Andy Walker insists Sky Sports cares about more than just Celtic and Rangers

Pundit backing broadcaster to raise its game ahead of the new Premiership season

Andy Walker is gearing up for his 11th season with Sky Sports and will be in the gantry for Sunday’s Celtic vs Hamilton match. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS

Today, dear reader, I’m going to take you back to a dark, dark time in Scottish football. No, it doesn’t involve Frank Haffey or Teofilo Cubillas or the Faroe Islands’ John Peterson who almost caused the shockeroonee of all shockeroonees though that 2-2 draw was dire enough. I’m talking about another terrible trio: Sarah O’Flaherty, Julyan Sinclair and Andy Walker.

In 2004 Scotsport decided to jazz itself up. Helmed by Jim Delahunt in his disco shirt, the show targeted younger viewers with a mix of Sarah O, as she was known, flirting
with the studio audience of pie-munchers
leaning on fake terracing stanchions; 
Sinclair reporting breathlessly from club laundry rooms where kit went in muddy and astonishingly came out clean; and – making his TV debut after a playing career that began at Motherwell and featured two stints at Celtic, three Scotland caps, cup upsets with Bolton Wanderers, a handful of games for a chaotic Hibernian side and approximately seven-and-a-half minutes in Italy’s Serie D – our man Walker.

Where are they now? Sarah O and Sinclair were the subject of a viewers’ protest petition and later dropped by STV, with Wikipedia vague about their current movements. Meanwhile, Walker, who by the way wasn’t terrible but simply found himself on a fast-sinking programme and understandably looked a bit startled, is readying himself for another season of solid match-summariser duties with Sky starting today as Scottish football re-emerges tentatively from the global pandemic.

Andy Walker's goals helped Celtic secure the double in his first stint at the club. Picture: SNS

I mention Scotsport because he and I were engaged in a little spat after I wrote something uncomplimentary – but, crivvens, hardly out of step with the national mood – about 
a show where the most prominent highlights seemed to be the ones in Delahunt’s hair. The host read out my critique during the following week’s 
edition, to which Walker responded: “Who is Aidan Smith and what are his credentials?”

I decide to bring this up when I call Walker,
55, at his home in East Renfrewshire, not thinking he’d remember it, but he does. I tell him that I’ve never really lived the jibe down, that when my name is shouted
across the newsroom, some wag will demand to know: “Who is Aidan Smith and what are his credentials?”. Walker laughs at this, explaining he was heeding the words of one of his broadcast mentors: “When I was at Clyde Paul Cooney told me that every so often I should throw in a little bomb. You were an easy target!”

There is no doubt about Walker’s credentials these days. That’s true, isn’t it? He’s become one of the best co-commentators around, in demand in England as well as here, without making a big noise about it. We are much more aware of the personalities and opinions of others in his line of work, which is probably why, when he airs a criticism, it hits home and sometimes stings.

He’s perfectly content in the No 2 role and there’s an echo in this of the most successful spell in his career as a clever striker, that first term at Celtic in the club’s centenary season when they won the double. Frank McAvennie might have been the more conspicuous and more glamorous of the team’s frontmen but, as Walker likes to quietly remind any gathering to mark those 1987-88 achievements, he 
actually out-scored Macca.

Pundit Andy Walker ahead of an Old Firm fixture in 2018 with Sky colleagues Kris Commons, left, and Luke Shanley, centre. Picture: PA

So here he is in his 11th year with Sky who, after a stint of sharing live broadcasts with BT Sport, now have the stage to themselves, beginning with the game of the day, Aberdeen vs Rangers. But what’s this? Walker isn’t listed next to commentator Ian Crocker. The job’s gone to a new recruit, you might have heard of him, one Alistair McCoist.

Demotion? “I don’t see it like that,” he says. “The number of games Sky will cover this season has gone up from 30 to 48 so I always knew they’d be bringing in someone else. Ally makes perfect sense. He’s great at what he does and for Rangers he’ll bring recognition and a strong voice. Rightly or wrongly, they’ve felt under attack from all sides. A lot of it, though, has been down to what’s happened on the pitch, or not happened. Rangers were really poor when they got back to the Premiership and nowhere near to challenging Celtic. They’ve managed
to get a bit closer under Steven Gerrard
so we’ll see what transpires in this season of seasons. It’s the big story, isn’t it?”

