Tom Walker (footballer)

Thomas James Walker (born 12 December 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Buxton on loan from AFC Fylde.

Tom Walker
Personal information
Full name Thomas James Walker[1]
Date of birth (1995-12-12) 12 December 1995
Place of birth Salford, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Buxton
(on loan from AFC Fylde)
Youth career
2005–2015 Bolton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Bolton Wanderers 18 (1)
2016–2017 → Bury (loan) 11 (0)
2017 Stockport County 5 (0)
2017–2018 FC United of Manchester 10 (1)
2018–2020 Salford City 60 (11)
2019–2020 → Stockport County (loan) 15 (5)
2020 AFC Fylde 9 (4)
2020–2021 Harrogate Town 7 (0)
2020 → Notts County (loan) 5 (0)
2021 → Stockport County (loan) 21 (1)
2021 Stockport County 5 (0)
2021 → Altrincham (loan) 2 (0)
2022 → AFC Fylde (loan) 17 (0)
2022– AFC Fylde 20 (2)
2023– → Buxton (loan) 0 (0)
International career‡
2018 England C 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:49, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:54, 11 October 2018 (UTC)

Walker started his career at Bolton Wanderers, and made his first team debut in January 2015. He joined Bury on loan in August 2016, and was released from Bolton at the end of the 2016–17 season. He has since played for Stockport County and F.C. United of Manchester.

Career

Walker joined the academy at Bolton Wanderers at the age of nine, and made his Football League debut ten years later when manager Neil Lennon sent him on as a late substitute for Eiður Guðjohnsen in a 1–1 draw with Leeds United at the Macron Stadium on 10 January 2015.[3] He scored his first senior goal for the "Trotters" in a 1–1 draw with local rivals Wigan Athletic on 21 March.[4] He ended the 2014–15 season with one goal in 11 Championship matches, and signed his first professional contract in May 2015.[5] He featured a further eight times across the 2015–16 relegation campaign.

On 31 August 2016, Walker joined EFL League One rivals Bury on a season-long loan.[6] Manager David Flitcroft revealed how Walker had been on his way to join Leyton Orient on loan when the pair spoke over the phone, Walker was convinced to instead join Bury and he left his car in London and took a train to Manchester to sign with Bury.[7] He scored his first goal for the "Shakers" in a 2–1 defeat at Bradford City in an EFL Trophy match on 4 October.[8] He did not feature for four months before he was introduced as a half-time substitute in a 2–1 defeat at Oxford United on 28 March; after the game manager Lee Clark said "Tom has got lots of ability. He just needs to learn the other side of the game".[9] He made 15 appearances at Gigg Lane across the 2016–17 campaign, but made just one league start. He was released by Bolton manager Phil Parkinson in May 2017.[10]

Walker had undergone a trial at Port Vale in July 2017 but subsequently was not offered a deal by manager Michael Brown.[11] On 25 August 2017, he moved to Stockport County on a short-term deal following a successful trial spell with The Hatters.[12]

He left Stockport on 6 October 2017 after his short-term deal had ended to sign for FC United of Manchester.

On 4 January 2018 Salford City confirmed that they had agreed a deal to sign Walker.[13]

In October 2019 he joined Stockport County on loan until January 2020.[14] He returned to Salford in January 2020 on the expiry of his loan period.[15] The following day he joined AFC Fylde on a permanent, two and a half year contract.[16] He joined newly promoted League Two side Harrogate Town in August 2020 after they triggered a release clause in his contract.[17] On 30 November 2020, Walker joined National League side Notts County on loan until 3 January 2021,[18] with manager Neal Ardley revealing he had already tried to sign him on two occasions but missing out.[19] On 12 February 2021, he rejoined Stockport on another loan deal.[20]

On 17 July 2021, Walker returned to National League side Stockport, this time on a permanent deal, signing a one-year deal with the club.[21] In October 2021, Walker joined National League side Altrincham on a one-month loan deal.[22] In January 2022, Walker returned to AFC Fylde on loan until the end of the season.[23]

On 30 June 2022, Walker agreed to return to AFC Fylde on a permanent basis.[24] In September 2023, he joined Buxton on an initial four-month loan deal.[25]

