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http://www.carlow-nationalist.ie/new...trs=mhaukfeyoj
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Walker, Swedish superstar
By: Eoin Weldon
IT’S 23 YEARS since Carlow town man Pat Walker left home to play soccer in England. Since then, his career has been full of highs and he is now one of the most respected TV football anaysts in Sweden, as well as managing a premier league soccer team there. Here, he reflects on a football life less ordinary.
ONE of the biggest sporting success stories in Carlow over the past 20 years has been happening thousands of miles away in Sweden.
Patrick Walker is from St Patrick’s Avenue in Carlow town and left Ireland for England in 1983 to pursue a professional soccer career.
That was the start of a 23-year story that sees him managing a Swedish premier league club today in a country where he is a celebrity.
He played over 60 games for Gillingham in the old English division three and met a Swedish girl, which prompted a move to the Scandinavian country.
It wasn’t long before he was back in Ireland and joined Bohemians, where he played in the 1983 FAI Cup Final, losing to Sligo Rovers.
Back to Sweden then where he spent ten years playing in the top two divisions there. Coaching was next on his agenda and after getting his badges he went on to manage a number of teams in Swedish football, ranging from Ssundsvall to Kalmar, reaching the first division playoffs with the latter.
Last October was his biggest achievement in football when he guided Orebro Sk to promotion to the top flight of Swedish football. It was a remarkable feat considering the club had been relegated from the top league only two years previous for financial irregularities, something which left the club in turmoil.
“The club was in a historical crisis and I was basically given the job with very little expected of me. I had to go in and do a Braveheart thing really. Everyone was at each other’s throats and I told them that we should unite and fight together. We weren’t going to go down without a fight.
“We managed to steer things around and were back up within two years. There is a great passion in the town now and a real interest in the team.
“We play a good brand of football and have an attacking style which the club were not renowned for. We have a new stadium with restaurants and corporate boxes and it’s really looking up.” He says that the city is beautiful and it really sounds like a fairytale. However, he insists that it was the fruits of a lot of hard work.
“There was an amount of hard work done to get where I am. It was 30 years in the making but there are times when you think you’ll never make it. Being out here has been a huge lift for my career and the people in Sweden have been wonderful.” Walker was always interested in coaching and got his badges while he was still in England. There he met some of England’s brightest young managers at the time and lists Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce and Leicester City boss Mickey Adams as his friends. He has subsequently taken Swedish coaching certificates and also studied in university and has qualifications in performance psychology and mental training. Walker’s bulky CV doesn’t end there; he has been courted by a number of teams in the championship in England and was offered the role of head coach with Rosenborg in Norway, who have played regularly in the champions league. He was also been offered the role of junior national coach in Sweden. His managerial prowess has also transcended the international arena and just two years ago he guided a development Swedish U21 team to second in the international Toulon tournament. “It was basically a squad that were there to get some experience and it wasn’t even the first choice pick. It was incredible that we got to the final, we beat China and Portugal along the way who would be considered great teams at that level.
“We were beaten by France in the final and Jeremie Aliadiere got the winner and he now plays for Arsenal. That French team was so good that Gael Clichy, who is Arsenal’s first choice leftback, couldn’t even get on the side.
“I was only there myself as a guest coach and me and another guy took them to the final. It was remarkable too that I played in the same tournament 28 years previous with guys like Kevin Sheedy.”
Walker is something of a celebrity in Sweden and assumes the role of Eamon Dunphy on the Swedish equivalent of The Premiership and regularly provides what he calls “expert commentary” on games from the Premiership. Just last weekend he was in studio analysing the Liverpool v Manchester City and Everton v Charlton games on Swedish TV.
The story doesn’t end here either; Walker has two sons who themselves have been making waves in Swedish soccer circles.
Robert is 19 and plays professionally with Orebro. His dad says he scored an influential goal that helped Orebro to get promoted and as we talked, Pat told me that Robert was putting snow tyres on his car for a trip to Gothenburg which is about three hours by train.
Younger son Kevin is only 17 but already a member of the first team squad; he has also captained Sweden at U17 level and his first game as captain was against Ireland.
Walker doesn’t rule out the possibility of returning to Ireland some day. “I’d never close the door on coming back but I thought that the offers I did receive didn’t really suit me but for the time being I’m looking forward to continuing the development of Orebro.” A snapshot of the drive of Walker was the way he set about learning the Swedish language when he first arrived there 23 years ago.
“My wife Annette is fluent in a few languages and even though she speaks English I wanted to get to know her family better, as they were so nice to me.
“I was keen to learn and went to school for two years to learn how to read and write Swedish. It also gave me a chance to communicate on the field with players.”
Walker was also a keen gaelic footballer and was a ‘Blues’ man before seeking greener pastures but still has a lot of family here. With five sisters and a brother living in Carlow he will always be linked with home as his career continues to soar.
Originally Posted by an_ceannaire
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