WALKER SINGING WITH BLUEBIRDS
IT’S fair to say that threetime Wembley winner Jason Walker has a Barrow-load of medals, to go with some great memories, of his time at the national stadium.
Now, he is on a high again after his hometown club were crowned National League champions and, with it, clinched a place back in the Football League next season after a 48-year absence.
And former striker Walker, 36, who still lives in Barrow, could not be prouder of what manager Ian Evatt and his Bluebirds side have achieved.
“It is such a tough league to get out of and th”ey have done it with a lot of style,” Walker told The NLP.
“You have a manager who wants to play football the right way. In my opinion there is only one way he is going and that is up.
“Whether that is with
Barrow, and no disrespect to them, he is doing such a good job other clubs will be looking at him.
“To play for a manager who has ambition as well is what I would personally want as a player. The other attraction of course is playing in the Football League.”
Second home
Walker had two spells with Barrow, the most notable being his first campaign when he scored a spectacular extra-time winner against Stevenage in the 2010 FA Trophy final.
Then two seasons later he was part of a York City side, managed by European Cup winner Gary Mills, that secured a marvellous double, winning the Trophy and Conference play-off final against Luton.
“Wembley was almost like a second home to me,” he joked. “Scoring the winner for Barrow will always be a special memory for me.
”Gary Mills helped Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest conquer Europe and he likes his teams to play good football. Ian Evatt is the same in that respect.”
Walker will be back wearing Lancaster City’s colours in the Northern Premier League Premier Division next season after he undergoes a cartilage operation – an injury which curtailed his last campaign.
It was where Barrow used to train originally as a parttime club, along with Accrington Stanley and Preston North End. Now the Bluebirds use Manchester as a non-matchday base.
“Back in the day we never trained in the town as it is such a long way from most places so we faced trips of over 100 miles to do so,” Walker said. “But you got on with it.”
Lancaster were in the playoff places when the season was curtailed, leaving Walker and the Dolly Blues with a sense of frustration.
But he added: “South Shields should be going up in my opinion. They deserved it and I feel sorry for them.”
While Walker is not ready to hang up his boots just yet, he is already turning his hand to coaching children, having set up the JW9 Football Academy in Barrow.
Today he is offering 1-2-1 coaching sessions for boys and girls aged from five years old to 16.
“There has been loads of interest in what I am doing,” he said, “and that is very pleasing. Should I see a player who I think has potential then Barrow will be the first to know. It is a great time to be around the club.”