Liam Walsh | Being a footballer does not make you special, like everyone you have to work hard

When Liam Walsh ran onto the Swansea.com Stadium pitch during the closing stages of Swansea City’s Championship meeting against Stoke City last month, it was the final instalment in seven months of arduous rehabilitation work for a player who has had to endure his share of injury frustrations across his career to date.

But it tells you everything you need to know about the 25-year-old’s character that he remains as hungry and driven as ever.

Yes, there have been dark days, there have been tough times, but there has been no sense of self-pity or a defeatist attitude.

That is despite Liverpool-born Walsh knowing that when he returned for pre-season at the end of June last summer, he was in great shape and raring and ready to push for a starting spot in a competitive midfield.

His testing results and training displays over the opening weeks had caught the eye of Russell Martin and his coaching staff, and then misfortune struck.

Barely 30 minutes into a behind-closed-doors friendly against Haverfordwest County, Walsh ruptured his Achilles.

It is a brutal injury, often more difficult to recover from than a leg break with the foot having essentially lost its rudder.

The rehab is long and gruelling, and a tough road lay ahead. Walsh was unfazed.

“I have been unfortunate and there is nothing you can do about that, you have to work hard to get back,” he says.

“I came back for pre-season feeling really fit and excited for the season, and then the injury happened.

“It was a bit of a killer for me after working so hard, but it feels amazing to be back now, and I just want to keep playing and make the most of this because I realise how great it is to be at a club like this.

“This is a big club, when you go to the games and the fans are up there roaring you on. You can feel how much it means to people and how big a club it is.

“I want to do well here, we have got the manager and the players here to do something and I want to be a big part of that.

“We can do something big here in the future, and we have 11 games left to do our best this season.

“Don’t get me wrong, when you have injuries there are days you want to stay at home, or days when you need to go back to Liverpool and be among friends and family.

“Everyone is like that, they are really hard times especially when you are away from home and you are coming in on your own when the lads are off or travelling to a game.

“But you understand that all that hard work you do in the gym makes a difference on the pitch. It gets you a step ahead and I’ve really done that extra work this time.

“The gaffer and Matt Gill have been great, and all the physios and medical staff looked after me really well in terms of the balance.

“My parents and girlfriend (Liverpool midfielder Missy Bo Kearns) have also been a massive support to me.

“My girlfriend has that understanding of what it’s like being a footballer herself, and that was good for me.

“But, as I said, being from where I am from, you get down to work and get on with it. There’s an awful lot of people who are worse off in life.

“It makes you think and understand how fortunate you are to be where you are, so you have to work hard for it.”

Within that answer lie all the clues as to why Walsh has continued to have a positive, can-do outlook amidst the setbacks that a football career inevitably encompasses.

His work ethic is undiminished, as is his desire to succeed.

Much of this he attributes to the working-class values he learned during his formative years in Huyton, Liverpool.

Huyton is a football hot bed, and has a reputation for producing players of considerable quality.

Swans hero Lee Trundle hails from Huyton, as does talismanic former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard and ex-Everton captain Peter Reid.

There’s plenty more where that trio came from too: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gary Ablett, John Aldridge, Leighton Baines, Ross Barkley and Colin Harvey are among a host of current and former players to have had links to Huyton.

Walsh was brought up in a household of Liverpool fans, and he has enjoyed plenty of memorable moments following the Reds, with arguably his favourite being their unforgettable 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League.

He, his friends and family members also attended last season’s final in Paris, with Walsh getting into the Stade de France moments before the disgraceful scenes of the French police using tear gas and batons on Liverpool fans waiting to enter the venue.

Walsh shakes his head in disgust at the memory, and speaks with sadness at how some of those attending with him were caught up in the chaos that could so easily have ended in tragedy.

“What happened there was disgusting,” he says.

“My father was caught up in it, which is obviously scary and then there was stuff after the game with people being attacked by groups waiting outside the ground. It was a disgrace.”

