“Jim is maybe the best friend I ever had in football,” writes Paul McGrath, describing his honour at being asked to write the foreword for the autobiography of a man who kept him “healthy and sane” through the best years of his career.
Walker’s essential care, both physically and psychologically, for a player regarded by all as one of the greatest to ever wear a Villa shirt, would on its own be enough to earn him reverence among supporters.
Yet the tributes do not end there. Far from it. The pages of his book, Walker’s Way, are stacked full of testimonials, some from the managers he worked under including Ron Atkinson and Brian Little, yet the majority from players, many of whom saw their careers extended thanks to his medical expertise.
In the case of Dion Dublin, Walker’s knowledge and quick-thinking genuinely proved life-changing.
“If it wasn’t for Jim, I could well have spent the rest of my life in a wheelchair,” says the former striker, recalling the frightening incident when he broke his neck in a match against Sheffield Wednesday in December 1999.
Walker, realising immediately the severity of the situation, held Dublin’s head still while they awaited the stretcher. Having then travelled with the player to hospital, he then sat in on the surgery to repair damaged vertebrae, eventually arriving home at 3am.
“That was typical of his care and attention,” says Dublin, who was remarkably back playing within four months.
Jim Walker (left) with Ron Atkinson and Villa assistant boss Jim Barron.
Examples of Walker’s willingness to go above and beyond are countless, so it should perhaps come as no surprise the book has been written with the primary aim of helping others.
All profits from sales will be donated to dementia charities. Walker’s extensive research into a condition which impacts so many of his former colleagues and friends earned him a Master of Philosophy from the University of Leicester.
“I’d been asked quite a few times to write a book but I’d always said no, I’d never really had the motivation,” he says. “But then I’ve done so much work researching dementia I guess the penny dropped and I thought if I do this, maybe I can help someone?”
Walker certainly has quite the story to tell. While it is the 17 years he spent at Villa, a key part of the club’s fabric in an era which included two League Cup wins and two runners-up finishes, which obviously draws most of the most focus, it wasn’t only footballers who received his care.
Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne and Elton John were among the big-name music stars Walker treated as part of a regular link-up with the NEC. Walker recalls the shock on the faces of Villa’s players when Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall walked into the dressing room to thank him ahead of a match at Manchester United.
A forward with his hometown club, Northwich Victoria, Walker signed his first professional contract with Derby County in 1968 at the age of 20.