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Ian Walker, Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper

Ian Walker

Born: Watford, 31st October 1971

International Honours: England Full, B, U21, Youth

Position: Goalkeeper

Squad Number: 12

Former Clubs: Tottenham Hotspur, Oxford United (loan), Leicester City

Sam Allardyce finally ended his search for top quality goalkeeping cover in July 2005 when recruiting Ian Walker on a Free Transfer from Leicester City.

Walker is a custodian with bags of experience, having appeared in over 400 games at club level, many of which have come in the top division with the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.

His mistakes are often unfairly highlighted ahead of his more competent performances in the team, but the one time England goalkeeper does not let this overshadow his positive attitude for the game.

The son of the former Norwich and Everton manager Mike Walker, he began his career with Spurs in December 1989 and was part of the successful FA Youth Cup winning side less than a year later.

During his early days at White Hart Lane he was competing with Norwegian Erik Thordsvedt for the number one jersey, and finally forced the breakthrough in the 1991-1992 season after a couple of spells out on loan with Ipswich Town and Oxford United.

It wasn't until the 1994-1995 season that he became the undesputed number one with Tottenham, Thordsvedt had a few injury problems and this opened the door for Walker to break into the side on a more regular basis over the next couple of seasons.

Walker will want to forget one previous trip to Bolton in November 1996, as he was part of the Spurs side including the likes of Teddy Sheringham, Darren Anderton, Ruel Fox and Sol Campbell which lost 6-1 in the League Cup to a then Division One Wanderers team.

1996 wasn't such a bad year overall for Walker though, he gained the first of a handful of England caps against Hungary prior to the start of the European Championships in London.

The next few seasons at Spurs saw more goalkeeping competition come his way in the shape of Espen Baardsen and Neil Sullivan. It was the purchase of the latter player which eventually saw him depart for Leicester City in the summer of 2001 having lost his place to the ex-Wimbledon stopper.

He did play in Europe with Spurs in the 1999-2000 season following their League Cup win over his future employers Leicester City in the previous season, so his contribution to Bolton's UEFA Cup squad is sure to be useful in the season ahead.

Upon his move to Leicester in 2001 he became their regular goalkeeper following the departures of Kasey Keller and Pegguy Arphexhad but could not prevent the Foxes being relegated in 2002.

However he did help them back up to the Premiership at the first attempt and played against the Wanderers in the 2003-2004 season when the Foxes held Bolton in both the home and away games that season.

He appeared in five cup games for the Wanderers in the 2005-2006 campaign and his dedication in training prompted former manager Sam Allardyce to hand him a new two year contract in the close season.

Opportunities in the Premiership once again proved scarce for Walker due to the form of Jussi Jaaskelainen throughout the 2006-2007 term, but he did appear in the cup games against Charlton Athletic, Walsall and Doncaster Rovers.

BOLTON RECORD:

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