Clive Walker (born 25 June 1957 in

Oxford, England Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

) is an English retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. His playing career spanned some 1,000 league and cup games for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

before enjoying a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

in the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

with

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

and

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

Playing career

Chelsea

Walker was an old-fashioned winger with pace who used to terrorise full backs on a weekly basis. He began his career with Chelsea, playing in the same side as the likes of

Ray Wilkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

. He first broke into the Chelsea team during the 1977–78 season, but they were in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

for most of his time there. He nonetheless played a big role in several key matches for the club in this period. He put in

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

performances against European champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in 1978 and 1982 as the Blues pulled off two famous upsets; he scored twice in a 4–2 win in 1978 and set up a late clincher for

Colin Lee Colin Lee (born 12 June 1956) is an English football manager and former footballer. He is currently head of football at South Dartmoor Community College in Ashburton, Devon along with Chris Beard. Playing career Lee began his football career ...

in a 2–0 win in 1982. With Chelsea facing relegation to the Third Division in 1982–83, and with it potential financial meltdown, Walker also scored a late winner against fellow strugglers

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in the penultimate game of the season to ensure the club's survival. In 1979, Chelsea sent him on loan to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

Sunderland

Walker left Chelsea at the end of the 1983–84 season following a contract dispute, and signed for Sunderland. He returned to haunt his old side the following season in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, when the teams were drawn together in the semi-finals. In the second leg at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

, Walker inspired Sunderland to a 3–2 win, giving them a 5–2 aggregate lead, which provoked a near-riot; at one point a Chelsea fan entered the pitch and chased Walker. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, however, Sunderland lost 1–0 to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, with Walker missing a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

when he hit his shot against the post.

Coaching career

After retiring from professional football, Walker became player-manager of

Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retai ...

. He currently works as an analyst for the radio station

BBC London 94.9 BBC Radio London is the BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM frequency, DAB, Virgin Media channel 937, Sky channel 0152 (in the Lond ...

and is a co-director of Sporting Experience with

Jason Cundy Jason Victor Cundy (born 12 November 1969) is an English former professional footballer and radio broadcaster for talkSPORT. As a player, he was a defender, who notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. He also ...

. He also makes appearances on

Chelsea TV Chelsea TV was a British subscription based sports television channel, dedicated to the fans of the English Premier League football club, Chelsea. The channel first launched in August 2001 on Sky Digital. The station was registered with Ofcom ...

Records

Walker currently holds the record for the oldest player to play for his last club, Cheltenham Town.

Honours

Woking *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97 Cheltenham Town *

: 1997–98 *

: 1998–99

References

*
NASL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Clive 1957 births Living people English footballers English expatriate footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Fulham F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Woking F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Molesey F.C. players Footballers from Oxford Brentford F.C. non-playing staff Association football midfielders Molesey F.C. managers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English football managers