Josh Walker | Ten Years On | By Sean Graham

Josh Walker will be forever remembered at Aberdeen for scoring the opening goal in the 2-2 draw against Ottmar Hitzfeld’s German giants, Bayern Munich, his first professional goal. Josh has seen the highs and lows in football and in life and has played under two England managers as well as playing for Sean Dyche. Within a few years, he went from playing in the Premier League to playing for Gateshead in the Conference and by his own admission, he found that fall from grace hard to deal with. He is in a good place right now with Edinburgh City and coaching kids with his Foot Forward coaching academy. He spoke to us about his life and times in the game…

 

Who gave you your first break in football?

“I joined Middlesbrough Academy as an eight year old and worked my way through the youth teams. I started to play with the Under 15/Under 16s as a 12 year old. I found myself in the reserve team from a young age and everything was fast forwarded. Don’t get me wrong, it was brilliant but ultimately it didn’t really go in my favour because I had so much, so young. I always thought to myself, why am I not pushing on some more?

“I was 17, 18 and in and out of the first team at Boro. If that was any other 17 year old, they would be over the moon but I was devastated that I wasn’t starting! I actually felt that it was natural, it became normal for me playing three years above myself, playing for the first team and reserves. I ended up getting frustrated and pushing for loan deals, just here there and everywhere and that was my downfall really. If I had the head on my shoulders back then that I have now, I think it would have been very different.”

Did you feel you had a divine right to play every week?

“My attitude was that I wanted to keep playing, never that I was better than anybody else. I was never one to brag about it but I had this burning desire inside, I just wanted to play and succeed. Everyone aspired to be like Wayne Rooney. He was only a few years older than me and I thought if he can do it, why can’t I? The reality is very, very few can do it that early.

“As I got older, all the good luck I had when I was younger changed. I got injuries at bad times, wrong advice, made bad decisions but now I have a clear head on my shoulders. I am happy with my life now. Maybe for four or five years I didn’t deal with it well, but I am happy with my life at the moment.”

You worked with two England managers in Steve McClaren and Gareth Southgate – what was it like playing for them?

“Steve McClaren was unbelievable with me, I had a lot of opportunities when I was at school to go elsewhere but he got myself and my family in and sat us all down to set targets for the next two years and they were real high targets that were achievable. I achieved all of them in my first season but then Steve got the England job!

“I was gutted when Steve got the England job but not only me, a lot of the younger boys at the club we’re gutted as well. It didn’t matter how old you were if you were 16 or 32 if you were good enough, you would play. He had so much belief in me.

“Gareth came in and was one of the best guys I have came across in football but his style of football was different from Steve’s. That’s when my levelling off period came, when I was 17 and playing in the reserves, still in with a chance of playing in the first time now and again. It was just frustrating. But Gareth fills you with confidence and is very easy going, he is a people person, he was a massive listener, no matter who you were, it didn’t matter if you were the tea-lady or the captain of Middlesbrough, he would take time and he would talk rather than just nodding his head.

“When I got the loan spell at Aberdeen, things went really well, things got going again. I went back to Boro and I got opportunities in the first team but then injuries came along at bad times that season.”

Everyone will remember that goal v Bayern but what are your memories of the occasion and the atmosphere?

“My first professional goal! We had no fear, I know a lot of the boys were feeling the same. We got a great result, 2-2 at Pittodrie, we probably should have won the match. I seem to do the same interview every February on the anniversary of that game for various papers!

“Jimmy Calderwood was a really good guy, a real proper character, him and Jimmy Nicholl were brilliant with me, I can’t speak highly enough of both of them and I am sorry to hear that Jimmy Calderwood is unwell, my thoughts are with him.

“They were unbelievable for that team and they got everyone bouncing, they had everyone playing for each other, we had a great team spirit, much like what Gareth Southgate had with England. There was no egos or players saying, “I want out of here”, everyone was in it together, if you were playing or not, and I put that down to the two Jimmys, they were brilliant for Aberdeen. I loved it at Pittodrie, it was one of the best experiences of my life from a football and personal perspective. It was one of my first experiences of being away from home, I was at Bournemouth for a month but this was the first real time of being away for a long period.

