OTD: CLIVE WALKER DEBUT
- BY BEN THIRKELL
- 1 hour ago
- 1 min read
On this day in 1984, former Sunderland winger Clive Walker made his debut for the club as we beat Southampton 3-1 in the First Division.
Before his move up north he had a great career at Stamford Bridge, making 224 appearances and scoring 60 times for the Blues between 1975 and 1984. He gained a reputation for his brilliant deliveries into the box and delivered some iconic moments for Chelsea, including a last-minute volley to beat Bolton Wanderers 1-0 in a relegation play-off in 1983. Walker is most commonly remembered for being the first person to miss a penalty in a Wembley final when his spot kick crashed against the post in the 1985 League Cup final against Norwich City. We went on to lose the game 1-0.
Despite this, he still had a rather positive effect at Roker Park, scoring 17 goals in 64 appearances. Three of those came in a fantastic performance in front of the Roker Park crowd with a hat-trick, which included two penalties, in a 3-2 win against Manchester United coming from two goals down. His directness on the right wing made him a real key player at the time however he could not save the club from finishing 21st and being relegated from the First Division. Walker would move to Queens Park Rangers for £75k in December 1985. Clive struggled to nail down a place at Loftus Road though, only managing 22 games in all competitions across 18 months. Then followed spells at Fulham, Brighton and Hove Albion and non-League sides Woking, Cheltenham Town and Molesey.
