Bobby Walker
Encyclopedia
Robert Staig "Bobby" Walker (10 January 1879 – 28 August 1930) was a Scottish
professional football player.
. He played in a few games that clinched Hearts 2nd League Championship
in 1897. Walker was the first Hearts player to score over 100 league goals, and he scored Hearts' 1000th league goal. Other notable achievements are his 33 goals against Hibernian
, which is the record tally in the Edinburgh Derby
if local competitions are included. He scored two hat-tricks against Hearts' Edinburgh rivals, the first at the age of 19 years and 9 months in a 5-1 victory at Easter Road
on 28 October 1898. He repeated the feat on 18 September 1905 again at Easter Road in a 3-0 win.
Hearts' 1901 Scottish Cup
win was remembered as "Walker's Final", the Hearts beating Celtic
4-3. With the score poised at 3-3 The Scotsman
reported it thus: "It, however, proved staunch, and the Edinburgh team soon showed that they were not going to relinquish the grasp of the cup which their play entitled them to, and Walker once more proved himself the grandest forward on the field. Taking the ball some thirty yards right through the opposition, he shot straight and true. M'Arthur saved, but sent the "leather" to Bell, who tipped it over to Houston. By the last named it was again sent towards the Celtic custodian who muddled his attempt to avert, and again the Hearts were one to the good." After this match Charlie Thomson
dubbed him "The Best Player in Europe" and his style of football, involving brilliant footwork and sublime passing was known as "Walkerism". He also played in Hearts Scottish Cup win of 1906.
During Hearts' first overseas tour to Norway
in May 1912 King Haakon
of Norway attended one of the games to specifically see Walker play. His brother Alex Walker also played for Hearts.
Walker became a Hearts Director in 1920. He died at the early age of 51 in August 1930. Huge crowds lined the funeral route and thousands stood round his graveside. His obituary in The Scotsman stated the following: "The Hearts never had a more brilliant forward than Walker. He was amazingly clever in manipulating the ball, and , it was on skill alone that he relied, for he was never favoured with physique. With the ball at his feet he could turn on his course elusively, and in such little space, that he could often put a whole defence out of position with his deft movement."
The Football Encyclopaedia from 1934, edited by Frank Johnston, referred to him simply as "Bobby Walker, the greatest natural footballer who ever played."
with 29 caps until the record was broken in 2006 by Steven Pressley
. He held the Scotland national team
caps record at various points from 1905 to 1931.
If caps are "weighted" to measure the number of games that were possible to play in a season, he is third in the all time Scottish caps list. His Scotland career of 13 Years, 1 Month and 3 days places him no 11 in the all time list. He shares the record of 11 Scottish caps versus England
, along with Alan Morton
of Queens Park
and Rangers
. The record would have been 12 as he played in the Ibrox disaster
match of 5 April 1902 which has subsequently been declared unofficial. In addition he won 14 Scottish League XI
caps, which places him 7th in the all time list.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
professional football player.
Hearts
Walker joined Hearts from Dalry Primrose in 1896, making his debut in a "trial" match vs SunderlandSunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
. He played in a few games that clinched Hearts 2nd League Championship
Scottish football champions
The Scottish football champions are the winners of the highest league in Scottish football, namely the Scottish Football League from 1890 until 1998 and the Scottish Premier League thereafter....
in 1897. Walker was the first Hearts player to score over 100 league goals, and he scored Hearts' 1000th league goal. Other notable achievements are his 33 goals against Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
, which is the record tally in the Edinburgh Derby
Edinburgh derby
The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian , the two professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce rivalry that dates back to the clubs being founded in the mid-1870s, which...
if local competitions are included. He scored two hat-tricks against Hearts' Edinburgh rivals, the first at the age of 19 years and 9 months in a 5-1 victory at Easter Road
Easter Road
Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premier League club Hibernian . The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 20,421, which makes it the fifth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Easter Road is also...
on 28 October 1898. He repeated the feat on 18 September 1905 again at Easter Road in a 3-0 win.
Hearts' 1901 Scottish Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
win was remembered as "Walker's Final", the Hearts beating Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
4-3. With the score poised at 3-3 The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
reported it thus: "It, however, proved staunch, and the Edinburgh team soon showed that they were not going to relinquish the grasp of the cup which their play entitled them to, and Walker once more proved himself the grandest forward on the field. Taking the ball some thirty yards right through the opposition, he shot straight and true. M'Arthur saved, but sent the "leather" to Bell, who tipped it over to Houston. By the last named it was again sent towards the Celtic custodian who muddled his attempt to avert, and again the Hearts were one to the good." After this match Charlie Thomson
Charles Bellany Thomson
Charles "Charlie" Bellany Thomson was a Scottish footballer who played for Heart of Midlothian, Sunderland and the Scotland national team....
dubbed him "The Best Player in Europe" and his style of football, involving brilliant footwork and sublime passing was known as "Walkerism". He also played in Hearts Scottish Cup win of 1906.
