Walker’s career has turned full circle

Press, 11 October 1985, Page 19

Walker’s career has turned full circle

Eight years ago, Colin Walker was about as far away from World Cup soccer as could possibly be imagined. His right leg had just been broken for a second time, his weight had ballooned to about 14 stone and if someone had told him World Cup qualifying soccer was part of his future in the game ‘1 would have laughed.” Instead, Walker is leading the New Zealand attack with such skill and perception that he is an integral part of the All Whites bid for a second successive appearance in the Cup finals, in Mexico next year. Walker, a 27-year-old Yorkshireman, makes no secret of the fact that much of the reason for that rather dramatic change in fortunes must be put down to his NZ Permanent Gisborne and New Zealand coach, Kevin Fallon.

“He came to England and saw me playing for a pub

side,” recalled Walker, casting his mind back to the Christmas of 1979. “I was short and fat, but he said he could do something with me.”

Walker came to New Zealand for the 1980 Rothmans League season, top scoring in the competition with 15 goals for Gisborne before returning to join Barnsley in the English second division for the next two seasons. In his second season under the charge of the tough former international defender, Norman Hunter, Walker scored 14 goals in 20 appearances. In that season, Walker had his most memorable moment in professional soccer, scoring against Liverpool in a Milk Cup quarter-final replay. So it came as something of a shock when Hunter broke the news to Walker early in the 1982-83 season that his services were no longer required, a “devastating” experience, remembered the blond-haired

striker. 'Td never have a go at him though,” said Walker of the old Lees United hard man. “He game me my first opportunity in the game and Fll always be thankful.” Fallon had been in contact again and Walker decided to make the move across the globe in May, 1983, after two months at Doncaster Rovers under the former Scottish captain, Billy Bremner. He could have stayed at Doncaster, which had just been relegated to the fouth division, but he found he was not happy in his work; now he has no regrets. The last three national

league campaigns with Gisborne have yielded a further 38 goals ana a barnstorming run to the club’s first league championship in 1984. His value to the All Whites attack cannot be over-estimated. He scored -nine times in 10 appearances as New Zealand built up for the World Cup series, and scored a gem of a goal against Chinese-Taipei at Mount Smart stadium last Saturday. His real strength is his ability to hold and shield the ball in tight situations. It is a skill which is often unspectacular, and undoubtedly best appreciated by his team-mates.

His chief weakness? “I’d like to be a bit quicker. I’ve been working on it over the last few weeks, and I’ve managed to lose a stone. That might make me a bit quicker.” Walker maintains he has not given a thought to Mexico. The first priority is to win tomorrow, then to top the group, and then to “get Scotland over here.” New Zealand will not make the same mistake against Israel later this month that it did against Australia in its opening group match in Auckland on September 21. “We showed them too much respect. They had beaten teams like Tottenham Hotspurs and Red Star Belgrade, but we were a • better side in- all departments. When we go to Sydney they will have to attack us and we should be able to exploit them even more. fi Now we won’t be showing Israel quite as much respect as we would have done either.”