However, he was frozen out of the first team after punching a coach (Ray Clemence) at the club, and after a brief loan spell at Queens Park Rangers was moved on to Portsmouth for a £400,000 fee in June 1992.

[4] He was spotted playing for local youth side Londinium by Charlton Athletic scout Jim Fibbins and signed schoolboy forms aged 14.

[8] He made his first team debut in the English Football League at 16 years old, coming on as a half-time substitute for Dick Tydeman in a Second Division fixture with Shrewsbury Town on 22 September 1979; he provided the assist for Martin Robinson's winning goal.

[17] He performed well against divisional champions Luton Town, giving captain Mal Donaghy a difficult afternoon, which was enough to win him a move to his next club.

[20] On the final day of the 1982–83 season Luton needed to beat Manchester City at Maine Road to remain in the First Division, and a late Radomir Antić volley secured the "Hatters" a 1–0 win and a place in the top-flight.

[24] However, a run of just three wins in 24 games saw Luton go from title contenders to relegation candidates, as well as exit the FA Cup in a 4–3 defeat to rivals Watford at Vicarage Road.

[23] Luton ended the campaign in 16th place, and Walsh was voted as PFA Young Player of the Year, ahead of candidates such as Ian Rush, Nigel Callaghan and John Barnes.

[29] With Ian Rush injured at the start of the 1984–85 season, Walsh partnered Kenny Dalglish up front, and he scored just 14 seconds into his Anfield debut on 27 August in a 3–0 win over West Ham United.

[30] However, he picked up a knee injury in October which caused him to miss six weeks and allowed Rush to re-establish himself as Dalglish's preferred strike partner.

Walsh started the 1985 European Cup Final against Juventus at Heysel Stadium but had to come off early in the second half after aggravating a stomach injury; Liverpool lost the game 1–0, though the day would be remembered for the disaster which cost 39 lives.

He had a bitter argument with Dalglish at half-time, which initially seemed to spell the end of his Liverpool career as he was placed on the transfer list.

[38] His contribution to the club's success was not forgotten as he was named in the First Division's PFA Team of the Year, alongside teammate Mark Lawrenson.

[39] Writing in his 2015 autobiography, Walsh was highly critical of Liverpool's Boot Room culture, particularly then-medical staff Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans: "I'd been having ultrasound for several months ... when a guy came in to test the equipment.

[40] He recovered to earn a place on the bench for the second leg of the Football League Super Cup final victory over Everton on 30 September, but though he only entered the game as a late substitute he broke his hand after falling awkwardly.

[53] He later described the season as "just a blur" as Spurs turned their campaign around to finish in sixth place despite Walsh scoring just six goals from 32 starts and five substitute appearances.

[59] However, Venables dropped him to the bench for the following game, and Walsh became "cynical and pissed off" as he felt nothing he could do could displace either Stewart and Lineker, though he ended the season with 20 starts and 19 substitute appearances.

[64] QPR manager Gerry Francis wanted to make the signing a permanent one, but the club were unable to afford the £800,000 fee Spurs had asked for.

[64] After returning to Spurs, he again punched someone in the face, this time a supporter who had shouted abuse to Walsh on the pitch after a game against Norwich City.

[66] Walsh was signed by Portsmouth for a £400,000 fee in June 1992, as manager Jim Smith prepared for a promotion challenge from the new Division One in the 1992–93 season.

[67] To tempt him out of the top-flight, "Pompey" manager Jim Smith offered him a four-year contract on a higher wage than he had been on at Spurs, whilst the club also bought his London home off him to facilitate his move to the south coast.

[69] Ironically though, a virus picked up on a family holiday to Saint Lucia caused him to miss a month early in the season and drained him of fitness.

[70] He recovered to build a strike partnership with Guy Whittingham, whilst midfielders Alan McLoughlin and Mark Chamberlain made an effective four-pronged attack, and with two games to go Portsmouth were top of the table and needed only to beat relegation-threatened Sunderland to secure an automatic promotion place.

However, Walsh scored both goals in a 2–2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford in the League Cup, putting himself back on the radar for top-flight clubs in need of strikers.

[77] The pair soon built an understanding, however, and the arrival of wingers Peter Beagrie and Nicky Summerbee gave City the attacking firepower to steer clear of the relegation zone as Walsh and Rösler scored nine goals between them in the final ten games.

[81] New manager Alan Ball tried to build a team around new signing Georgi Kinkladze for the 1995–96 campaign, and Walsh felt that the time had come to leave Maine Road.

[82] He scored five goals in 21 league games in the 1995–96 season before suffering a micro-fracture of the fibula in a seemingly innocuous incident during a 1–1 draw with Millwall at The Den on 27 January.

[92] Walsh won his first senior England cap under Bobby Robson on 12 June 1983, in a 0–0 friendly draw with Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground during a two-week tour of the continent.

[94] He earned a fourth cap playing alongside club-mate Brian Stein in a 2–0 defeat to France at Parc des Princes on 29 February 1984.

"In 1986, Bob Paisley described Walsh as an "individualist" best suited for a lone striker role due to his selfish play, tremendous pace and dribbling ability.