Alan Walsh (footballer)

Alan Walsh (born 9 December 1956) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger or striker. He spent much of his career with Bristol City and Darlington, where he was the club's record goalscorer. He won two Turkish Süper Lig championships with Beşiktaş.

Alan Walsh
Personal information
Full name Alan Walsh[1]
Date of birth (1956-02-09) 9 February 1956[1]
Place of birth Hartlepool,[1] England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Winger, striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1978 Middlesbrough 3 (0)
1978–1984 Darlington 251 (87)
1984–1989 Bristol City 218 (77)
1989–1991 Beşiktaş 45 (13)
1991 Walsall 4 (0)
1991 Huddersfield Town 4 (0)
1992 Shrewsbury Town 2 (0)
1992 Cardiff City 1 (0)
1992–1993 Michelotti (6)
1994–1995 Hartlepool United 4 (1)
1995 Bath City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early and personal life

Walsh was born to June (née Stockton) and John Walsh. He has one younger sister, Terry. His son, Phil is also a footballer who has played in the Football League for Dagenham & Redbridge and Barnet. His eldest daughter, Kayte, married actor Kelsey Grammer in February 2011.

Career

Walsh started his career in 1977 with Middlesbrough, but moved to Darlington the following year. He spent six years at the club, where he became the club's record goalscorer, with 87 goals in the league and 100 overall.

In 1984, he joined Bristol City, where he amassed 218 league appearances, winning their player of the season award in 1987–88. During his time at Bristol City he became renowned as an early exponent of the stepover football skill, colloquially known as the 'Walshy shuffle', later to be popularised by players such as Cristiano Ronaldo.[3] In 1986 Walsh won a winners medal as part of the Bristol City team that beat Bolton Wanderers 3–0 in the Football League Trophy final.[4]

He moved to Turkish club Beşiktaş in 1989, where he won two Süper Lig titles, before finishing his professional career back in the English Football League with short spells at Walsall, Huddersfield Town, Shrewsbury Town and Cardiff City.

After retiring from playing he rejoined Bristol City as a coach and stayed with the club for 11 years in a variety of coaching roles.[5] On 19 October 2011 he left his job as Bristol City's development coach. He joined Bristol Rovers as youth team coach in 2012, a role he held until 2016.

Honours

Bristol City

Football League Trophy: 1986

Beşiktaş

References
  1. "Alan Walsh". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. Rose, Neil (25 March 2014). "Bristol City legend Alan Walsh wished rapid recovery from illness by Bath City". Bath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  4. "Bristol City coach Alan Walsh to leave the club after more than 30 years". Bristol Post. 19 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  5. "Derek McInnes leaves St Johnstone for Bristol City". BBC Sport. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. "Frasier star Kelsey Grammer shows support for Bristol Rovers with appearance in crowd at Memorial Stadium". Bristol Post. 22 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
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