Michael Anthony Walsh (born 13 August 1954) is a former 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 works as a football agent. A striker, he spent his club career in England and Portugal. Born in England, he played for the Republic of Ireland national team at international level.

Club career

Walsh began his professional career at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in 1973, making his debut in a goalless draw at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 12 September. He went on to score 72 league goals for the Seasiders in 180 games during his five years at the club. His strike in a 3–2 win against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

at Bloomfield Road on 1 February 1975 earned him the " Goal of the Season" award on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

''. He signed for Everton in August 1978 for a fee of £375,000, a record fee for Blackpool at the time. Walsh scored in both legs against Finn Harps in the 1978–79 UEFA Cup. He was swapped For Queens Park Rangers striker Peter Eastoe in March 1979 and spent 18 months at QPR - who had a young Allen and Goddard to keep him out. Then he was sold to

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

where he spent six years playing and appeared in their 2–1 defeat by Juventus in the 1984 European Cup Winners' Cup final, having scored at

FC Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

in the quarter-final.

International career

Walsh qualified for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

through his

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

-born father. He scored the only goal of the game as Ireland defeated the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in a World Cup qualifier in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in September 1984.

Legacy

Walsh was inducted into the

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player Jimmy Armfield in April 2006. Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Walsh is in the 1970s.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Walsh goal.''

Honours

Porto *

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 1983–84 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

: 1981, 1983, 1984 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

runner-up: 1983–84

References

External links

Independent site profileWalsh in the Blackpool Supporters Association Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Mickey 1954 births Living people Footballers from Chorley Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Chorley F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Everton F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players FC Porto players S.C. Espinho players S.C. Salgueiros players Primeira Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Irish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Cape Town City F.C. (1960) players Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Irish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Men's association football forwards National Football League (South Africa) players English Football League players 20th-century Irish sportsmen