“We had a really good team and it was great to be involved. On the pitch was great but off the pitch too, the way the fans were with me and the people on the street, it was just brilliant and I really enjoyed it. It was the time of my life; I look back on my time with Aberdeen with fond memories. Lee Miller was the one who looked after me. I still speak to Lee now, great player and a great guy.

“Could I have signed permanently for Aberdeen? Jimmy Calderwood was hoping we could do something in the summer but I’d just turned 19 and I still thought I was getting my chance at Boro. As much as I loved it at Aberdeen, I had to go back to Boro. I had been at Boro since I was eight, I had a point to prove, the timing was wrong for me to sign for Aberdeen. I did play the following year in the Premier League for them. I got on the bench, it was brilliant, then I broke my ankle on my first start.

“I came back, got back in the team but we were struggling and they were going with experience. Again, I was a sub and my old self came back, “I’ve played, I’ve done well, why am I not playing?” And there I was, knocking on the door again!”

How did you come across Sean Dyche?

“When I went to Watford, Sean was the assistant manager and he got the job in the summer when Malky Mackay left. He is already a top manager and he will get an opportunity for a top club in the future, clubs will come looking for him. He is very clever and he gets the best out of the players he has, he doesn’t have a lot of money to spend but the players all play for him.

“Burnley are a real hardworking team, player for player he has them well organised, very fit, very strong, and very aggressive.

“He has a great backroom staff too, Ian Woan, his assistant, is a top guy and Tony Loughlan, the first team coach, is also a top coach as well and they work well together to get the best out of the players.”

You signed for your local club, Gateshead, but the move didn’t quite go to plan. Was it a time that you regret?

“Gateshead, if I am being honest, was the worst time in my life. I had left Watford and went to Scunthorpe and in my second year at Scunthorpe I ended up suffering a knee injury but kept playing and did myself no favours. Scunthorpe were relegated and I was offered a deal on half the wages. Both myself and my agent decided not to take it as we thought better offers would come. But they didn’t.

“I signed at Gateshead purely because I lived there, but it was the worst decision I had made in football. I wasn’t there mentally. I should have dedicated myself more than I did but I was going through a bit of a bad time. It was just pretty much everything, the injuries, the dramatic fall from playing in the Premier League to going to the Conference, to being injured, I had so much to deal with. I was frustrated but you have to be honest with yourself and say it was one of those things that just didn’t work out and it was never going to work out.”

You then moved to Edinburgh via India?!

“India was an unbelievable experience. I got myself fit again and got myself focused again and back on track. I was back playing again and things could not have gone better until I got injured again!

“Coming back to Edinburgh was the right thing to do. I still have aspirations and dreams but I’ve been out so long and had so many highs and lows, I just want to get back playing. I had been out in India and had a few options, including one down south that I was really close to taking, but I decided that signing for Edinburgh City was the best option as I feel that the club are capable of doing things.

“I am really happy at the club and get on with everyone there and being up here and now I am doing the coaching as well, which I really enjoy.”
Can you tell us a bit about Foot Forward Coaching your soccer school, what made you decide to do that and how can kids get involved?

“It started off with me doing one to one coaching with kids and really enjoying it and the kids really enjoyed it also. It’s kids at all levels and all ages being taught and being given advice, it’s something I really enjoy.

“We focus on the key developmental areas of every young footballer’s game. We improve players by teaching the correct techniques in the right way, mastering the basic skills of football. We have specialist equipment that gives children the experience of being in a match situation and always encourage players to play with freedom, creativity and flair.

“It’s been good. The response I’ve been getting is great. I’m in at a couple of schools, I’m doing one-to-ones, toddler groups, after-school clubs, breakfast clubs, one-to-one sessions, group sessions and birthday parties. But my aim for the future is to build it up and also have elite groups for promising youngsters.”

 

For more information contact www.footforwardcoaching.com