Because of his own backstory – the product of a Celtic family who starred for the Hoops – Walker hasn’t found it hard to irk the Ibrox legions with his pithy punditry but, and this is surely a sign in Scottish football of doing one’s job properly, he’s riled Parkhead as well. From the top brass to the lower tiers and, somewhere in the middle, Scott Brown, who will tomorrow lead the Celts into their first game of the new campaign against Hamilton Accies, Walker’s first on the gantry.

“Scott was an idiot for a spell,” says Walker,
referring to malarkey from the Ronny Deila era. “He was cheating himself and his team-mates. Ronny was a poor appointment though Celtic didn’t really need a boss when Rangers were out of the league – I could have managed them and, even though I don’t know much about your credentials, Aidan, I reckon you could too. Scott was eating kebabs and flaking out on pavements – not the behaviour expected from a Celtic captain. I challenged him about this at a PFA awards night but he didn’t want my advice.” Indeed, Brown hit back at Walker, dubbing him a “poor man’s Gary Neville” and complaining that he was “doing my f****** box in”. Walker notes that kebabs were off the skipper’s menu under Brendan Rodgers, adding: “I think Scott appreciates every game he plays now as what has been a fabulous career nears its end.”

The Broony brouhaha excepted, Walker
is not a controversialist like Chris Sutton or Roy Keane. I ask him about the pundits he prefers, hoping he’ll name the ones he doesn’t, but he won’t bite, other than to say: “I like to hear some detail. Roy battered Harry Maguire and David de Gea recently but I wanted him to tell me where they’d gone wrong. It’s not enough to go: ‘This is horrible, that’s shocking, I’d have punched him in the face at half-time.’ That said, Roy is box-office.”

So what did he make of Clive Tyldesley’s melodramatic Twitter outburst on losing the chief commentator’s role at ITV – a bit Smashie and Nicey, perhaps? “I did think it was self-indulgent. He’s had a good run and has not actually been sacked. If Sky were to get rid of me tomorrow I’d like to think my message would be different. I’d say thanks very much, I’ve had a blast. Travelled the world and met loads of wonderful people. Rochdale vs Chesterfield or the Old Firm game, if you’re going to the football and getting paid for it then I reckon you’re 
just about the luckiest guy in the world.”

For games without fans Walker will be able to hear crowd noise through headphones and, after his experiences in England already, will take up this option. “It will help keep my voice ‘up’. You can’t be morose when you’re commentating, although some already accuse me of that.” He may not be the showiest of pundits, preferring the commentary-box to the studio and not inclined to reference incidents back to his own career and talk about himself overmuch, but he has good stories such as – if we’re calling football entertainment which it should be – his showbiz debut alongside Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer back when he played for Sheffield United.

He explains: “It was a touring version of Shooting Stars. Ulrika Jonsson was a complete diva, wouldn’t speak to anyone, but Vic and Bob were lovely although of course I had to endure plenty of wind-up: ‘So Andy the footballer – you must love steak, aye? And lager? And Simply Red?’ [It’s actually worse than that in Walker’s case – he can’t get enough of the blousy balladeering of Barry Manilow].

“Eventually I plucked up the courage to answer one of the daft questions. ‘What do the initials in Abba stand for – yes, Andy the footballer?’ ‘Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, Anni-Frid.’ ‘No, Andy the footballer – that’s the wrong answer – take a look at this photograph.’ A female backside was blown up on to the screen above us. ‘It’s A Beautiful Bird’s Arse.’”

Maybe his best tales, though, are the ones from a hectic, happy family home as one of 11 children – an entire football team – born to parents Frank and Norma in Glasgow. “Seven boys, four girls and we’re all still here, punching away.” Then he adds: “How did my mother do it? How did she hold on to her sanity?”

During lockdown Walker has become passionate about cooking. Right now he’s whipping up dinner for his wife Carol and the two youngest of their four kids. “This is a meal for four and I’m taking my time. My mum can’t have ever stopped dishing up food. I remember rushing home from school, gasping, and her telling me: ‘You’ll have to wait for the next sitting.’

