Profile

Paul Walsh was voted PFA's most promising player of the year in 1983-84 and was at the centre of a bidding war between Manchester United and Liverpool.

Paul made his name with his local club Charlton Athletic before moving on to Luton Town and enjoying two good years with "the Hatters", scoring 24 times from 80 league games. Walsh refused United's advances and opted for a move to Merseyside. With Ian Rush being sidelined at the start of the 1984-85 season due to injury, Paul went straight into the first-team and scored after just 15 seconds of his home debut against West Ham. He played in the opening 10 league games but was injured at White Hart Lane and as that injury coincided with Rush's return to full fitness, he was in and out of the team for the rest of the season, although he did score three times in Liverpool’s run to their fifth European Cup final and played in the ill-fated final against Juventus in Brussels. This tricky little forward played alongside Rush with Dalglish behind them. Walsh scored 13 goals in 32 matches in his first season, as Rush had centre stage as before.

An amazing 18 goals in 25 matches in double season 1985/86 was a testament to his ability, but ruptured ligaments stopped his best run in the side. He started his scoring run in Screen Sport Super Cup against Southampton, scored two against his old club Luton in the league and a hat-trick against Brighton in the third round of the Milke Cup. He failed to score against Leicester, but managed one against Coventry and then ripped apart WBA by setting up three and scoring his 8th goal in six games. Tottenham and Aston Villa were added to his victims, scoring 11 goals in 11 games, coinciding with Liverpool's 14 match unbeaten run that fell apart against Arsenal on December 14, 1985.

Dalglish chopped and changed the squad while Liverpool struggled, only drawing three of their next four games. Walshy scored two goals in Liverpool's 3-2 win at Watford and had established himself in the first team but Kevin Moran's tackle playing against United at Anfield left him with ruptured ligaments and ruined his season. He only made two more starts that double season. He returned seven weeks later, but his name didn't appear on the team-sheet until five weeks later in the penultimate game of the season v Norwich in the Screen Sport Super Cup. Liverpool strung together a remarkable run-in of 11 wins and one draw from the final dozen First Division fixtures which saw Liverpool climb over their city-neighbours Everton. Liverpool secured the league and cup double. Walsh watched from the stands while Liverpool beat Everton 3-1 in the FA Cup final.

Walsh returned to the starting line-up in October 1986 and scored a hat-trick v Norwich a week later. He was a regular in the side until April 25, when he was relegated to the bench and didn't even appear on the team-sheet in the last three games. He had only scored three goals since the Norwich game. The arrival of John Aldridge and Peter Beardsley meant that Paul was surplus to requirements at Anfield and it was no surprise when, having made only one league start in 1987-88, he accepted an offer to join Tottenham.

Walsh later revealed he could have stayed at Anfield and played in a right sided attacking role, but at the time he wanted to continue in a central striking role.

Other Clubs:
Charlton, Luton, Tottenham, Portsmouth, Man City, Portsmouth (2)