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onathan Ronald Walters was born in September 1983 in Moreton on the Wirral.
Aged 16, he was signed by Blackburn Rovers after impressing then-manager Graeme Souness following a trial period with the club.
However, despite playing the club's youth and reserve teams, where he scored prolifically, he was sold to neighbours Bolton Wanderers for £50,000 in 2001 following what was described as a 'serious breach of club discipline' that saw him suspended by the club.
The nature of this incident has never been officially revealed, though of course has been speculated about online.
He made his professional debut for Wanderers in an away defeat to Charlton Athletic, where Walters came on as an 85th minute sub in a 2-1 defeat.
He was loaned out to Hull City in 2003, where he made an immediate impact, scoring twice on his debut for the club against Carlisle United. He returned to Bolton at the end of this loan and was immediately sent out again to Crewe Alexandra, though he failed to make an appearance for the club due to injury. He ended the season on loan to Yorkshire side Barnsley, where he made eight appearances.
Walters left Bolton on a permanent basis for Hull City that summer, though was again loaned out, this time to Scunthorpe United, before finishing the season in Hull's first team as they won promotion to League One. He established himself in the side as they again won promotion the following season, this time to the Championship.
As Hull began life in the second tier, Walters' form dipped and he was sold to Wrexham in League Two. He scored five goals in 38 appearances in his single season at the Welsh club.
In 2006 he was on the move again, this time to near-rivals Chester. He soon found his feet and his form, hitting nine goals in 20 games, and drawing the attentions of Championship scouts.
Walters agreed terms with Ipswich on a deal worth £150,000 plus add-ons in mid-January 2007, having impressed in FA Cup ties between the clubs earlier in the month. He made his debut for Ipswich on 30 January 2007 in a 0-0 draw at Stoke City. Walters scored his first goal for Ipswich in their 2-1 over Queens Park Rangers at Portman Road on 3 March 2007.
He made himself a key member of the Ipswich squad, and in November 2007 received a call up to the Republic of Ireland B squad. Walters played 41 times for Ipsiwch scoring 13 goals in 2007-08 as the club missed put on a play-off place by just one point. His performances during the season earned him the Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards.
The 2008/09 season was Walters' last at the club, as a fall-out with former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane, now Ipswich manager, saw him leave for Premier League outfit Stoke City. He capped his last season at the Ipswich with seven goals in 41 games as the club finished in ninth position.
In August 2010 Walters joined Stoke for an initial £2.75 million and made his City debut a week later against Tottenham Hotspur. He went on to score his first Premier League goal for Stoke in October 2010 in a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers. He finished the season with 12 goals in all competitions.
He became a key component of manager Tony Pulis' side and scored twice in City's 5-0 rout over former club Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley to help Stoke into their first FA Cup Final, and played a full 90 minutes in the final against Manchester City as Stoke lost 1-0.
He ended the 2010-11 season as joint top goalscorer with Kenwyne Jones, both having scored 12 goals.
Walters would score the decisive penalty against Bolton in May 2012 in a game at the Britannia Stadium that saw his former club relegated, the bastard.
He played in every match in 2012-13 and was again the club's top-scorer with 11 goals with the final game of the season against Southampton being his 89th consecutive start. His run of 102 consecutive games ended in December 2013 after picking up an injury.
International Career
Walters qualifies to play for the Republic of Ireland national football team through his Irish-born mother and made his international debut for Republic of Ireland U-21 against Switzerland U-21 scoring twice in a 2-0 win.
He also played for the Republic of Ireland B team against Scotland B team in 2007.
He was called up in November 2010 for the friendly match against Norway and was brought on as a half-time substitute in that game to make his international debut.
Walters was given the nod ahead of Simon Cox in the crucial Play-off game against Estonia and Walters repaid by scoring his first international goal in the 4-0 victory over Estonia in Tallinn in the first leg of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs.
In March 2013, Walters scored two goals against Austria before a late strike from David Alaba give the Austrians a 2-2 draw.
Honours
Club
Blackburn Rovers
- FA Youth Cup runner-up: 2000-01
Hull City
- Football League Third Division runner-up: 2003-04
- Football League One runner-up: 2004-05
Stoke City
Individual
- Ipswich Town player of the year: 2007
- Stoke City coaching staff's player of the year: 2011
- Sir Stanley Matthews Potteries Footballer of the Year: 2012
Career Statistics
|
Club |
Season |
League |
FA Cup |
League Cup |
Europe |
Other[A] |
Total |
|||||||
|
Division |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
Apps |
Goals |
||
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
0 |
0 |
|||||
|
Total |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
0 |
0 |
|||||
|
Premier League |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
- |
- |
6 |
0 |
||||
|
Total |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
||
|
Hull City (loan) |
11 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
0 |
0 |
11 |
5 |
|||
|
Total |
11 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
5 |
||
|
Crewe Alexandra (loan) |
First Division |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
|
Total |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
|
Barnsley (loan) |
8 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
1 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|||
|
Total |
8 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
||
|
Third Division |
16 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
1 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
|||
|
21 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
- |
0 |
0 |
24 |
2 |
||||
|
Total |
37 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
41 |
3 |
||
|
Scunthorpe United (loan) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|||
|
Total |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
||
|
League Two |
38 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
- |
1 |
0 |
41 |
5 |
|||
|
Total |
38 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
41 |
5 |
||
|
League Two |
26 |
9 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
- |
1 |
0 |
33 |
10 |
|||
|
Total |
26 |
9 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
33 |
10 |
||
|
16 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
16 |
4 |
|||||
|
Championship |
40 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
- |
- |
41 |
13 |
||||
|
Championship |
36 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
- |
- |
41 |
7 |
||||
|
Championship |
43 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
- |
- |
47 |
8 |
||||
|
Championship |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
1 |
0 |
||||
|
Total |
136 |
30 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
146 |
32 |
||
|
Premier League |
36 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
- |
- |
46 |
12 |
||||
|
Premier League |
38 |
7 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
2 |
- |
54 |
11 |
|||
|
Premier League |
38 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
42 |
11 |
||||
|
Premier League |
20 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
- |
- |
24 |
2 |
||||
|
Total |
132 |
23 |
16 |
9 |
8 |
2 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
166 |
36 |
||
|
Career total |
399 |
74 |
32 |
12 |
18 |
3 |
10 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
459 |
91 |
||