Nevertheless, football always has been and continues to be Walsh’s first love – despite a keen enjoyment of golf and boxing - and he still returns home to watch local league football such is his love for the game and the area in which he grew up.

But his upbringing also bestowed on him character traits he continues to wholeheartedly embrace.

“I think football is the one thing I have always known since I was a kid,” he says.

“My father was mad on football and it just fed straight on to me really. I’ve loved it from day one, I think I was kicking a ball around from the age of two or three. I was on the books at Everton when I was five.

“Huyton is known for its football, so even as a kid my father would literally take me to any game out there. We would watch Liverpool, but also Saturday and Sunday league games.

“It could be any game. In Liverpool the local leagues are a massive thing. My mates and my father all used to play, people from Huyton love seeing their own do well no matter what you are up to.

“When I go home people are always onto me pushing me on to do well, and when I am home I like to go and watch the local teams my mates play in and cheer them on.

“It’s important where I come from, and I think there’ll be a fair few more talented footballers coming through from Huyton.

“I’m always there watching when I go home, the standard is very good too. I love my football and I love watching the lads play. I’ve been playing my whole life.

“It was a big part of my life from day one, and the support my parents gave me right from the start has always stayed with me.

“My father is a roofer, sometimes he is away for a bit while he works, and my mother is a nurse.

“For me it is very important that when I am back home I go and spend time with them, because they have given so much for me and made so many sacrifices.

“The big thing about my mum and dad is that they are very hard-working people, and I feel that has rubbed off on me. Working hard is important to me.

“It’s the same for all people in Huyton, it’s a working-class area and those values are really important.

“I think anyone from Liverpool, whether they move away or are successful, you never forget where you come from.

“It’s a proper working-class city, and that attitude is such a big part of the city and when you have those people behind you – whether they are family, friends or fans – you do not want to let them down.

“You have to do well for them because they are also supporting you.

“But you don’t get treated differently to anyone else, either, which I think is important.

“At the end of the day we are only playing football. People do a lot of things that are a lot harder for a living. This is the job we have, and you have to work hard at it, through good and bad times.

“You’re not some kind of superstar because you play football, you’re a person first whether that is a friend, son, daughter, brother or sister. You’re no different from anyone else.”

Walsh’s talent for the game was clear to see, and he was on the books of Everton at the age of five.

He would spend 15 years in total on the books of the Toffees, signing a first professional deal in 2015 and getting as far as being included in the first-team matchday squad.

A senior appearance never materialised, but Walsh retains a great sense of gratitude towards the Goodison Park club, believing he would not have had the career he has without his time in their academy.

“I am sure people wonder how I ended up at Everton given my family are all Liverpool fans, but my father made the decision as I was so young and he did it because he thought it was the best move for me,” he says.

“Everton, at the time, had one of the best academy set-ups in the country, they regularly had young players coming through into the first team.

“Where I am today, that is down to Everton’s academy. I myself would have picked Everton over anyone because the people there and the way I improved there, I could not have asked for better.

“It’s got me to where I am today, and even now their academy does well and I still speak to people there.

“I remember working with Neil Dewsnip (now Plymouth Argyle technical director) there and he was great for me. He gave me great advice.

“I remember him telling me you always have to have something in the locker that no-one else has.

“If you have this special thing that you can bring onto the pitch it makes a difference, and that was when I started working really hard on my free-kicks and deadball delivery and doing extra sessions with the ball to improve those attributes.

“But every coach there was great, and when I started with the first team Seamus Coleman was brilliant with the young players.

“He was another who had a great work ethic, he knew what it took and he would always put an arm round you or offer advice. He took time to speak to you, and in training.

“You look at him, he is still going at such a high level now and that tells you everything about him and the hard work he has put in.

“But there are so many people I have to thank, and I have to make sure I pay them back by getting myself to the best possible level.”

There were loan spells with Yeovil Town in League Two and Birmingham City, which proved to be very different experiences.

