Michael John Walker Jr. (born 10 April 1945) is an English former professional

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 ...

and coach.

Early and personal life

Walker was born in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

, and grew up in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

. His father Mickey Sr. had played for Doncaster Rovers,

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

and York City. As a teenager he played cricket, trialling for Yorkshire Schoolboys at the age of 15, and later playing for England Schoolboys. He is married to Carol.

Career

Playing career

After being told he was too short (at 5 ft 7) to play football by Doncaster Rovers, Walker played youth football with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

and Rotherham United. After a spell in non-league football with Bourne Town, he turned professional with

in October 1964.Frost, p. 409 He made 20 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

(scoring 1 goal) for Bradford City, before returning to Rotherham United in March 1966. He then moved to

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

in Ireland later in 1966. He spent the 1968 season with the

Los Angeles Wolves The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer Leag ...

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 ...

, scoring 7 goals in 22 games. He later played for

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

, Stockport County,

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

Coaching career

Walker worked as a scout for

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 ...

and

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, and as a youth team coach at Leeds United and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. After leaving his role as Assistant Manager at Nottingham Forest, Walker has held a number of positions at Doncaster Rovers, including Assistant Manager, Director of Football, and Caretaker Manager. He was Director of Football at Doncaster from 2006 until July 2012 when he was released as part of the club's cost cutting restructuring after relegation from the Championship. A testimonial match was held by Doncaster Rovers on 1 August 2009 in honour of Walker.

Sources

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Mickey 1945 births Living people English men's footballers Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Bourne Town F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Los Angeles Wolves players Mansfield Town F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Men's association football wingers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English football managers Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff Doncaster Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers Footballers from Harrogate