Though born in Manchester, Walsh qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland national football team through his Irish ancestry.
Upon Ellis' departure to Maine Road to join Peter Reid as his assistant at Manchester City, Walsh took up the reins as manager in September 1990.
Just five games after losing in the Wembley play-off final, Walsh was sacked[5] as the chairman became impatient despite the club having no finances to improve the team.
After a successful start to the season, Southport went on a long winless streak which saw them fall from top spot to the brink of not qualifying for the newly formed Conference North league, this was something deemed unthinkable for the Southport board who left with no decision but to sack Walsh and replace him with Liam Watson in an attempt to secure qualification.
In 2004, Walsh was then asked back to Swindon Town as Andy King's assistant, but and decided to retire from the game a year later, and is now running a restaurant in Javea, Spain.