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Personal
Fullname: Andrew Walker
aka: Andy Walker
Born: 6 April 1965
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
Signed: 1 Jul 1987 (from Motherwell) & 1 Jun 1994 (from Bolton) (two stints at Celtic)
Left: 9 Jan 1992 (on-loan to Bolton); 11 Feb 1992 (permanently to Bolton); and 22 Feb 1996 (to Sheff Utd)
Position: Forward, Striker
Debut: Morton away 4-0 League 8 August 1987
First goal: Morton away 4-0 League 8 August 1987
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 3 Caps
International Goals: 0
Biog
A hero of Celtic’s famous Centenary season, Andy Walker spent two spells at Parkhead in a roller coaster football career.
First Spell
A boyhood Hoops fan the centre forward was a surprise arrival at Celtic Park in July 1987 when Billy McNeill paid Motherwell £350,000 for the player’s services.
At Fir Park, Andy Walker was certainly a decent performer but he was not an obvious choice to replace the free-scoring Brian McClair, another ex-Well man, who had recently headed south to Manchester United. However once at Celtic Park, Walker quickly found his goal-scoring touch. He made his competitive debut in the opening league match of the season and he bagged a brace as Celtic won 4-0 at Morton on 8th August 1987.
Frank McAvennie arrived at Parkhead in the autumn and Walker quickly established an excellent on-field partnership with the Scotland international.
Andy Walker seemed to instinctively know how to be in the right place at the right time. He was good in the air, possessed a thunderous shot and always seemed to find space in the most crowded of penalty areas. He was not just a goal scorer, and he demonstrated excellent strength and awareness as he linked with his midfield players and strike partner.
With Andy Walker and Frank McAvennie in full flow Celtic were capable of scoring against any team and at any time. Both men were hard workers on the pitch and their tireless running coupled with natural scoring instincts meant that more often than not opposition defences were given the most torrid of times.
Andy Walker’s goals were a huge factor in Celtic’s march to the league and Scottish Cup double in his debut season and by the summer of 1988 things were looking rosy for club and player. But as so often is the case in football the dream quickly developed into a nightmare. A stale Celtic and a seemingly jaded Andy Walker struggled to recapture the form of 1987-88 and by the turn of the decade the player was sliding out of the first team picture at a club riddled by a lack of ambition and quality.
In many ways, Andy Walker was the great striker he was in the centenary season due to the partnership with Frank McAvennie. Without such a talent beside him (as was the case once Frank McAvennie had moved into his heyday phase of “burrdz & booze“), Walker was ineffective. In addition, an injury from the 1988-89 season against Aberdeen where he suffered an eye injury, contributed strongly to his decline and he was never to be the same again for Celtic. He appeared with an eye patch on as Celtic lifted the cup at the end of that season, but sadly he wasn’t in the team that played that day in a 1-0 victory over Rangers.
Later, the player became embroiled in a spat with manager Liam Brady, against whom he still holds some bitterness if an article criticising him from around 2008 is enough to go by. Andy Walker though has to look at himself as well. One good season is not enough, and possibly his great form was largely in part to having someone like Frank McAvennie beside him (who was very gifted). If he could not stand on his own two feet and produce then the problem lay with him too. In fairness, in those days a double act forward line was the norm, and Walker needed a good partner.
Consequently the out of sorts Andy Walker, looking a shadow of the Centenary season hero, was sold to Bolton Wanderers in February 1992.
Interim
Bolton was to be a great move for Walker. Plying his trade in the second tier of English football the player’s confidence soon returned and his obvious attacking qualities made him a standout performer. The goals again began to flow and it wasn’t too long before Andy Walker was again attracting the plaudits. He was a hero at Bolton (and still is a cult hero with their fans) and it was more likely his true level of ability.
As part of a Bolton side making a habit of giant killing cup performances Walker was hailed as the best striker in England outside of the top flight, and he famously scored at Anfield to help his side knock holders Liverpool out of the FA Cup. However, he was always a Celt at heart, and when one post-match commentator is said to have asked him if that goal v Liverpool was the greatest moment of his career, he replied no that was the Celtic centenary season.
Second Spell
Certainly his renaissance had been noted in Glasgow and in the summer of 1994 Andy Walker returned to Celtic under freedom of contract – but he would not make the impact he did first time around. One story has it that Chief Executive Fergus McCann charged him the bill for taking the Celtic shirt he took with him from the signing session. There was a spat over his signing, not helped that Andy Walker was signed at the tail end of discredited manager Lou Macari’s reign. McCann tried to get Celtic out of it but acquiesced on the transfer.
