John Walker (24 August 1873 – 17 February 1937) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
and Morton in the 1890s and 1900s. He won national titles in Scotland and England, and represented both
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and the
Scottish League XI
The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...
.
Playing career
Club
Born in
Shotts
Shotts is a small town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow () and Edinburgh (). The town has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertra ...
,
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...
, Walker played for local team Armadale before being recruited by leading club Hearts, making his league debut for the
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
club on 18 February 1893. He played four full seasons with Hearts, winning two League Championships and one
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
Tommy Robertson
Thomas Robertson (17 October 1876 – 13 August 1941) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside left. He was part of the Heart of Midlothian team that won the Scottish league title in 1897. He also played for Liverpool between 1898 a ...
for £350 on 30 March 1898. He made his ''Reds'' debut in a
Football League Division One
The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
fixture on 11 April 1898.
Walker only missed two games during his first full season, scoring 12 goals in 38 games, a decent return for an
inside forward
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...
. He was a regular member of the
Anfield
Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...
club's first league championship win in 1901, and scored the winning goal against
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
on the final day of the season to secure the title.
Walker played another 18 times for Liverpool in 1901–02 before returning to Scotland to join
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
, who had just won a fourth successive domestic title but were also facing financial troubles due to the reconstruction work required on their stadium after the recent
1902 Ibrox disaster
The 1902 Ibrox disaster was the collapse of a stand at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Govan (now part of Glasgow), Scotland. The collapse caused the deaths of 25 supporters, and injuries to 500 more during an international association fo ...
. He scored at a rate of nearly a goal every two league games over his three seasons with the
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
club, and appeared in two further Scottish Cup finals. In 1905 he moved on to play for Morton, however he was there for only a short time before suffering a serious knee injury which ended his playing career.
International
Walker played five times for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, scoring two goals in the 3–1 victory at
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
. He also represented the
Scottish League XI
The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...
five times, while he was with Hearts and Rangers.
Later life and death
In 1910, Walker moved to Canada to become an engineer with Manitoba Telephones. He eventually enlisted for service in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(although was initially rejected due to his injured leg), joining the
Canadian Military Engineers
The Canadian Military Engineers (CME; ) is the military engineering personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces. The members of the branch that wear army uniform comprise the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE; ).
The mission of the Canadi ...
in 1916 and spending most of the conflict attached to the Canadian Signal Corps. After the war he returned to his telecoms job in
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
. He died in 1937 from an accident while cutting wood.
Honours
Heart of Midlothian
*
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1895–96
Liverpool
*
Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...