Jake Walker (Irish footballer)

Walker signed for the St Patrick's Athletic Under-17 side in January 2017.[1] He played in the same Under 19s team as fellow future first team players including Brian Maher, Joe Manley, Paul Clearly and Luke McNally. In 2018, his side got to the Enda McGuill Cup final, unfortunately losing out 2–1 to Bohemians at Richmond Park on 4 September.[2]

Walker made his debut for the St Patrick's Athletic first team on 8 August 2017 when he came off the bench for Josh O'Hanlon for the last 2 minutes of a 2–1 Leinster Senior Cup win over Firhouse Clover at Richmond Park.[3][4] He did not feature in the 2018 season with forward options including Christy Fagan, Jake Keegan and Achille Campion at the dispense of manager Liam Buckley. His next involvement with the first team came on 18 February 2019 when he came off the bench for the injured Gary Shaw in a 3–0 Leinster Senior Cup win over Wexford, with Walker heading home a James Doona cross after 58 minutes to put his side 2 goals in front.[5] That performance impressed manager Harry Kenny enough to promote him from the Under-19s team to the first team squad for the season 3 days later, on 21 February.[6] His League of Ireland debut came on 5 April 2019, coming on for Gary Shaw in injury time of a 1–0 win at home to champions Dundalk.[7] His first professional contract came when he signed a 2-year contract with the club on 11 April 2019.[8] Walker made 10 more substitute appearances in a row before coming off the bench and scoring the winner against Finn Harps on 14 June with 7 minutes to go, the first league goal of his senior career.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] This performance earned Walker a place in the starting 11 as he started the next 3 games, away to UCD,[16] at home to Shamrock Rovers in the Dublin derby[17] and an important win away to Waterford.[18] His first appearance in Europe came on 11 July 2019 as he came off the bench against IFK Norrköping of Sweden, as Pats lost 2–0 at Richmond Park.[19] On 22 October 2019 Walker came off the bench away to Derry City in the 69th minute with the scores level and brilliantly set up two goals for fellow substitute James Doona to secure a 3–1 win for the Saints at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.[20] Walker scored the third goal in a 4–0 win over Athlone Town in the 2019 Leinster Senior Cup Final on 16 November 2019, claiming the first silverware of his senior career.[21]