Perhaps we will never know whether it was the possible departure of John
Barnes or the desire to sign a player that had helped Glasgow Rangers
maintain their prominence North of the Border which prompted Graeme
Souness to raid his former club within a few months of taking charge at
Anfield. The form Mark Walters had shown at Ibrox had recently seen him
capped by England and the kudos of playing for a club like Liverpool
seemed likely to ensure his place in Graham Taylor's plans for some time
to come. Unfortunately his talents were only put on view sporadically
for The Reds.
At his best he could prove to be one of the sharpest
attacking implements in the English game, with a range of tricks and
flicks which bought space, or positions, a team like Liverpool could
ruthlessly exploit. However, after doing the hard work a tendency to
over guild the Lilly could allow defenders vital seconds to get back to
make a possession winning challenge. A prime example of his ability when
things went well was the humiliation of four Spurs defenders in order
to set up Robbie Fowler for a stunning goal in the quarter-finals of the
1995 FA Cup. He could also score goals and prime amongst the 19 he
notched for The Reds remains the final strike in a 3-0 UEFA Cup win over
Auxerre in 1990 which saw a 2-0 deficit overturned from the 1st leg in
France.
However, it was clear that he needed the whole team to be
buzzing in order to bring out the best in himself. All too often when
the chips were down and a flair player like Walters could make a
difference he was found wanting. Sometimes woefully so and, although he
remained at Anfield until January 1996, he was barely a fringe player
for over two seasons with loans at Stoke and Wolves providing his
largest tastes of first team football. After a handful of games for
Southampton he then spent four seasons at Swindon (see photo at foot of
page) where he made 115 appearances and scored 25 goals. (Darren Williams).
|
Aston Villa: |
1981-1982 |
Played |
1 |
Scored |
0 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1982-1983 |
Played |
22 |
Scored |
1 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1983-1984 |
Played |
37 |
Scored |
8 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1984-1985 |
Played |
36 |
Scored |
10 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1985-1986 |
Played |
40 |
Scored |
10 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1986-1987 |
Played |
21 |
Scored |
3 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1987-1988 |
Played |
24 |
Scored |
7 |
goals |
(Division 2) |
|
Transferred on 31/12/11987 for £500,000 |
|
Rangers: |
1987-1988 |
Played |
18 |
Scored |
7 |
goals |
(Scottish Premier) |
|
1988-1989 |
Played |
31 |
Scored |
8 |
goals |
(Scottish Premier) |
|
1989-1990 |
Played |
27 |
Scored |
5 |
goals |
(Scottish Premier) |
|
1990-1991 |
Played |
30 |
Scored |
12 |
goals |
(Scottish Premier) |
|
Transferred on 13/8/1991 for £1.25m.
|
|
Liverpool: |
1991-1992 |
Played |
25 |
Scored |
3 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1992-1993 |
Played |
34 |
Scored |
11 |
goals |
(Premiership) |
|
1993-1994 |
Played |
17 |
Scored |
0 |
goals |
(Premiership) |
|
Stoke City: |
1993-1994 |
Played |
9 |
Scored |
2 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
(on |
loan) |
|
Liverpool: |
1994-1995 |
Played |
18 |
Scored |
0 |
goals |
(Premiership) |
|
Wolves: |
1994-1995 |
Played |
11 |
Scored |
3 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
(on |
loan) |
|
Liverpool: |
1995-1996 |
Played |
0 |
Scored |
0 |
goals |
(Premiership) |
|
Free transfer on 18/1/1996 |
|
Southampton: |
1995-1996 |
Played |
5 |
Scored |
0 |
goals |
(Premiership) |
|
Free transfer on 31/7/1996 |
|
Swindon: |
1996-1997 |
Played |
27 |
Scored |
7 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1997-1998 |
Played |
34 |
Scored |
6 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1998-1999 |
Played |
38 |
Scored |
10 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
1999-2000 |
Played |
13 |
Scored |
2 |
goals |
(Division 1) |
|
Free transfer to Bristol Rovers on 17/11/1999 |
1999–2002 Bristol Rovers 82 (13 goals)
He played a total of 600 League Games in his career and scored 128 goals.
Mark Walters is pictured above playing for Swindon Town during the match against Bury
on 31st. August 1998. Photograph George Herringshaw. ©