This week’s devastating earthquake in New Zealand’s Christchurch has saddened in-form Dumbarton striker Patrick Walker, who visited the city during a nine month tour of the world when he took a break from football two years ago.
Walker said: “That tour was the best time of my life and was great for my teaching career away from football but it has been awful to watch the TV this week.
“I visited many of the buildings that have now been damaged and it is really upsetting to see it.”
The front man added: “As a student of geography, I wanted to go and see the things I had studied so I said goodbye to Albion Rovers and set off.
“I spent three months in South America, a month in New Zealand, four months in Australia and the last month in China.
“I have seen a lot of what I now teach about but I did not want to be teaching about natural disasters in a place I knew well.”
On the pitch, Walker, who started the season at Annan, appears to have put an end to his wandering days, saying: “I am signed with Dumbarton until the end of the season and I am really enjoying it.
“I have scored six times for them and my travelling days are over. I am still forking out for that trip so hopefully, I will be here for a wee while longer.”
‘Patch’ as he is affectionately known throughout football, was a late entrant to the senior game and came through the Juniors after only starting playing in his late teens.
He said: “I started at Lugar Boswell Thistle as an 18-year-old and that was my first taste of organised football. I may have been late to the game but it set me up for the future as I was up against some experienced Junior defenders and I had to learn fast.
“I was there for three seasons and one of the years we did really well reaching the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Junior Cup but we were beaten by Linlithgow Rose.
“That run probably got me spotted and I was asked in to do a pre-season training programme with Berwick Rangers.”
A move to Shielfield never happened with Walker advising: “John Coughlin was the Manager there at the time and he decided that he wanted a more experienced striker than me.
“Quite quickly, Jim Chapman stepped in and took me to Albion Rovers in the summer of 2006 and that was me involved in the senior game for the first time.”
Walker soon repaid Chapman’s faith by scoring his first senior goal in a 3-2 win at Arbroath with the front man saying: “I came on as a substitute (ironically for Martin McBride) and scored the winner and that was me off and running.”
Chapman left Coatbridge at the end of the season with John McCormack taking over with Walker a fixture in the Rovers side for those first two seasons scoring 16 times.
A third season at Coatbridge under Paul Martin’s guidance started brightly with Walker scoring six times in the opening eight games however, he never scored again, in fact he never played again that season.
Walker explained: “I was playing really well but I had made my mind up six months earlier that I was going to go off and tour the world.
“I had studied and qualified to be a teacher and had carried out my year of probation work. I had spoken to colleagues who said that there would be no permanent job for at least 12 months so I thought why not?”
Walker reckons that as well as bringing geography to life during his tour, he also created history as he explained: “I kept my eye on Rovers’ results when I could and I must be the first person to walk into a bar in Brazil and ask, ‘How did Albion Rovers get on?’
“I stayed with some of my family in Australia and converted them to supporting Albion Rovers as well.”
The delights of modern technology allowed Manager Martin to keep in touch with his striker and he was determined to have Walker return to the club when he arrived home in the summer of 2009.
Walker said: “I kept in touch with Paul and he was keen that I came back and took off where I left, which was not too bad a place as those six goals had come in my last four games before I set off.
“I worked in Sydney for a couple of months in a gym and that kept me in shape but I could not play any level of football out there. I arrived in January and it was just too warm.”
The striker donned Rovers colours again as they started season 2009/10 in fine style with back to back cup victories over Ayr United and Livingston however, their League campaign ended in frustration.
Walker explained: “We were quite unlucky last season and lost out on a Play-Off place on the last day of the League season. We were basically a goal short as Stranraer held us to a goalless draw at our place as Queen’s Park picked up a point at Forfar.”
With Walker’s love of travelling, it was no surprise he decided to move on from Cliftonhill in the summer as he explained: “I wanted a fresh challenge and took the opportunity to sign for Annan but to be honest, my career there never got off the ground.
“I was now working permanently at a school near Loch Lomond at Alexandria and getting to Galabank for training proved to be difficult. The traffic was horrendous and not being able to attend training meant I could not be considered for the team.
“I started one game and made six substitute appearances but never scored for them and eventually, I could not even get on the substitutes bench. I spoke to the Manager Harry Cairney and asked to be released and I cannot praise Harry enough for the help he gave me.”
Walker continued: “Harry did not want me to leave but I wanted to get back playing again. Harry contacted a lot of people in the game to let them know I was available and from all that, Dumbarton got in touch.”
There was a familiar face waiting for Walker at the Stratchclyde Homes Stadium in November as he explained: “Alan Adamson got in touch from the Sons and he had been Jim Chapman’s assistant at Albion Rovers so he knew all about me.
“He invited me to come in for training and the travelling had gone from one extreme to another as Dumbarton is really close to where I teach.”
The Sons were rooted to the foot of the Second Division and Walker was asked to take part against Ayr United as a trialist. He scored in his first appearance in a 3-2 win that not only boosted the club’s spirits but also boosted Walker’s.
The striker said: “Scoring against Ayr United was a weight off my mind and winning was a big thing for Dumbarton at the time as well.”
Scottish Cup Rules stopped Walker playing against Morton the following Saturday and his three game trial period turned into one of the longest arrangements in football as the wintry weather set in and the forward never completed a trio of games until mid-January.
Defeats to Ayr United and Stenhousemuir followed the Ayr success however, Walker had done enough to be signed and he repaid that faith by scoring in the Sons next game when they walloped promotion chasing Alloa Athletic 4-1.
He said: “We gave Alloa a bit of a going over that night and it was definitely the best I had seen from the guys. To beat one of the leading teams gave everyone a boost that we could get off the bottom.”
That confidence was shaken as Forfar and then Brechin came to ‘The Rock’ and won however, Walker and his team-mates have not tasted defeat since and have clocked up five wins and a draw to move from bottom spot to a season high sixth place.
Walker added: “Alan Adamson told us to believe in ourselves and remember what we had done to Alloa.
“We went to Airdrie in a midweek game and played even better and whilst the scoreline was 2-1, we could have won by more. We knocked the ball about really well and, although they got a penalty back and had a few chances before the end, we deserved that win.
“That gave us confidence and we went to Alloa and beat them again. Airdrie scored in injury time to get a draw against us but we have since beaten East Fife and Peterhead twice.”
Walker has now scored six times for his new side, including a bit of a special one against East Fife that is featured in the sfl.tv midweek special catch up programme entitled ‘Week Twenty – Part Two’, and like his team-mates, is enjoying his football.
“The spirit was good when I started but you can really sense that everyone is looking forward to games now,” said Walker before adding: “And we have pulled together well to move us to our highest position in the League table.”
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