Tom Walsh (footballer)

Tom Walsh (born 11 July 1996) is a Scottish footballer who currently plays for Ayr United in the Scottish Championship After leaving Inverness Caledonian Thistle the previous season. He became the youngest player to make an appearance for Rangers in Scottish league football, when he played for them aged 16 in 2012. He also had loan spells with Stenhousemuir, Dumbarton and St Mirren during his Ibrox career. Since leaving Rangers, Walsh has had spells with Limerick[2] in the League of Ireland and Dumbarton. He represented Scotland at various youth international levels.

For other people named Thomas Walsh, see Thomas Walsh (disambiguation).

Tom Walsh
Walsh playing for Rangers in 2015
Personal information
Full name Tom Walsh
Date of birth (1996-07-11) 11 July 1996
Place of birth Irvine, Scotland
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Ayr United
Number 10
Youth career
2007–2012 Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2017 Rangers 10 (0)
2014 → Stenhousemuir (loan) 9 (2)
2016 → Dumbarton (loan) 14 (1)
2016–2017 → St Mirren (loan) 10 (3)
2017 Limerick 2 (0)
2017–2018 Dumbarton 28 (3)
2018–2020 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 47 (9)
2020- Ayr United 0 (0)
National team‡
2011–2012 Scotland U16[1] 9 (4)
2012 Scotland U17[1] 5 (0)
2013–2014 Scotland U19[1] 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:41, 2 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:47, 11 August 2019 (UTC)

Early life

Walsh is from Troon, Ayrshire[3] and was educated at Marr College in the town.[4]

Club career

Walsh joined Rangers' Academy in 2007. He made his first-team debut for Rangers on 8 December 2012, aged only 16 years and 150 days, in a Scottish Third Division match against Stirling Albion.[5] Walsh became the youngest post-war Scottish football league debutant for Rangers and second youngest competitive debutant ever for the club, behind Derek Ferguson who made his debut in a League Cup match against Queen of the South in 1983, aged 16 years and 24 days.[6]

The following season saw Walsh suffer with injury, initially sustaining an ankle injury and then a recurring hamstring problem kept him out for the whole of the 2013–14 season[7] After finding opportunities in the first team difficult to come by and in a bid to improve his fitness levels after a long injury, Walsh joined the then Scottish League One side Stenhousemuir on loan for the first half of the 2014–15 season.[8] Prior to going on loan Walsh had signed a new contract extension with Rangers until 2017.[7] He made his debut for Stenhousemuir nearly three weeks later, on 20 September, against Peterhead, after recovering from a further hamstring injury.[9] He scored his first professional goal in his second appearance for Stenhousemuir on 18 October, against Stirling Albion, adding the fourth in a 4–0 win.[10]

After returning from his loan spell, Walsh featured once during Kenny McDowall's three months in charge of the first-team. However, upon the appointment of Stuart McCall as interim first-team manager, Walsh then began to play a more prominent role in the first-team squad.[7] He joined fellow Scottish Championship club Dumbarton on loan in January 2016.[11][12] He scored his first goal for the Sons in a 4–2 win over Queen of the South. On 17 July 2016, Walsh joined Scottish Championship club St Mirren on loan until January 2017.[13] Walsh was released by Rangers on 18 January 2017.[14] After leaving Rangers he played two games as a substitute for Limerick in the League of Ireland against Shamrock Rovers[15] and Derry City.[16]

He returned to Dumbarton on a one-year deal in June 2017.[17] After a year with Dumbarton, Walsh moved North, signing for Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[18] Walsh rejected a new contract offer in 2020, choosing to leave the club as a free agent.

After leaving Inverness Caledonian Thistle Walsh joined his local team and promotion rival Ayr United

International career

Walsh has represented Scotland at various age levels.[1]

Personal life

Walsh is the cousin of professional golfer Jack McDonald.[3]

Career statistics
As of 14:49, 10 August 2019 (UTC)
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rangers 2012–13 Scottish Third Division 1000000010
2013–14 Scottish League One0000000000
2014–15 Scottish Championship8000002[lower-alpha 1]0100
2015–161000001[lower-alpha 2]020
2016–17 Scottish Premiership000000—00
Rangers total 100000030130
Stenhousemuir (loan) 2014–15 Scottish League One92100000102
Dumbarton (loan) 2015–16 Scottish Championship1412000—161
St Mirren (loan) 2016–17 Scottish Championship10300313[lower-alpha 2]0164
Limerick 2017 Irish Premier Division 2000000020
Dumbarton 2017–18 Scottish Championship28330208[lower-alpha 2]0413
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2018–19 Scottish Championship 30 6 5 2 8 2 4 0 43 10
2019–20 17 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 6 1
Career total 1201811215318014721
  1. Appearances in 2015 Scottish Premiership Play-offs
  2. Appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup

References
  1. "Tom Walsh". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. Needham, Emma. "CHECK OUT THIS INTERVIEW WITH LIMERICK FC'S NEW MIDFIELDER TOMMY WALSH". Sporting Limerick. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  3. "Rangers rookie Tom Walsh aiming for the top with golf prodigy cousin". Euan McLean. Daily Record. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  4. Wilson, Mike (14 December 2012). "Marr College old boy Tom Walsh makes Rangers debut". Daily Record. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  5. Smith, Neil (8 December 2012). "Rangers 2–0 Stirling Albion". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  6. "Player Age Records". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  7. Waddell, Gordon (19 April 2015). "Rangers kid Tom Walsh: I would have been a first team regular before now if it wasn't for injury". Daily Record. Glasgow: Trinity Mirror.
  8. "Ibrox club loans out seven fringe players". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 September 2014.
  9. "Peterhead 1–0 Stenhousemuir". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 September 2014.
  10. "Stirling Albion 0–4 Stenhousemuir". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 October 2014.
  11. "Walsh On Loan To Dumbarton". Rangers Football Club. Rangers.co.uk. 14 January 2016.
  12. "Signing News: Winger captured from Rangers". dumbartonfootballclub.com. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  13. Thomson, Nick (18 July 2016). "Tom Heads To Saints". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club.
  14. "Aird And Walsh Leave Rangers". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 18 January 2017.
  15. "Shamrock Rovers 1–1 Limerick". Goal.com. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  16. "Derry City 1–1 Limerick". Goal.com. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  17. Galloway, Andy. "SIGNING NEWS: WALSH RETURNS". Dumbarton Football Club. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  18. Henderson, Andrew (15 May 2018). "Two in and two out at Caley Thistle". The Inverness Courier. Scottish Provincial Press. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
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