32 Facts About Des Walker

Desmond Sinclair Walker was born on 26 November 1965 and is an English football coach and former player, who played as a defender.

Des Walker was Forest's player of the year three times.

Des Walker played 59 times for England, which included the nation's run to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Des Walker had previously been part of the youth system at Tottenham Hotspur, but was released after a disagreement with their former manager Bill Nicholson where he refused to get a haircut.

In 1987 Des Walker earned the first of his club player of the year awards at Forest.

Des Walker was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the first time.

Des Walker won his second League Cup winner's medal when Forest retained the trophy in 1990 with victory over Oldham Athletic.

Des Walker earned his second Forest player of the year accolade.

Des Walker was selected for the PFA Team of the Year for the second successive season.

Yet again Des Walker missed the chance of playing in Europe.

Des Walker signed off from Forest as their player of the year for the third time in six seasons.

Des Walker earned a fourth successive selection for the PFA Team of the Year.

Des Walker stayed just one season before returning to England.

Des Walker made more than 300 appearances for the club under eight different managers in eight years.

Des Walker quickly became a favourite of the fans earning their player of the year award at the end of his first season.

Des Walker played in seven seasons of top-tier football with Wednesday to add to his nine at Forest and one with Sampdoria.

Amid Sheffield Wednesday's growing financial strain associated with their fall from the top league, Des Walker was released from his contract in 2001.

In July 2002, Des Walker signed for Forest on a permanent basis.

Des Walker made almost 60 more appearances in his second spell for Forest, and left the club at the age of 38 with a total of 354 appearances and one goal.

Des Walker became first team coach at Forest afterwards but left in January 2005 when Gary Megson was appointed as manager.

Des Walker made his international debut as a substitute for Tony Adams in a game against Denmark in 1988.

At the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Des Walker started all seven of the games in which England would play, gaining international acclaim.

Des Walker subsequently became England's defensive lynchpin after Butcher's retirement, continuing to feature regularly after Graham Taylor had taken over as manager.

Des Walker travelled with the England squad to the 1992 UEFA European Football Championship in Sweden but England failed to progress beyond the group stages.

Des Walker played in a three-game Summer tour of the host nation of the following year's finals, USA.

Des Walker played in England's last qualifier in the group in November 1993.

In total, Des Walker made 59 appearances for England, scoring no goals.

Des Walker's speed allowed him to repeatedly recover difficult situations for his teams.

At set pieces for his teams, Des Walker would stay back to provide defensive cover rather than supplement the attack, reflected in the fact that he only scored once in around 800 senior games.

Des Walker played in 20 seasons of senior football, with all but the last three of those in the top flight.

Des Walker played in seven cup finals with Nottingham Forest at Wembley, winning five.

Des Walker incurred a remarkably low number of bookings during the first 10 years of his career, despite often dispossessing opponents with sliding challenges from all directions.