During Hearts' first overseas tour to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in May 1912 King Haakon
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
of Norway attended one of the games to specifically see Walker play. His brother Alex Walker also played for Hearts.
Walker became a Hearts Director in 1920. He died at the early age of 51 in August 1930. Huge crowds lined the funeral route and thousands stood round his graveside. His obituary in The Scotsman stated the following: "The Hearts never had a more brilliant forward than Walker. He was amazingly clever in manipulating the ball, and , it was on skill alone that he relied, for he was never favoured with physique. With the ball at his feet he could turn on his course elusively, and in such little space, that he could often put a whole defence out of position with his deft movement."
The Football Encyclopaedia from 1934, edited by Frank Johnston, referred to him simply as "Bobby Walker, the greatest natural footballer who ever played."
International career
He was the most capped Scottish footballer for Heart of MidlothianHeart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...
with 29 caps until the record was broken in 2006 by Steven Pressley
Steven Pressley
Steven John "Elvis" Pressley is a retired Scottish footballer, who is now the manager of Scottish First Division club Falkirk. Pressley had a long playing career, playing for both halves of the Old Firm and making over 100 league appearances for both Dundee United and Hearts...
. He held the Scotland national team
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
caps record at various points from 1905 to 1931.
If caps are "weighted" to measure the number of games that were possible to play in a season, he is third in the all time Scottish caps list. His Scotland career of 13 Years, 1 Month and 3 days places him no 11 in the all time list. He shares the record of 11 Scottish caps versus England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
, along with Alan Morton
Alan Morton
Alan Lauder Morton was a Scottish international footballer and 'Wembley Wizard'. He was known for his stirring wing play as an outside-left and commitment to Rangers. He retired from active play in 1933.-Early life:...
of Queens Park
Queen's Park F.C.
Queen's Park Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club are currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League; their amateur status is reflected by their motto, Ludere Causa Ludendi – to play for the sake of playing.Queen's Park are the oldest...
and Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
. The record would have been 12 as he played in the Ibrox disaster
Ibrox disaster
The Ibrox disaster refers to two accidents, in 1902 and 1971, which led to major loss of life at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.-First Ibrox disaster:...
match of 5 April 1902 which has subsequently been declared unofficial. In addition he won 14 Scottish League XI
Scottish League XI
The Scottish League XI is a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture between the English and Scottish leagues was only second in...
caps, which places him 7th in the all time list.
International goals
- Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 March 1902 | Grosvenor Park, Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly... , Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... |
2-0 | 5-1 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
|
| 2 | 15 March 1902 | Cappielow Cappielow Cappielow is a district of Greenock in Inverclyde, west central Scotland. It is home to Scottish First Division side Greenock Morton F.C. The name Cappielow, taken alone, usually refers to the Cappielow Park stadium, but it can also refer to a small area of housing or the adjoining industrial... , Greenock Greenock Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland... , Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
4-0 | 5-1 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
|
| 3 | 4 April 1903 | Bramall Lane Bramall Lane -Cricket at the Lane:Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket... , Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
2-1 | 2-1 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
|
| 4 | 12 March 1904 | Dens Park Dens Park Dens Park is a football stadium located on Dens Road in Dundee, Scotland. The stadium is the home of Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of 12,085... , Dundee Dundee Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea... , Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
1-0 | 1-1 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
|
| 5 | 18 March 1905 | Celtic Park Celtic Park Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is the home ground of Celtic FC. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,832, is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the sixth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield, Old Trafford,... , Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... , Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
2-0 | 4-0 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
|
| 6 | 16 March 1907 | Celtic Park Celtic Park Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is the home ground of Celtic FC. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,832, is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the sixth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield, Old Trafford,... , Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... , Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... |
2-0 | 3-0 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
|
| 7 | 1 March 1909 | Racecourse Ground Racecourse Ground The Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium AKA The Racecourse Ground is a stadium located in Wrexham, North Wales. It is the home of Wrexham F.C. and, since 2010, the Crusaders Rugby League team who play in the engage Super League... , Wrexham Wrexham Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England... , Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
1-3 | 2-3 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
|
| 8 | 16 March 1912 | Windsor Park Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:... , Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly... , Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... |
4-1 | 4-1 | British Home Championship British Home Championship The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from the 1883–84 season until the 1983–84... |
External links
- Profile at londonhearts.com
- Scotland Record at londonhearts.com
- "The Greatest Ever - Bobby Walker at Dalry Primrose"