Jonny Walker (born September 13, 1974) is an American former professional

soccer goalkeeper Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who primarily use their feet to propel the Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular field ca ...

who is currently the associate head coach of the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

Women's Soccer Team. Walker played professionally in Chile and the United States, including two stints with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(MLS). He earned three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the United States Men's National Team (USMNT). Walker was the first American to establish a successful professional soccer career in South America.

Playing career

In the summer of 1994, Jonny Walker played for the Memphis Jackals of the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. He then played one season with the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

and still holds the record for most saves in a match for (17) versus Evansville (9-8-94). He also has the most saves in a single season for a Cardinal with 151 (1994). He was named to the All-Metro Conference First Team in 1994. Walker represented the University of Louisville at the 1995 World University Games in Japan. He also participated in the 1995 Olympic Festival games in Denver, where he played for the South Team. Walker was one of only two goalkeepers in the country to be invited for full time residency at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in preparation for the '96 Olympic Games. Upon the formation of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996, Walker was drafted 28th overall in the

1996 MLS Supplemental Draft The 1996 Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft was held on March 4, 1996, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. History As Major League Soccer prepared for its first season, the league began stocking teams with players. As the teams were being created at t ...

, and became a third-string goalkeeper of the 1996

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, behind Mark Dodd. Unhappy with his situation, he left MLS and played for the now-defunct

Jacksonville Cyclones The Jacksonville Cyclones were a professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They played in the A-League from 1997 to 1999. The team originated as the Tampa Bay Cyclones, who played in Tampa, Florida from 1995 to 1996 before moving ...

of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

. On a recommendation, Walker went to Chile and signed with First Division Club, Universidad Católica. They loaned him out to

Club Deportivo Huachipato Club Deportivo Huachipato is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that is a current member of the Chilean Primera División. The club was founded 7 June 1947 and plays its home games at the Estadio CAP, which has a capacity of 10,500 ...

of Chile's First Division in 1998, in which we was named Team MVP, then U. Catolica brought him back the following year. He became the starting goalkeeper for the club, playing in multiple

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

tournaments, which included wins against Argentina's Boca Juniors and Brazil's Flamengo. From 1997 to 2002, Walker broke numerous national records for Universidad Catolica. In 1999, U. Catolica finished runners-up in the Chilean National Championship. In 2001, Walker received Chilean Goalkeeper of the Year honors, while U. Catolica finished Runners-Up in the Chilean National Championship. That year, U. Catolica advanced to play in Copa Mercosur for the fourth straight season. They also competed in the Copa Libertadores. In 2002, Walker was named Best Goalkeeper of the Chilean Apertura National Championship as well set a Club record going 708 minutes (almost nine games) without being scored on, a record that held until 2008. Also in 2002, Walker led U. Catolica to win the Chilean Apertura National Championship. He was also named Best Goalkeeper in Round One of prestigious South American Championship, Copa Libertadores, later that year. In 2003, Walker signed with Chilean club,

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has played ...

, the only Chilean club to ever win the Copa Libertadores. Colo Colo finished Runners-Up in the Chilean Apertura National Championship that year and also played in the 2003 Copa Libertadores. Walker came back to the US later that year, signing with the MetroStars, after starting goalkeeper Tim Howard signed with Manchester United. In 2003 with the MetroStars, Walker became the third goalkeeper in MLS history to finish a season with sub-1.00 Goals Against Average (GAA), capturing the league-best 0.95 GAA. That same year, Walker was the MLS Player of the Month for August and the MetroStars finished as Runners-Up in the US Open Cup. In 2005, The MetroStars signed

Tony Meola Antonio Michael "Tony" Meola (; ; born February 21, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the United States national team at the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he p ...

and traded Walker to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

. With the Crew, Walker won the team's 2005 Defensive Player of the Year and finished second in MLS with a GAA of 1.12. At the end of 2005 season, Walker injured his back and was sidelined until he retired in 2006 due to a chronic, inoperable back injury. Walker started and played three matches for the United States Men's National Team, including a 1–0 shutout win over Mexico on April 28, 2004. His first cap was against

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in January 2004. Walker has been very involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, giving free soccer clinics to kids who raise the most money through their soccer club for the Soccer Kicks for Cancer program. In 2005, Walker was named the Ambassador for the State of Tennessee for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Coaching career

In the fall of 2009, Jonny Walker became the Goalkeeper Coach for the

Women's Soccer Team. In 2010, Walker moved to Assistant Coach and then promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2019 and continues in that position to date. From 2009 to 2019, Walker has helped coach the Lady Tigers to five conference championship titles.

Honors

Universidad Católica *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

: 2002 Apertura Colo-Colo *

runner-up: 2003 Apertura MetroStars *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

runner-up:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Individual * Primera División de Chile Best Goalkeeper:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

* Copa Libertadores' First Stage Best Goalkeeper:

* August MLS Player of the Month:

* MLS Team Defensive Player of the Year:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

External links

* *
What Ever Happened To... Jonny WalkerMetrofanatic Profile: Jonny WalkerUSSoccerPlayers Profile: Jonny Walker USMNTUniversity of Memphis Coaching Staff Profile: Jonny Walker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jonny 1974 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Soccer players from California Soccer players from Memphis, Tennessee Columbus Crew players Huachipato FC footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Colo-Colo footballers FC Dallas players Expatriate men's footballers in Chile American expatriate sportspeople in Chile Jacksonville Cyclones players Louisville Cardinals men's soccer players Major League Soccer players Memphis Jackals players New York Red Bulls players Sportspeople from Greater Los Angeles Chilean Primera División players A-League (1995–2004) players United States men's international soccer players USISL players FC Dallas draft picks Memphis Tigers coaches