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In February 1988 Paul Walsh joined Spurs from Liverpool for £500,000.
South London-born Walsh began his career at Charlton Athletic before
moving on to Luton Town. It was at Luton that the gifted forward won 3
England caps. Paul was awarded the 1984 PFA Young Player of the Year and
soon after moved to Anfield. Terry Venables gave Walsh his debut in
February's 1-1 home draw with Manchester United. The 25 year old scored
his first goal for the club in the following month's 2-1 home win over
Everton.
The blonde striker missed only 5 of Spurs league games
throughout 1988-89. Playing alongside Paul Stewart, Walsh scored 6
times, including both goals in a 2-1 home win against Everton. A strong
finish to the season, which enabled Spurs to finish 6th in Division 1,
augured well for the following season. The signing of Gary Lineker from
Barcelona, arguably the world's top striker, left Walsh and Stewart to
fight over who would partner the ace predator. While both forwards made
around 25 appearances throughout 1989-90, it was usually Walsh who was
used from the bench.
The highlight for Paul, in a season where Spurs
finished 3rd in the table, was opening the scoring in October's 2-1 home
win over neighbours Arsenal. 1990-91 produced the first medal of
Walsh's career at White Hart Lane, when he appeared as a substitute in
Spurs 2-1 FA Cup Final victory against Nottingham Forest. Paul's impish
style and tireless ability to run into space, then twisting and jinking
past defenders, made him a popular player with the crowd. In his last
full season at Spurs in 1991-92, Walsh played 28 league and cup games.
However, with the addition of Gordon Durie to the squad, half of these
appearances came from off the substitute's bench.
Paul was involved in
Spurs League Cup run, which ended in semi-final defeat at the hands of
Nottingham Forest. In May 1992, having scored 21 goals in 158
appearances, Walsh joined Portsmouth. The transfer deal involved Darren
Anderton joining Spurs, with Paul's part in the deal being valued at
£400,000. (Tony Smith)
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