Jake Walker (born 19 August 2000) is an Irish footballer who plays for

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

club

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fánaithe Bhré) are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''B ...

, having previously played for

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

and Crumlin United.

Club career

Early career

Walker signed for the

Under-17 side in January 2017. He played in the same Under 19s team as fellow future first team players including Brian Maher, Joe Manley, Paul Clearly and Luke McNally. In 2018, his side got to the Enda McGuill Cup final, unfortunately losing out 2–1 to

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...

on 4 September.

St Patrick's Athletic

Walker made his debut for the

first team on 8 August 2017 when he came off the bench for Josh O'Hanlon for the last 2 minutes of a 2–1 Leinster Senior Cup win over Firhouse Clover at

. He did not feature in the 2018 season with forward options including

Christy Fagan Christopher Joseph Fagan (born 11 May 1989), known as Chris or Christy Fagan, is a retired Irish footballer who played as a forward. He last played for St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Club career Born in Dubli ...

Jake Keegan Jake Keegan (born September 7, 1990) is an American professional soccer forward who currently plays for One Knoxville SC in USL League One. Club career Youth Keegan played 4 seasons at John Jay High School helping the team win the 2008 ...

and

Achille Campion Achille Pierre Camille Campion (born 10 March 1990) is a French former footballer who played as a forward. He played youth football for USL Dunkerque, before playing college football in the United States for Belhaven Blazers, UC Santa Barbara G ...

at the dispense of manager

Liam Buckley Liam Buckley (born 14 April 1960), is an Irish former professional footballer. He made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland national football team. He was most recently the manager of League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rover ...

. His next involvement with the first team came on 18 February 2019 when he came off the bench for the injured Gary Shaw in a 3–0 Leinster Senior Cup win over

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

, with Walker heading home a James Doona cross after 58 minutes to put his side 2 goals in front. That performance impressed manager

Harry Kenny Harry Kenny (born 13 April 1962) is an Irish footballer who last managed at St Patrick's Athletic before resigning in August 2019. During his playing career he spent 13 seasons playing for Shamrock Rovers. Harry, or 'H' as his friends nickn ...

enough to promote him from the Under-19s team to the first team squad for the season 3 days later, on 21 February. His

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

debut came on 5 April 2019, coming on for Gary Shaw in injury time of a 1–0 win at home to champions

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. His first professional contract came when he signed a 2-year contract with the club on 11 April 2019. Walker made 10 more substitute appearances in a row before coming off the bench and scoring the winner against

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

on 14 June with 7 minutes to go, the first league goal of his senior career. This performance earned Walker a place in the starting 11 as he started the next 3 games, away to UCD, at home to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

derby and an important win away to

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. His first appearance in Europe came on 11 July 2019 as he came off the bench against

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play their ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, as Pats lost 2–0 at

. On 22 October 2019 Walker came off the bench away to Derry City in the 69th minute with the scores level and brilliantly set up two goals for fellow substitute James Doona to secure a 3–1 win for the Saints at the

Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium ( ga, Tobar an Fhíoruisce ) is a municipal football stadium with an adjoining greyhound racing track in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C. and (tempor ...

. Walker scored the third goal in a 4–0 win over

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

in the 2019 Leinster Senior Cup Final on 16 November 2019, claiming the first silverware of his senior career. After making 1 appearance in the 2020 season before the league was postponed due to the

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, it was announced on the 3rd August 2020 that Walker had left the club.

Crumlin United

After leaving Pat's, Walker played for Leinster Senior League side Crumlin United from 2020 to 2022 where he excelled to the extent that he was the league's top goalscorer during his time there.

Bray Wanderers

On 12 December 2022, it was announced that Walker had signed for

club

ahead of their 2023 season.

Career statistics

''Professional appearances – correct as of 4 August 2020.''

Honours

* Leinster Senior Cup: (1) **

—

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jake 2000 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Crumlin United F.C. players Bray Wanderers F.C. players League of Ireland players Leinster Senior League (association football) players Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's association footballers