As a manager he won the FA Cup with each of Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, some 24 years apart, a record which still stands.

His teenage years saw him play for a number of football clubs at junior level, starting at Hednesford Town in 1912.

[1] Walker made his senior debut in January 1920 in the FA Cup, scoring twice as Aston Villa won 2–1 in the first round against non-league side Queens Park Rangers.

In November 1921, Walker became the first player to score a hat-trick of penalty kicks in a first division match, the second ever after William McAulay for Walsall in 1900, doing so in a 7–1 win against Bradford City.

The 1923–24 season saw Villa again reach the FA Cup final, Walker scoring three in six games, but disappointment this time as they lost 2–0 to Newcastle United at Wembley.

[7] The 1930–31 season saw Walker come close to leading Aston Villa becoming English champions, finishing second in the league, scoring a record total of goals, but losing out to a tighter Arsenal defence.

He played in five matches the next season before deciding to retire in September 1933 and by December that year had become manager of Sheffield Wednesday.

Scotland were the first visitors for an international match at Wembley on 12 April 1924, and led at half time through an Eddie Taylor own goal.

In the friendly against Belgium in December 1924 at The Hawthorns, Walker missed a penalty after fifteen minutes, but scored twice in the second half.

His final cap came nearly six years after earning his 17th, when he was made captain for a friendly in December 1932, against Austria which England won 4–3.

[16] In March 2003, nearly 40 years after his death, he was named by BBC Sport as the former player Aston Villa needed in their modern-day team – who were struggling for goals that season and narrowly avoided relegation from the FA Premier League.

Walker had intended to sign a player from Plymouth Argyle for free, before discovering a £500 fee was demanded, believing "that money was going to take a lot of finding" from the club.