Jonathan Walters

Jonathan Ronald Walters (born 20 September 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Walters started his career at Blackburn Rovers but failed to break into the first team and joined Bolton Wanderers. He then went out on loan to Hull City, Crewe Alexandra and Barnsley before joining Hull permanently. He then went on to play for Wrexham and Chester City before finally finding regular football at Championship side Ipswich Town. Walters spent three years at Portman Road before joining Stoke City for £2.75 million in August 2010. He helped Stoke reach the 2011 FA Cup Final after scoring twice in the semi-final against Bolton Wanderers as Stoke won 5–0. Walters played 54 matches during the 2011–12 season and then played in UEFA Euro 2012 with the Republic of Ireland. Walters remained a regular at Stoke under Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes, scoring 62 goals in 271 appearances before joining Burnley in July 2017.

Walters scored five times for the Republic of Ireland in 2015 during their successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and was acknowledged with that year's FAI Senior International Player of the Year award.

Club Career

Blackburn Rovers

Walters was born in Moreton, Merseyside and started his career at Blackburn Rovers having been spotted by playing for Shaftesbury under 16s in the Eastham & District Junior League by Rovers' scout for Wirral and Wales, Mike O'Brien who moved quickly to sign him.

He played for Blackburn's youth and reserve teams where he scored prolifically, helping the club reach the FA Youth Cup final in 2001, losing 6–3 on aggregate to Arsenal. However his promising career with Rovers was ended due to a 'serious breach of club discipline' which was described as 'totally out of character' and saw him suspended by the club.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Джонатан Уолтерс (russian)