Anton Ferdinand celebrates Jimmy Walker’s return to West Ham
Former West Ham centre-back Anton Ferdinand was one of many well wishers to welcome ex-Hammers keeper Jimmy Walker back to the club online.
The long-time Walsall keeper spent five years at the club which included helping the Irons back to the Premier League in 2005, and, as confirmed yesterday [16 February] has returned as a goalkeeping consultant for the under 18s team until the end of the season.
Ferdinand and Walker both played in the Championship Playoff Final against Preston North End that saw the club return to the top flight, but also featured a serious injury to the man in goal which kept him out for the majority of the following season.
Writing on his personal Twitter account, quoting the club’s official announcement of the return, the former defender wrote: “Congratulations wacka love to see it!” along with heart and Hammers emojis.
Responding on his own account the new consultant said: “Thanks geeeza.. needs a good catch up soon brother”.
Fond memories
This is the kind of move that fans of the club always enjoy as it is reassuring to think of old faces still having a connection to the club as they do.
It is also the kind of interaction that fans like to see to bring back memories of the bond when it was in action on the pitch.
Despite only making a hand full of first team appearances for the then-Upton Park-based Irons Walker was a popular figure.
This was in no small part due to the fact that he saved a Frank Lampard penalty at Stamford Bridge, with the ex-Hammer turned Chelsea legend ranking pretty high on the list of public enemies for West Ham fans to this day.
Despite the knee injury and a loan spell at Colchester United, Walker did play in the Premier League for the Hammers.
He then moved on to London rivals Tottenham for a short time to feature as their third-choice goalkeeper before a return to Walsall where he eventually racked up a total of over 500 appearances across the two stays.
Getting back involved with the club this far down the line is a popular development and many fans would likely wish to see it continue past the end of the season.
In other West Ham news, a recently departed Hammer has raved about how “insanely nice and good” one man at the London Stadium is.