Anton Charles Walkes (8 February 1997 – 19 January 2023) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Walkes began his club career with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, making one appearance for the club in the League Cup. In 2017, he was loaned to

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

until the end of the 2017 season. Walkes was then loaned out to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, playing the remainder of the 2017–18 season before being signed by Portsmouth permanently in July 2018. He spent two further seasons with Portsmouth, winning the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, before returning to Atlanta United in January 2020. He was signed by

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

in 2022, where he remained until his death a year later due to a boat crash in Miami, Florida.

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Walkes began his career with

, joining the club in July 2013. He made his first team debut on 21 September 2016 in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

against Gillingham, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute in a 5–0 victory. Walkes appeared three times as captain in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

, including twice against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. The following year, on 27 September 2017, he signed a two-year contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2019. After his loan spell at Atlanta United, Walkes returned briefly to the reserve side before being loaned out again.

Atlanta United (loan)

On 26 January 2017, Walkes joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

ahead of the club's

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season. Walkes made his Atlanta United debut, in the opening game of the season, coming on as a late substitute but scored an own goal shortly after, in a 2–1 loss against

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

. Despite his own injury concerns and initially starting out on the substitute bench, Walkes quickly regained his first team place for the side, establishing himself in the right-back position. He then scored his first goal for the club on 5 July 2017, in a 4–2 win over

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. On 1 August 2017, his loan spell with Atlanta United was extended until the end of the season. He continued to regain his place for the rest of the season. Walkes then scored his second goal for the club on 14 September 2017, in a 7–0 win over

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

. At the end of the 2017 season, Walkes went on to make 20 appearances and scoring 2 times in all competitions and returned to his parent club. Reflecting on his time at Atlanta United, he said his loan spell there helped push on for first team football.

Portsmouth

Walkes signed on loan for

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

on 29 January 2018. He scored on his debut, in a 2–2 draw against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 3 February. Since making his debut for the club, he established himself in the starting eleven at a right-back position. This lasted until early April when he suffered a hamstring injury that made him miss the rest of the season. He made 12 appearances in his loan and scored once, then returned to his parent club. On 18 July 2018, Portsmouth announced they had signed Walkes on a two-year deal with an option on a third year for an undisclosed fee. He was part of the side that won the

2019 EFL Trophy Final The 2019 EFL Trophy Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 31 March 2019. It decided the winners of the 2018–19 EFL Trophy, the 35th edition of the competition, a knock-out tournament for the 48 teams in League One and Lea ...

on 31 March, replacing Ben Close for the final seven minutes before a penalty shootout win over

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Atlanta United

On 9 January 2020, Walkes returned to

club

, three seasons following his loan with the club. He made his club debut on 18 February in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

against

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, starting in the 1–1 draw.

Charlotte FC

On 14 December 2021, Walkes was selected by

in the 2021 MLS Expansion Draft. He made 23 appearances for the club, starting in 21 matches during the club's inaugural season.

Personal life and death

Born in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, Walkes was of Bajan descent on his father's side, and Welsh descent on his mother's side. He and his partner, Alexis, had a daughter named Ayla. In November 2018, Walkes pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, being fined and receiving a sentence of 120 hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

. On 18 January 2023, Walkes was in Miami, Florida where Charlotte FC was holding a twelve-day training camp. At around 3 p.m. Eastern Time, he was injured in a two-boat collision near

Miami Marine Stadium The Miami Marine Stadium is a marine stadium on Virginia Key, Miami, Florida, United States. The facility, completed in 1963 on land donated to the City of Miami from the Matheson family, is the first stadium purpose-built for powerboat raci ...

. He was taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries the following morning, at the age of 25.

Career statistics

Honours

Portsmouth *

: 2018–19

References

External links

Profile
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walkes, Anton 1997 births 2023 deaths Boating accident deaths English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham Men's association football fullbacks English Football League players Major League Soccer players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Atlanta United FC players Portsmouth F.C. players Charlotte FC players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Accidental deaths in Florida 21st-century English sportsmen