Michael Walker

Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Freelance Football Reporter at The Athletic

Freelance Football Reporter at Irish Times

Freelance football reporter @TheAthleticFC & @IrishTimesSport NUJ

Articles

Michael Walker: Ange Postecoglou is one win from a trophy, but it doesn’t paper over Spurs’ troubling season

5 days ago | irishtimes.com | Michael Walker

Ange Postecoglou looked very happy; Ange Postecoglou didn’t look very happy. Ange Postecoglou sounded satisfied; Ange Postecoglou sounded peeved. Thursday night in the Arctic Circle and Tottenham Hotspur had just reached the Europa League final in faraway Bilbao against Manchester United. The significance of the achievement will multiply by millions – literally – should Spurs win in the Basque country.
Half a century on a peculiar grudge lingers

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Michael Walker

Last Saturday, shortly before the 12.30pm kick-offs in the Championship, the discussion at Sunderland's Stadium of Light concerned Middlesbrough's chances of winning at Coventry City, as they needed to if they were to reach the play-offs. The pros, and mainly cons, of Middlesbrough's hopes were debated. Then someone said: "I suppose it depends on what time Coventry kick off."And immediately, it was not May 2025; it was May 1977.
'With patience, we can do something here at Sunderland'

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Michael Walker

The teenager pauses and considers his answer to the final question. We are in the sunlit foyer of Sunderland's training ground and Eliezer Mayenda is being quizzed on the end of a personal era. At 19, he has lived in three countries, played in four leagues and can speak five languages, three of them fluently. But he is a teenager no more. On May 8, Mayenda turns 20. He has just been asked for his ideal birthday present.
Jack Wilshere has waited patiently for his managerial chance. Now he has the taste for it

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Michael Walker

Jack Wilshere was smiling, shaking hands and slapping backs. There were a few hugs. The final whistle had just blown on Middlesbrough versus Norwich City and rarely has a 0-0 result been met with such pleasure. Norwich are 14th in the Championship - nowhere-land - but a point had been won and another had been made. On his first afternoon as the interim head coach, Wilshere had stopped Norwich losing.
Michael Walker: Arne Slot’s succession story makes compelling viewing - and riveting football

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Michael Walker

It was May 19th last year, the final afternoon of the Premier League season, and, at the merchandise stalls on Walton Breck Road outside Anfield, they were selling scarves to capture the mood of the moment. They were red, naturally, and sported a declaration of gratitude and much else: “Thanks Jürgen, lad!” There was a profile of Jürgen Klopp at one end of each scarf and an image of him fist-punching the supporters at the other. And, indeed, it caught the mood.
Derby County, the Premier League title race and the death of variety

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Michael Walker

On the night of April 23, 1975, the players of Derby County gathered at a popular local disco on Colyear Street in the town centre called Baileys. They were there for Derby's Player of the Season award. It was a black tie affair and a serious moment of recognition. But Derby's players were also ready to dance. Their 42-game league season had just one fixture left. They had done their bit. When news from elsewhere landed, dance is just what they did.
What next for Kieran McKenna?

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Michael Walker

Declan Rice looked over his shoulder; he was wondering what the noise was. It was about a minute after the final whistle, players were milling in the middle of the pitch, Kieran McKenna and Mikel Arteta had been to the officials to shake hands. From there, McKenna moved to the stand named after Sir Bobby Robson and began to salute the many fans still in the stadium.
Forty years of dominance and a 55th title on ice, but Scottish football is more than just Rangers and Celtic

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Michael Walker

Glasgow, Scotland: they had the green ribbons out and were about to attach them to the Scottish Premiership trophy early on Sunday afternoon. Celtic were 16 points clear of Rangers who, down to 10 men, were trailing 2-1 at Aberdeen with seven minutes of added time and five games of the season remaining. Aberdeen had just had an 88th-minute goal disallowed. Now, in the seventh of those seven minutes added, Rangers came again. They hit the post. There were gasps across Scotland.
Michael Walker: Carlo Ancelotti’s time at Real Madrid looks up unless he can add to trophy hangar

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Michael Walker

It may no longer be there since the stadium revamp but at Estadio Bernabeu there used to be a sign greeting punters as they readied to enter the room where Real Madrid stored its treasures. “Trophies tell the whole story,” it began. “Each trophy won closes a period of time in which Real Madrid was better than its rivals. The end result is the sum of these trophies.”It was a deceptively modest declaration of superiority, and not wholly in keeping with the surrounds.
Brighton confirm signing of Sunderland's Tommy Watson

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Michael Walker |Andy Naylor

Sunderland have agreed a fee with Brighton for their 18-year-old winger Tommy Watson. The fee is not being made public but sources with knowledge of the deal have told The Athletic it is in the region of £10million ($12m). Watson, who turns 19 next week, has signed a contract with Brighton until June 2029. He had one year left on his deal at Sunderland. Brighton appeared to have clinched Watson's signature in January, but a deal fell through.