2010 for helping him to settle at the club. In December 2011, Walsh was recruited by his former Middlesbrough teammate Nick Barmby to take over as goalkeeping coach at Hull City. In November 2016, Walsh left Hull City and joined Steve Bruce at Aston Villa as goalkeeping coach. On 3 October 2018, head coach Steve Bruce and his entire coaching staff, including Walsh, were fired by the club. 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. He stayed with the club for five years, leaving The Hawthorns after being fired by Carlos Corberán in July 2023. He joined Darren Moore at Port Vale in February 2024.

Manchester United Youth

FA Youth Cup runner-up: 1985–86 Manchester United

FA Cup: 1993–94; runner-up: 1994–95 FA Charity Shield: 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1990–91 European Super Cup: 1991 Football League Cup runner-up: 1993–94 Bradford City

Football League First Division second-place promotion: 1998–99 Individual

Bradford City Player of the Year: 1997–98