Bradford City keeper Sam Walker on Chelsea, family, mentoring and the best time of his career - ahead of Colchester United return

The goalkeeper’s circuitous career route in football took him to Bradford City at the start of 2024 on an 18-month year deal and it’s been a year to savour.

Having returned to the south in the summer of 2023 after two seasons north of the border at Kilmarnock - both for football and family reasons - the 33-year-old had a short term spell at Charlton before all roads led to Valley Parade.

Taking over from a big character in Harry Lewis, Walker - who started his career at Chelsea and spent time training there while he was between clubs - has proved a reliable presence in goal, just as he was in five-and-a-half seasons at Colchester United.

He returns to familiar terrain in north Essex on Saturday, having firmly established himself as City's number one.

Ironically, the U's home was where he made his Bantams debut on January 13. He has been an ever-present at league level since.

Walker said: "When this came up in January, I’ve not looked back since. I’ve loved it and long may it continue.

"At the time, there was obviously a big emotion linked to the changeover with Harry (Lewis) moving and there was a lot of sentiment there.

"I took it upon myself to come in and be my own man and show what I’m about.

"I’m probably enjoying my football up here more than I have in my whole career.”

On his path to Bradford after leaving Killie, he continued: "I came off the back of a good season in Scotland with Kilmarnock.

"My family moved back from Scotland before I did. It was important for me to come home.

"Then there was a period of time last summer when my daughter needed some attention with her health. It was important for me to come away from it completely and be there for her and for our family. She’s well now and everything’s great.

"It forced me to have a reset and go back into it in the August when I did some work with Chelsea and kept myself sharp and ticking over.

"That was when the Charlton thing came about. I always backed my ability at this level and the one above. That’s where I’ve operated most of my career and played a lot of games.

"I still feel fit don’t feel old by any means for a goalkeeper.

"I’ve got a constant, daily inspiration with big Doyler (Colin Doyle) still churning out training every day.. He’s doing that at 39, so I’ve got no excuse to start moaning about things like that."

Walker’s connections at Chelsea may have proved invaluable in terms of ticking himself over when looking for a new club, but it was very much a two-way street.

The Kent-born custodian, who is big on the importance of the mental side of the game, helped mentor some young keepers in his time back at the Blues’ Cobham training ground.

Walker continued: "I’ve still got a lot of contacts with the staff there.

"With the club and academy, they’re very good at what they do, so the staff retention is very high.

"A lot of the guys were still there. Neil Bath, the academy manager, was still there although I think he’s just left very recently and Jim Fraser.

"A lot of the goalkeeping coaches were very similar as well.

"It was me thinking, ‘do I want to go and train at a pro club or do I want to keep myself sharp at Chelsea and reconnect with guys I’ve not seen for a long time’.

"We did a few different presentations with the goalkeepers on my career and the experiences that I’ve had. Working with those young guys was good for me and them.

"These young goalkeepers now are so technically advanced from what I remember being as a 17 or 18-year-old. Some of the things they can do are fantastic. It’s just about getting that experience of games into them.

"A big part is the mentality side and dealing with the pressure of the role, mistakes and dips in form. It is a vulnerable position and can be quite isolating at times.

"It was good for me to go in there and see what they’re about but also for them to pick my brains."

City manager Graham Alexander has confirmed that some key players could take significant steps in their road back to the first-team squad in the next 10 days – but has also provided a note of caution.

Influential midfielders Antoni Sarcevic and Alex Pattison and defender Aden Baldwin having been sidelined since late August.

Alexander said: "Those three are the main ones who are the next introductions back into training.

“They are on the training pitch, but with the medical team and we're looking at the next ten days to hopefully introduce a couple of them.

"We are not pre-empting anything because we have had a couple of setbacks with a couple of them already.”