Farewell Jimmy Walker: One of Football's Good Guys

By then Pardew was desperate. West Ham were in serious danger of not making the Playoffs and the financial consequences did not bear thinking about. Walker was thrown in for a crucial match at the league leaders, Wigan Athletic, that West Ham did not dare lose. Pardew never did make it easy for him.

With Walker sure of himself in goal, West Ham won the match 2-1. Walker was not dropped again and West Ham eventually reached the Playoff final, where they faced Preston North End. The better side throughout, Bobby Zamora gave the Hammers a merited lead after 57 minutes.

West Ham had performed so well that Walker had barely been called upon - then, out of nowhere, disaster struck. Coming well off his line to catch a high ball from Preston's defence, in mid-air Walker realised he had left his area. In an attempt to end his descent in the box, he twisted his leg back, inevitably tearing the cruciate ligament in his knee upon landing. To compound matters, he had landed outside the box. He was spared a red card for deliberate by a sympathetic referee and after seven minutes of injury time, West Ham held on.

For Walker, though, his Premier League career was over before it had even begun. Few doubted he would have been West Ham's goalkeeper in their first season back. Roy Carroll was signed from Manchester United instead.

The day after the Play-off final, I headed to an open-top bus parade to celebrate West Ham's promotion. Near enough to the bus to speak to the players, I chanced upon Walker. "How's the knee, Jimmy?" I shouted. His answer, delivered humorously and with a wide smile, was cheerily blunt: "Fucked!" Not many players are so open or self-deprecating. On a day of great celebration, that memory stands out.

Having recovered from his lengthy injury, Walker made only two more appearances for West Ham. Indeed his final memorable fact came after a match in which he had not been involved. West Ham qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2006 but their campaign ended with a heavy first round defeat to Palermo.

After the second leg, lost 3-0 in Italy, the away support were kept in the stadium for some time. In an empty stadium, Walker took it upon himself to lift what had been a miserable night. Shooting against a vacant goal, he met a cross with a stunning bicycle kick which cracked against the crossbar. To cheers, he eventually put in the rebound before accepting his fans' chants of appreciation.

Funny and down-to-earth, he will be sorely missed. Everyone liked Jimmy Walker. Maybe just not Frank Lampard.  

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