“She gave birth to three, then twins, then I came along, followed by more twins, who got called Frank and Norma possibly because our parents were running out of names. We didn’t think our family was unusually large. It was hand-me-down clothes and one bicycle between the lot of us.

“We have a great time when we’re together over a few drinks. Though no one was regarded as a mistake, there’s always banter: ‘You were never really wanted, you know.’ And we’re still astonished that we managed to squash into the Ford Zephyr to be driven all the way to Dorset for our summer holidays. No seatbelts in those days, of course, so Mum would have a couple on her knee and three at her feet. There would be five in the back and one lying along the shelf. If you suffered car sickness, like I did, it was actually a blessing because at least you were given a window seat.”

Dad Frank was an accountant who worked for Celtic, for Billy McNeill who would later sign Walker, and he also helped smooth the deal which took Kenny Dalglish to Liverpool. Despite his status he couldn’t quite get all of his boys into Parkhead every
second Saturday. “You had to be in his good books and do all your chores to have a chance. I’m delighted football is back but I’ll be even happier when the supporters can be there because I remember what it was like going to games with your dad – completely magical.”

Football returns but not without a rammy. From his kitchen, Walker has listened to it with dismay. “I understand why the season was called but it would have been the easiest thing not to put Hearts and Partick Thistle down and instead to have brought two clubs up. And I understand why there has been self-interest but I don’t think we need to hear any talk of the ‘football family’
for a while.

“Once expanded, the league could have remained at 14 teams. Maybe that would result in some meaningless matches but there would be the opportunity to blood young Scottish players. I was amazed at the outcome.” The decision made, everyone now has to get on with it, including Sky. I tell Walker that BT Sport will be missed, that I preferred their presentation and pre- and post-match chat, and that his network will have to up their game. “I don’t think you’re alone in thinking that,” he admits. “Some of what you say is valid and we’ve had group calls during lockdown to look at how we can improve our coverage and I think it will be better.”

Sky have always grabbed the Old Firm games which has encouraged the belief that Celtic and Rangers are what they care about most. Walker disputes this, pointing out he’ll be in Dingwall on Monday night for Ross County vs Motherwell while the following week’s duties include Dundee United vs Hibernian. “Every team in the league will be covered live during August. Of course we’ll sell Celtic vs Rangers, it’s the biggest game we’ve got, but we want to showcase all of Scottish football. It may not be the biggest league in the world but it can produce great stories, like Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk and John McGinn.”

A Celtic reject, a Celtic graduate and one that got away from Celtic. Walker arrived at Parkhead the first time in 1987 after the tough love of Tommy McLean, a manager who shattered his confidence by dismantling his game and reassembling it: “Tommy was invariably right but there was no warmth or fun about him.” In the hoops, Walker started out starstruck and thinking himself not worthy. He thanks Mark McGhee for talking him through games before Macca made his entrance. McAvennie’s exit was devastating for Walker: “Selfishly I wanted him to stay to help me.” His tutors after that were variable: Liam Brady when he took over at Celtic was “dreadful” but Bruce Rioch at Bolton was “excellent”.

After hanging up his boots, and realising he didn’t have the “fire” to become a manager, Walker began his media career with the old Sunday Herald as third choice for the role of football columnist. “They wanted an ex-player to write as opposed to relaying their thoughts to a journo over the phone. Steve Archiband didn’t fancy that and neither did Jim Bett. English had been my only comfort at school – I’d been lazy otherwise– so I decided to give it a go.”

He reflects on what he’s learned in broadcasting: “At first at Radio Clyde I found it hard to criticise ex-team-mates and players I knew. Paul Cooney told me: ‘Ignore the colour of the shirt. Call out the good things – and the stupid things.’ Andy Melvin said: ‘If a game’s rubbish I don’t want you to tell me that. Find the positive.’ And Archie Macpherson’s advice was: ‘I’ll tell the 
punters how such-and-such has happened – you tell them why.’

“At Clyde there was something else which was repeated all the time: ‘We’re just talking the about the fitba here – who’s going to get upset about that?’” As he signs off, Walker laughs. In Scottish fitba, with 
every kick, and even when there’s no ball in sight, someone will always be doing their absolute nut. Welcome back…

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director