58: Gary Walsh, Bradford City, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 2000, Millennium Edition Sticker Collection

The last time the World Cup was hosted in the United States the players had more to battle than their opponents and a nation with little love for the sport they call soccer. Temperatures soared during June and July, touching forty degrees for some games, which might provide some explanation for the likes of Roberto Baggio, Dan Petrescu and Diana Ross fluffing their lines from the penalty spot. For the Republic of Ireland team the heat even hit on the sidelines with John Aldridge famously getting hot and bothered and Steve Staunton donning a baseball cap to stave off the sun during the national anthems. No doubt this summer’s edition will see similar headwear on show owing to the winning combination of sweltering heat and the host’s penchant for using his own to remind him of what nonsense he’s going to spout.

While baseball caps have become en vogue for everyone from roadmen to East London parents they have been an increasingly rare sight on the football pitch. In the early days, when the likes of the Old Etonians and Old Carthusians fought for FA Cup glory, a school cap was as essential to players as their boots. Over time they became less prominent but several goalkeepers still donned some sort of headwear with Lev Yashin regularly seen in a trademark flat cap and eyebrow Vaseline enthusiast Jim Leighton even donning a golf visor in the 1986 World Cup. Into the 1990s and 2000s a small group of goalkeepers turned to their baseball caps to shield their eyes from the sun and ensure they could claim crosses or punch them clear depending on their level of commitment to the cameras. Bruce Grobbelaar clearly took to his after positive feedback on the Anfield Rap while Chris Kirkland and Dean Henderson have worn them on the big stage. Very few have been captured in the sticker books which is why Gary Walsh leapt off the page when I was looking for some more football nostalgia to write about.

It perhaps suggested little expectation from the people at Merlin when Walsh was picked out as Bradford City’s ‘key player’ in this particular album. The Bantams had secured promotion with a final day victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers to pip Ipswich Town to the top flight having only worked their way into the picture around halfway through the season. While big money forwards Lee Mills, Isaiah Rankin and Dean Windass grabbed the headlines there was quality across the park and the permanent addition of Lee Sharpe following a successful loan hinted at the club’s ambition. Walsh was also joined at Valley Parade by Gunnar Halle, Neil Redfearn and Matt Clarke who took his first team spot when he sustained an injury a few months into the season. Despite spending the majority of the campaign in the relegation spots three wins in their final four games, culminating in a famous last day win against Liverpool, secured a second season of Premier League football for the Bantams. More big names arrived in Yorkshire, including Benito Carbone and Stan Collymore, but there was to be no repeat of the previous season’s heroics and Bradford finished rock bottom of the table. It says a lot that Walsh, regularly rotating with Clarke in goal, was named the club’s Player’s Player of the Season for his performances.

Walsh’s tussle for the no.1 jersey with Matt Clarke was nothing new for a goalkeeper who started his career at Manchester United and, despite early promise, endured significant injuries. He was on the bench as Alex Ferguson’s side enjoyed success in the Cup Winners’ Cup, FA Cup and Charity Shield but never made enough appearances to be recognised for the club’s early Premier League successes. Peter Schmeichel’s injuries in the 1994/95 campaign opened the door for Walsh only for the Red Devils to be beaten to the league title by Blackburn Rovers. He sought more first team action at newly promoted Middlesbrough in 1995 and helped his new club to a solid mid-table finish as well as conceding three goals to his former side on the last day when they needed to “go to Middlesbrough and get something”. He found himself in and out of the side the following year as Boro signed Fabrizio Ravanelli, reached both domestic cup finals and got relegated. He moved on to Bradford for the 1997/98 season and remained with the Bantams following their Premier League relegation before moving to Wigan Athletic in 2003. After calling time on his playing career in 2006 he moved seamlessly into coaching and has worked with several clubs alongside a range of former playing colleagues such as Nick Barmby and Steve Bruce.

The last few weeks, both at the World Cup and closer to home, have given us all an insight into the global climate crisis and what a future World Cup on the surface of Mercury might feel like. Back in 2003 The Libertines’ Pete Doherty mused that “there's fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap” in the song ‘Time For Heroes’. While these pithy lyrics perhaps explained the plethora of undersized trilbies atop the heads of the UK’s indie kids at the start of the century it’s unlikely that they forced the goalkeepers of the Football League to ditch their headwear. Apparently lots of them have snazzy shaded contact lenses these days which makes it even more of a rarity to see a baseball cap in use between the sticks. Maybe there’s another Gary Walsh waiting in the wings to bring them roaring back as the must have accessory for the keepers of tomorrow.