Early years Born in
Preston, Lancashire in November 1964, Walsh won the 1984–85
Freight Rover Trophy with Wigan before following
Bryan Hamilton to Leicester for £100,000, where he soon established himself as a no-nonsense central defender. In 1986, he received an eleven match ban after smashing the jaw of striker
David Geddis, whilst playing for Leicester against
Shrewsbury, part of his often violent reputation which included a longstanding rivalry with
Wolverhampton Wanderers striker
Steve Bull, which led to both being sent off in separate matches.
Leicester City Brian Little made Walsh Leicester's club captain in 1992 and started playing him as a striker. He went on to score 15 goals that season including one in the
Division 1 play-off final against
Swindon Town at the end of the season. In 1993–94 he scored twice as Leicester won the final and promotion to the
Premier League over
Derby County, having missed much of that season due to a
cruciate knee ligament injury. Injury kept him out for most of the top flight season, but was returned to the captaincy by
Martin O'Neill for the 1995–96 play-off final victory over
Crystal Palace, a position he retained for the successful 1996–97 season, lifting the
League Cup at
Hillsborough having set up
Emile Heskey's goal in the first game and
Steve Claridge's winner in the replay. This was his testimonial season, with the likes of
Paul Gascoigne and
David Seaman playing in his benefit game. He was also captain when City lost the League Cup final to
Tottenham Hotspur in 1999. His last European appearance was a 2–1
UEFA Cup defeat to
Atlético Madrid at the
Vicente Calderón stadium in 1997. Walsh is a hugely popular figure with Leicester fans, who nicknamed him "Captain Fantastic". Despite being left out of Leicester's squad for the
2000 Football League Cup Final he made three appearances and scored one goal during their victorious League Cup campaign.
Later career Peter Taylor let Walsh leave Leicester in 2000, ending his spell at
Filbert Street after 14 years, and after unsuccessful spells at Norwich and Coventry he coached junior football schools and ran a golf course in Spain. Still a cult favourite at the club, he currently writes a weekly column for the
Leicester Mercury and has formed an events company with former
Leicester Tigers rugby player
Neil Back and another business partner. Walsh made an unsuccessful attempt to become the new manager of Leicester City when
Gary Megson vacated the position in October 2007. ==Personal life==