A look at Jack Walton`s time at Barnsley

Jack Walton looks set to join Luton Town in the next day or so, bringing an end to a ten-year stay in South Yorkshire! Jack Hall looks back at Walton`s career.

Where it all began

The Bury-born goalkeeper joined the academy system in 2013, after spending time with Bury and Bolton in his adolescence. He signed a professional contract with the Tykes in 2015, and started his career firmly as a third-choice goalkeeper (behind Adam Davies and Nick Townsend). He had to wait three years before he could make his professional debut. Jose Morais moved away from Adam Davies as Barnsley’s first choice, and backup Nick Townsend didn’t look the part either. Relegation threatened, and heavily under pressure, Morais threw young Walton into the starting line-up, rather unexpectedly, against Nottingham Forest. Despite a 3-0 loss for the doomed Tykes, Walton could take pride from his performance, and was notably the only player who was clapped by the travelling Reds at full-time. He finished the season as Barnsley’s number one, and despite doing his utmost to keep the goals out, he couldn’t prevent the Tykes from relegation on the final day of the 2017/2018 season.

Stendel Arrives

So, a division below, and a new manager in Daniel Stendel. It seemed the perfect opportunity for Walton to nail down his spot and firmly become Barnsley’s number one goalkeeper, whilst also in a team that would be at the top end of the table. Sadly, that wouldn’t be the case. Poor form in pre-season, and the revival of Adam Davies’ form would see Walton as the backup goalkeeper for the Reds’ promotion push.

Davies would often be called up to the Welsh national team during this period, and with League One not being paused during international breaks, Walton would often step in when needed. He didn’t make many errors, always showed an unmatched hunger to win, and looked comfortable with his feet as the Tykes eased their way to promotion back to the Championship.

The summer of 2019 was big for Walton, as Adam Davies left the club on a free to Stoke City. Despite this, Daniel Stendel brought in two goalkeepers during the transfer window (Brad Collins and Sami Radlinger). It was a baffling situation, given that Walton had always looked good enough. The Tykes started the season with Radlinger as first choice, and Walton third choice. Loss after loss would lead to Daniel Stendel’s departure, and new coach Gerhard Struber seemed to alternate between Radlinger and Collins. This wouldn’t stop the onslaught of goals that we were conceding, and Barnsley went into the COVID break with little-to-no hope of staying up.

Great escape under Struber

Football returned in June, and (once again) out of nowhere, Walton made his first appearance of the season against QPR. 4 wins and 3 draws (including 5 clean sheets) from 9 games would see the Tykes stay up on the final day, and Walton was instrumental in our dramatic escape from the grasp of relegation. Most notably, Walton would tip a Saïd Benrahma shot onto the post, which would then give Callum Styles and Clarke Oduor the opportunity to make themselves Barnsley heroes. Sami Radlinger departed Oakwell that summer, and Gerhard Struber seemed happy with his goalkeeping department. A new breed of a young, positive and hard-working Barnsley youngsters, who were defined by Struber as ‘his boys’ looked to take the Championship by storm in 2020/21. However, Struber's boys didn’t start the season positively, and the Austrian coach packed his bags for New York in early October.

3 games from the Premier League

Walton wasn’t at fault for the poor form, and when (another) new gaffer in Valérien Ismaël joined the club, the form did take a turn for the better. This was at the expense of Walton however, with Ismaël opting for Brad Collins, who was more aggressive in his rushing. As we all know, Ismaël and his Barnsley side were just three games from the Premier League, but were left empty handed by Swansea City. So, another season began with Walton as second choice. Markus Schopp took charge of an exciting Barnsley side, and despite the wheels completely falling off, Brad Collins was one of few bright sparks, and he kept his place for the entire season as Barnsley plummeted back to League One. Walton would play the final three matches of the season, and an already relegated Barnsley would be embarrassed by every opponent they played (Walton did save a penalty against West Brom however)! It must have been frustrating for Jack, who didn’t place a foot wrong up to now. A mixture of manager preference, signing an unnecessary new goalkeeper, and the incredible form of Brad Collins, would limit opportunities to the Lancashire-born man.

Present day

Michael Duff came in, and this leads us up to present day, with Walton finally getting a move away. It’s unsure as to how much gametime he will receive whilst in Bedfordshire, but he certainly deserves it.

Despite spending most of his Barnsley career as number two, Walton remained professional and did well when he was called upon. He would often lose his place due to no fault of his own, and he would still be a good character in the dressing room. We wish him all the best in his new adventure, and hopefully he can prove a lot of coaches wrong!