His time at Yeovil – alongside a certain Connor Roberts – was an eye-opening introduction to the senior professional game, while his time at Birmingham came during a spell of flux at the Championship club.

They were character-building loans, but Walsh loved them.

“I was really young then. I had been playing reserve football, but you get to a point where you play a lot but it’s not really meaning anything,” he says.

“The loan at Yeovil was a short one, but I was ready to go down there as a kid. I mean I did not have a clue, I did not drive, I had no idea how to cook, but it was important for me.

“I had to clean my own kit and sort my own gear out.

“To travel down there, there was a lad there from Chester and my father would drop me off at the services and he would take me down.

“Matty Dolan, who is at Hartlepool now, used to then give me a lift to training every day. He would run me back and forth.

“Connor Roberts was there too, and I loved it there. You were fighting for three points, and at that level winning would mean extra money with a win bonus which is helping pay people’s bills and mortgages, so there’s plenty on the line. I needed that reality check.

“Birmingham was different. I had a taste for it after Yeovil and wanted to go out again. Harry Redknapp was the manager and it felt a bit surreal because of his profile.

“He was not there for long, but when you spoke to him his knowledge of the game was crazy and he was great at giving players confidence.

“If you made a mistake trying something he would tell you to keep trying it and keep working on it.

“That’s where my head is at now in a game. I want to try and make something happen and I don’t worry if it doesn’t work out. I know I am capable of playing well, and I don’t feel nervous.”

Walsh’s time at Everton would come to an end at in January 2018 when he secured a move to Bristol City.

The Robins were in the Championship and enjoying a fine season, particularly in an EFL Cup run that had seen them grab the headlines by dumping out holders Manchester United; former Swan Korey Smith scoring the winning goal.

A certain amount of serendipity meant Walsh’s debut came against an all-conquering Manchester City team.

“Yeah, it was quite a way to start!” laughs Walsh.

“I felt I needed to go and play senior football, Bristol came in and I was bang up for it.

“I think I trained for two days and then I was on the bench against Man City, I didn’t even know the names of most of the lads.

“I came on, Lee Johnson told me to go and enjoy it and we gave them a really good game, and then they beat us at home.

“Obviously Korey and Pato [Jamie Paterson], who I got to know, were in that team.

“Things started well but then I was unfortunate with injuries and Bristol wanted me to get back playing games, so I had a spell with Coventry City in League One, which was really good for me.

“Once I played a few games I just loved it there. I loved the manager and the staff and the players there.

“It suited me perfectly, they had an unbelievable season and I think my form in that time was probably the best I have had in my career.

“We were playing at St Andrew’s as the home ground, it did not make a huge difference to me as I did not know any different. I just knew that I really enjoyed playing for them.”

A little over a year later and Walsh would leave Bristol City and join the Swans. A combination of injuries and a loan spell at Hull City mean he has yet to get the run of games in a white shirt that he would like.

But, typically, the midfield playmaker is determined to make up for lost time and help the Swans turn around a tough run to finish the season on a positive note.

“Being back is great, but the result is the most important thing, and obviously that was really disappointing that we did not get a win,” he said of his return against Stoke.

“But when I sit back and think about all the hard work I have put in over the last six or seven months, all those hours in the gym, you feel it has paid off when you get back out there.

“It was great to be back out on the pitch, just that feeling of being on the bench and being ready to come on gives you such a huge buzz and I’ve really missed that.

“Being out there, playing for three points, it’s what excites me and drives me.

“I want more of those moments between now and the end of the season. I don’t get nervous, I get excited.

“I want to play football, so the moment the gaffer tells me to get ready then there’s no messing, I’m up and I’ll be ready.

“I want to help the lads, and there’s no better feeling than being on the pitch and playing.

“We have had a rough patch, which does happen in the Championship with games coming thick and fast.

“It’s about how you bounce back, and we have games coming up to try and put it right.

“We want to get three points and try and get the fans going.”

With that Walsh departs for some extra work in the gym, firmly focused on the future, not looking back.