Andy Walker stated clearly his opinion on him later:
“My initial impression of Fergus was that he was a nasty wee chap, and I think I had a good reason.“
Anyhow, Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 1995 while he was here but he didn’t get to play in the final. He had played in the bulk of matches in what was a major transition season and scored a number of goals including the first of the season in a 1-1 draw with Falkirk. His highlight of the season was scoring in the League Cup final against Raith Rovers, but the low light was probably that same game as it ended 2-2 and Celtic lost on penalties 6-5. It was a far-cry from the glory days of the centenary season.
Post-Celtic
On leaving Celtic, he played for numerous clubs whilst winding down his career before hanging up his boots.
Andy Walker went on to become a media pundit in Scotland on STV and across the UK on Sky. Albeit he was most often a very over-opinionated and sometimes antagonistic as became the norm, with one Aberdeen player getting into trouble for once calling Andy Walker a ‘bell-end‘ on social media.
Regardless of any criticisms of his media commentary, Celtic supporters will always be grateful for his partnership and contribution with Frank McAvennie during his first spell at the club. A wonderful centenary season in which he more then played his part.
Quotes
Scott Brown launched a attack on former Parkhead player Andy Walker Walker, a pundit for Sky Sports. He has been a regular critic of Ronny Deila’s side this season, branding them “dull and uninspiring” and calling for Deila to be sacked in February following Celtic’s second loss of the season to Aberdeen. Brown: “At the end of the day people are going to criticise. Andy Walker is one that goes out there and manages to do it, but he’s never had a manager’s job or knows what it’s like to be coming in here day in, day out. He’s pretty much a poor man’s Gary Neville [a pundit on Sky Sports for the English game]. It’s every day, he does my f*****g box in.”
Scott Brown on Andy Walker’s punditry (May 2016)
Playing Career
| Club | From | To | Fee | League | FA/Scottish Cup | League cup | Other | ||||
| Alloa | 02/01/2000 | 07/05/2000 | Signed | 4 (4) | 3 | 5 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Partick | 09/09/1999 | 03/10/1999 | Free | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Carlisle | 01/07/1999 | 01/09/1999 | Free | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Ayr | 01/08/1998 | 01/07/1999 | Free | 31 (2) | 15 | 4 (0) | 3 | 3 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Raith | 11/03/1998 | 31/05/1998 | Loan | 5 (2) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Hibernian | 12/12/1997 | 28/02/1998 | Loan | 7 (1) | 3 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Sheff Utd | 23/02/1996 | 07/07/1998 | £500,000 | 32 (22) | 21 | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 (1) | 2 | 2 (1) | 1 |
| Celtic | 01/07/1994 | 22/02/1996 | Signed | 38 (4) | 10 | 2 (2) | 0 | 5 (0) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Bolton | 11/02/1992 | 01/07/1994 | £ 160,000 | 58 (5) | 41 | 9 (3) | 8 | 3 (0) | 1 | 5 (0) | 2 |
| Bolton | 09/01/1992 | Loan | 3 (1) | 3 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | |
| Newcastle | 20/09/1991 | Loan | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | |
| Celtic | 01/08/1987 | 11/02/1992 | £ 350,000 | 85 (21) | 40 | 8 (3) | 6 | 9 (6) | 7 | 4 (2) | 2 |
| Motherwell | 31/07/1984 | 01/07/1987 | Signed | 65 (12) | 17 | 8 (2) | 2 | 2 (4) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Baillieston Jnrs | 01/08/1983 | 31/07/1984 | No appearance data available | ||||||||
| Totals | £860,000 | 337 (74) | 155 | 39 (10) | 19 | 28 (11) | 14 | 11 (3) | 5 | ||
| goals / game | 0.37 | 0.38 | 0.35 | 0.35 | |||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Cup
Scottish Premier Division
Pictures
Articles
ANDY WALKER: I’d signed but Fergus tried to pay me off.
Byline: ANDY WALKER
FERGUS McCANN has long since departed and now that the only time he’s under stress is on the golf course as he tries to reduce his handicap, how will he be remembered?
Scottish football could do with someone with his strong leadership just now, that’s for sure.