Career statistics
As of end of 2021–22 season
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bolton Wanderers 2014–15[26] Championship 111000000111
2015–16[27] Championship 7000100080
2016–17[28] League One 0000100010
Total 181002000201
Bury (loan) 2016–17[28] League One 11020002[lower-alpha 1]1151
Stockport County 2017–18[29] National League North 5000—0050
FC United of Manchester 2017–18[29] National League North 10110—00111
Salford City 2017–18[29] National League North 18600—00186
2018–19[29] National League 40530—1[lower-alpha 2]0445
2019–20[30] League Two 4000001[lower-alpha 1]050
Total 62113000206711
Stockport County (loan) 2019–20[29] National League 15410—1[lower-alpha 2]1175
AFC Fylde 2019–20[29] National League 9400—0094
Harrogate Town 2020–21[31] League Two 7010103[lower-alpha 1]0120
Notts County (loan) 2020–21[29] National League 5000—1[lower-alpha 2]060
Stockport County (loan) 2020–21[29] National League 21100—1[lower-alpha 3]0221
Stockport County 2021–22[29] National League 5000—0050
Altrincham (loan) 2021–22[29] National League 2000—0020
AFC Fylde (loan) 2021–22[29] National League North 17000—00170
Career total 19722803010220824
  1. Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy
  2. Appearance(s) in the FA Trophy
  3. Appearance in the National League play-offs

Honours

Salford City

References
  1. "The Football League Retained List". The Football League. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  2. "Tom Walker". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  3. "Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  4. "Wigan Athletic 1-1 Bolton Wanderers". BBC Sport. 21 March 2015.
  5. "Tom Walker thrilled with first professional contract". bwfc.co.uk. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  6. "Manchester City's Kean Bryan and Bolton's Tom Walker join Bury on loan". BBC Sport. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  7. McKenzie, Mikael (8 September 2016). "Bury boss David Flitcroft goes the extra mile to bring in deadline day signings". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  8. "REPORT: Vukic and Hiwula on target in Trophy victory". bradfordcityfc.co.uk. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  9. McKenzie, Mikael (30 March 2017). "Clark issues apology to Bury fans after 5–1 hammering at Oxford". Bury Times. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  10. "Wanderers confirm player departures". Bolton Wanderers Official Site. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  11. Baggaley, Mike (8 July 2017). "Port Vale excited about loan of Huddersfield striker Rekeil Pyke". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  12. "Tom Walker signs". Stockport County Official Site. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  13. "Second Newcomer for FC United". The National League. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  14. "Rodney and Walker join on loan". Stockport County. 8 October 2019.
  15. "Squad Update". Stockport County. 6 January 2020.
  16. "SIGNING | Tom Walker Signs From Salford City". AFC Fylde. 8 January 2020.
  17. "Harrogate sign Fylde midfielder Walker". BBC Sport. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  18. "Walker arrives on loan". Notts County FC. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  19. Curtis, Leigh (30 November 2020). "Notts County boss Neal Ardley reveals long pursuit of 'big player' Tom Walker". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  20. "Stockport County sign Harrogate's Walker on loan". Non League Daily. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  21. "Tom Walker signs one year deal". www.stockportcounty.com. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  22. "Tom Walker joins Altrincham on loan". Stockport County FC. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  23. "Tom Walker goes out on loan". www.stockportcounty.com. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  24. "Tom Walker Returns". www.afcfylde.co.uk. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  25. Buxton F.C. [@Buxton_FC] (15 September 2023). "✍🏼⚽️ | We are delighted to announce that former Bolton Wanderers, Salford City and Stockport County winger Tom Walker has joined the Bucks on a four month loan deal from @AFCFylde. Welcome to Buxton, Tom. #WelcomeTom | #TeamBuxton" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 September 2023 – via Twitter.
  26. "Games played by Tom Walker in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  27. "Games played by Tom Walker in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  28. "Games played by Tom Walker in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  29. Tom Walker at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  30. "Games played by Tom Walker in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  31. "Games played by Tom Walker in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  32. Rindl, Josef (11 May 2019). "AFC Fylde 0–3 Salford City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
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