CHRISTIAN WALTON

Full Name: Christian Timothy Walton

Born: 09 November 1995

Came from: Brighton & Hove Albion   Went to: Brighton & Hove Albion

First game: 21 November 2015   Last game: 12 December 2015

Appearances: 4 (4/0)   Goals: 0

Born in Truro but bought up in Wadebridge, Walton began his career in football as a 10-year-old in Argyle's academy, progressing through the age ranges to the youth team and reserves. In November 2011 he made the first team as an unused substitute, just three days after his 16th birthday, in a home FA Cup tie against Stourbridge. As a highly rated 17-year-old, he left the club 15 months later to join Brighton & Hove Albion on a three-year deal for a nominal fee, and completed his scholarship with the Sussex side.

Having progressed well at the AMEX Stadium, Brighton rewarded Walton with a new four-year contract in July 2014. He made his first team debut for the Seagulls shortly after, aged 18, in a League Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in October 2014. His Championship debut came the following week when he delivered a clean sheet in a home win over Wigan. Two more first team appearances followed that season, including an impressive clean sheet away at Middlesbrough at the end of the campaign. In July 2015 Walton signed for League One Bury on a season-long loan deal, although this amounted to just four further Football League appearances before an underlying groin problem forced his return to Brighton in September. Whilst at Bury he was named as a member of England's under-21 squad for two upcoming matches, but his injury forced his withdrawal.

Walton had won international honours prior to his under-21 call-up. His first cap came for the under-19s in a friendly against Turkey in March 2014, and three more under-19 honours followed. His first under-20 call-up was for the first fixture of the 2014-15 season, a friendly against Romania, and he went on to win eight caps at this level, including a return to Home Park in March 2015 (albeit as an unused substitute) as England beat the USA 2-1 in front of a healthy 11,406. Incidentally, that match also featured another former Argyle youth product, Jack Stephens.

Walton returned to Home Park in November 2015 on a short-term loan deal, signed by Derek Adams as stand-in for Luke McCormick after a groin strain had ended Luke's run of 74 consecutive starts. After Walton's four appearances for the club, during a time when the side's form dipped due to multiple injuries, Luke McCormick returned to the side and Walton then saw out his loan spell from the bench before returning to Brighton after Argyle's 2-0 'away' win over Carlisle at Blackburn's Ewood Park in January 2016.

In the 2016-17 season he was loaned to Argyle's League Two rivals Luton Town, for whom he made 33 appearances, but his loan spell came to an end in January 2017 when he was recalled to the AMEX following an injury to Brighton's back-up stopper. That April he joined League One Southend United on an emergency loan, making seven appearances for the club.

A few months later, in July 2017, he signed for Wigan Athletic in League One on a season-long loan, and returned to Home Park in January 2018 as Wigan triumphed 3-1. Following their promotion, he returned to Wigan on another season-long loan for the 2018-19 campaign, making a total of 69 appearances for the club.

For 2019-20 he was loaned out yet again, this time to Championship rivals Blackburn Rovers, where he played 46 times. He spent time back at Brighton in the 2020-21 campaign, but was injured in a pre-season friendly. Later that season he spent eight Premier League games on the bench, without being called upon.

The following 2021-22 season saw the final loan spell of his Brighton career, this time to another Championship side, Ipswich Town, where he made 18 appearances. However, by January 2022, having established himself as Ipswich's number one, he was released from his contract at the AMEX to allow a permanent move to Ipswich, adding a further 20 appearances that season once the deal was signed. In total he had made six appearances for Brighton, amidst his eight loan spells in nine seasons on the Seagulls' books.

Walton went on to play for Ipswich in three tiers, the first of which saw much tussling with Steven Schmacher's title-winning Pilgrims in the 2022-23 season. Indeed, Walton's return to Home Park with Ipswich proved almost monumental. With Argyle top of League One and 15,480 packed into Home Park, chasing Ipswich arrived in a game that saw Michael Cooper return from injury to depose Callum Burton. Despite going 1-0 down to the obligatory goal from a former Pilgrim (Freddie Ladapo), Argyle came back to win 2-1. However, it could have been so different: an injury time corner saw Walton (himself an Argyle fan) come up for the kick to add attacking pressure, and met the corner with a thumping header, only for Cooper to produce a breath-taking tip-over to keep the three points for Argyle. Both men embraced warmly at the final-whistle.

He continued to feature as Ipswich's first-choice keeper following the arrival of new manager Kieran McKenna. During those 38 appearances, split between the loan spell and permanence of 2021-22, he kept 15 clean sheets, including setting a new club record for the length of time without the team conceding a goal, surpassing the previous record of 547 minutes. He made 47 appearances in the 2022-23 season as Ipswich returned to the Championship. A foot injury meant he missed the start of the following season and he went on to make four appearances in 2023-24.

In June 2024, Ipswich announced that they had triggered a one-year extension clause in his contract, and in August, following a calf injury to first-choice goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, Walton started Ipswich's first Premier League game of the 2024-25 season, a 2-0 defeat by Liverpool.