Having been consistently reliable with his club in the League, Walker made his England debut in June 1989 when he came on for Arsenal's Tony Adams.

Soon Bobby Robson had Walker starting for the Three Lions as the Walker-Butcher pairing became his first-choice central defensive partnership.

At the World Cup in Italy in 1990, Walker was an ever present in all seven of England's games as we finished in fourth place.

Walker's form in Italy prompted some interest in the 24-year-old, but that summer he returned to Nottingham to try to push Forest on to greater things.

In the 1991 FA Cup Final came one of the moments of Walker's career that he will never be allowed to forget. Tied at 1-1 at Wembley against Tottenham Hotspur, Walker scored an unfortunate own goal to hand The Cup to the London side.

The goal was somewhat ironic as Walker, a Tottenham fan as a boy, had said that he had 'always dreamt of scoring in the Cup Final for Spurs'.

In the 1991/92 season, Walker scored what is his only League goal to date. It came against Luton Town at home on New Years' Day 1992 - a glorious right-footed strike into the top of the goal after a mazey run into the Hatters' box.

After one further season at the City Ground, Walker went with Graham Taylor's England to the Euro 92 championships in Sweden. Having been unbeaten in qualifying, Taylor was justifiably confident that his squad could do well.

However things did not go according to plan as England drew 0-0 with both Denmark and France before losing 2-1 to the hosts.

Despite his side failing to get through to the knockout stages, Walker was snapped up by Sampdoria, then under the management of Sven-Goran Eriksson, in August 1992 for a fee of £1.5 million.

Walker played just one season at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, making thirty League appearances in a side that featured Pietro Vierchowod, Vladimir Jugovic, Attilio Lombardo, Enrico Chiesa and Roberto Mancini.

Having won lo scudetto in 1990/91, Samp were looking to improve on their sixth place finish from the previous season. Though the team played well under Eriksson, the eventual seventh place finish was one of disappoinment for the Genoese club.

In truth, though he was highly regarded, Walker never really settled in Liguria and made his way back to England in July 1993 when Sheffield Wednesday paid out £2.7 million for his services.

In eight seasons at Hillsborough, Walker made over 300 League appearances for the Owls, playing under eight different managers.

Last summer, aged 36, Walker made the move back to Forest and helped them reach the playoffs where they were beaten by Sheffield United.

Des Walker Factfile

Nationality: English 
Date of Birth: 26 November 1965 
Place of Birth: Hackney, London 
Height: 5' 11''
Weight: 11 09 
Clubs: Nottingham Forest, Sampdoria, Sheffield Wednesday
Position: Defender

Year

Club

Apps.

Goals

1983/84

Nottingham Forest

4

0

1984/85

Nottingham Forest

3

0

1985/86

Nottingham Forest

39

0

1986/87

Nottingham Forest

41

0

1987/88

Nottingham Forest

35

0

1988/89

Nottingham Forest

34

0

1989/90

Nottingham Forest

38

0

1990/91

Nottingham Forest

37

0

1991/92

Nottingham Forest

33

1

1992/93

Sampdoria

30

0

1993/94

Sheffield Wed

42

0

1994/95

Sheffield Wed

38

0

1995/96

Sheffield Wed

36

0

1996/97

Sheffield Wed

36

0

1997/98

Sheffield Wed

38

0

1998/99

Sheffield Wed

37

0

1999/00

Sheffield Wed

37

0

2000/01

Sheffield Wed

43

0

2001/02

Burton Albion

n/a

n/a

2002/03

Nottingham Forest

31

0

2003/04

Nottingham Forest

25

0


Des Walker's England career

1988/89: Denmark (sub), Sweden (sub), Greece, Albania (2), Chile, Scotland, Poland, Denmark
1989/90: Sweden, Poland, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Uruguay, Tunisia, Rep of Ireland, Holland, Egypt, Belgium, Cameroon, West Germany, Italy
1990/91: Hungary, Poland, Rep of Ireland (2), Cameroon, Turkey, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand (2), Malaysia
1991/92: Turkey, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, CIS, Hungary, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, France, Sweden
1992/93: Spain, Norway, Turkey, San Marino, Turkey, Holland, Poland, Norway, USA (sub), Brazil, Germany
1993/94: San Marino
Total: 59 caps, 0 goals

Honours

1989 League Cup (Nottm Forest)
1990 League Cup (Nottm Forest)
1990 World Cup 4th Place (England)
1991 FA Cup Runner-Up (Nottm Forest)
1992 League Cup Runner-Up (Nottm Forest)