Wee Fergus famously took on the SFA, and Jim Farry in particular, over what he felt was a gross act of incompetence in failing to register Jorge Cadete.
I wonder what he would make of all the promotion farce involving Partick Thistle and Inverness Caley Thistle.
I’d bet, just like the rest of us, he would have been shaking his head in disbelief at such an embarrassing administrative ****-up.
Jock Brown famously said: ‘When they come to write the history of Celtic in 2050 it will be universally acknowledged that the two greatest servants of all time were Jock Stein and Fergus McCann.’
Hoops fans were quick to ridicule Brown when he uttered those words but in my view he was right.
Stein stands alone as the club’s greatest ever manager and love him or loathe him there’s little doubt McCann made an astonishing impact in his short spell at Parkhead.
When he took over, the club was pounds 9million in debt and on the brink of going to the wall.
On and off the pitch Rangers were completely dominant and average crowds filling a dilapidated Celtic Park were around the 28,000 mark.
In short, it was one of the most turbulent periods in Celtic’s history.
Then Fergus took over. A new stadium was built, the club started to progress and this strange looking fellow who always wore a bunnet was hailed as some sort of visionary.
I don’t know of anyone who got close to him but from the dealings I had with him I’d say he couldn’t have been less interested in what people thought of him and he certainly had a healthy contempt for footballers. Who were these people who worked for a couple of hours a day and were able to command such ridiculous salaries?
In McCann’s mind players were no different from any other employee.
If you didn’t pull your weight you were out.
For a time that contempt for all players included me as he went out of his way to make me feel as unwanted and as uncomfortable as possible when I signed for a second time at Celtic.
I saw the ruthless side of Fergus when he tried to put the brakes on that move.
My initial impression was that he was a nasty wee chap and given the nature of our first meetings I had good reason for feeling that way.
On my return to the club I had been tapped by manager Lou Macari who was so keen for publicity he insisted I fly back from a holiday to secure the deal.
It proved to be his last piece of business.
No sooner had I landed back in Malaga to join my wife and family than the news came through that wee Lou had been sacked and a bloke called Fergus McCann wanted to speak to me.
In football you learn to expect the unexpected but this took my breath away.
Fergus told me bluntly he wasn’t happy with his latest signing and his gripe centred on the uncertainty of what I would cost.
My contract had expired at Bolton but unlike today’s system when players can just leave, at that time a tribunal set the fee if no agreement was reached.
Celtic chanced their arm by offering a paltry pounds 200,000 whereas Bolton were equally ridiculous in their pounds 2million valuation. Fergus sensed the danger and was keen for me to go back to Bolton.
‘We gotta kinda weird situation here – unwilling selling club, unwilling buyer,’ he told me.
At one of our many meetings Fergus again kept me waiting for at least an hour before I was called in by his secretary.
I immediately offered him my hand and said: ‘Fergus, nice to see you again.’
With that puzzled look I came to know so well he replied: ‘Sorry, who are you?’
The colour drained from his face when I told him I was his new pounds 2m striker!
From that point on he did everything possible to get out of the deal and even cast doubt on my fitness, insisting I go through another medical.
I did that and when I was given the all-clear yet again he still wouldn’t accept me as a signed player.
In desperation I put it to him one last time that I had signed all relevant forms, a contract of employment and had passed two medicals.
Surely it was time to accept that and move on?
My final remark was : ‘Fergus, I didn’t sign for you or for Lou Macari. I signed for Celtic. I’ve been here before and I know what’s expected. There’s really nothing you can do about it.’
His reply left me totally speechless.
McCann said: ‘Well, there is one thing.
‘Maybe I could give you some money and you could go away?’
I sat inside Celtic Park with my brother and another of my advisors and couldn’t believe what I’d just heard.
I was being offered money NOT to sign for Celtic.
I refused and the deal was concluded shortly afterwards.
Considering the dramatic impact McCann subsequently had on Celtic it was amazing he left without so much as a word of thanks from the club.
In fact he was roundly booed by the majority of Celtic fans when the league flag was unfurled in 1998.
I wonder how the wee man felt about that. Even when we were arguing across the table I thought there was something intriguing about him.
I’d love the chance to challenge Fergus again, maybe this time on the golf course.
I realise there would be nothing conceded.
He’s one opponent who would definitely ask me to putt everything out.
Fergus, when money’s involved I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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