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A costly Pompey flop has dropped into the non-league game to revitalise his career.
And Tyler Walker toasted the switch with a remarkable 30-minute cameo to inspire new club Wealdstone to fight back from 3-0 down.
Now aged 28, the once highly-regarded striker has suffered a wretched time with injury and form over the last three years.
Walker hasn’t started a Football League game since August 2023, while his sole outing for Lincoln this season had been a substitute outing off the bench in the EFL Trophy.
Now National League strugglers Wealdstone have offered the ex-Coventry man the chance of regular first-team football as they bid to avoid relegation.
And with his Imps contract expiring at the season’s end, it represents a huge opportunity to prove his worth and potentially secure his future at Sincil Bank or elsewhere.
It has been a long fall since an underwhelming Fratton Park loan spell in the second half of the 2022-23 season.
Danny Cowley, who had previously worked with the forward, signed him on loan from Coventry in January 2022, in a deal which immediately catapulted him among the Blues’ top earners.
However, despite much excitement greeting the arrival of somebody with a rich goal-scoring pedigree, having netted in the Championship, League One, League Two and as an England under-20 international, it turned out to be a desperately poor signing.
Walker would score once in 15 appearances as Pompey finished 10th in League One. Tellingly, he was an unused substitute in the final six matches of the campaign.
The last straw of his Blues stay arrived in the second half at Cheltenham in April 2022, when he ambled towards a loose ball on the edge of the opposition area and was beaten to it by a Robins player, who launched an attack.
The moment was picked up by the travelling Pompey faithful and, after being substituted 14 minutes later, the striker never featured for the club again.
Walker returned to parent club Coventry in the summer of 2022 and proceeded to score once in 19 appearances for the Sky Blues in 2022-23, before being handed a free transfer.
Taylor Walker scored once in 15 appearances during a hugely disappointing loan spell in 2021-22. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImagesTaylor Walker scored once in 15 appearances during a hugely disappointing loan spell in 2021-22. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
Taylor Walker scored once in 15 appearances during a hugely disappointing loan spell in 2021-22. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages | Jason Brown/ProSportsImages
Signing for Lincoln in July 2023 on a free transfer, he has subsequently managed just eight appearances, with a number of injuries wrecking his Sincil Bank stay.
Unbelievably bad luck over 18 months
Now he has joined Wealdstone, with Lincoln director of football Jez George telling the official website at the time: ‘Tyler has had unbelievably bad luck over the past 18 months, through no fault of his own, so this loan is to give himself an opportunity to play regular football before the expiry of his contract this summer.
‘Wealdstone have a lot of fixtures remaining so we hope that Tyler can put together an uninterrupted number of games and, if he does so, I am sure that he will score goals and help them in their fight to stay up.
‘Tyler has shown huge character and resilience throughout such a tough period, with so many setbacks, and has always remained focused and professional with his multiple rehabs. We sincerely wish him well.’
Walker was handed his Wealdstone debut at the weekend against Eastleigh, entering off the bench in the 60th minute with his new club hosts trailing 3-0.
Within nine minutes he had pulled one back, while later set-up the 87th-minute goal which would seal a remarkable comeback in a 3-3 draw.
On Tuesday night he was promoted to the starting XI and completed the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 win at Altrincham to lift them into 20th spot.
And the Stones will be banking on both parties benefiting from the loan arrangement as Walker attempts to get his career back on track.
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