Dec Walker: I want to kick on with hometown club next season

Warrington Town right-back Dec Walker says it was a no-brainer to re-sign for his hometown club ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Walker was one of 11 players announced as staying at the Yellows earlier this month, as part of the club’s official retained list.

Walker first arrived at Cantilever Park in September 2022 following stints at Rylands, Matlock Town and Stalybridge Celtic.

He has gone on to make a total of 74 appearances to date, scoring three times.

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A promotion-winner with Town in 2022/23, Walker admits that being a local lad puts added importance on making his time at the club as successful as possible.

“It was a no-brainer for me [to stay],” he said.

“As soon as Bees [Mark Beesley] said he wanted to keep me I was 100% sold. I didn’t need selling really, I just wanted to stay and keep things moving forward.

“Like I’ve said before, I wish I came here earlier, but things didn’t happen that way.

“You can see where we’ve come from in the space of a year, getting promoted, it’s massive on and off the pitch.

“To play at the highest level for the club, its brilliant. We just want to finish as high as we can year-on-year and keep going, keep pushing.”

On the books of Wrexham, Everton and Blackburn Rovers earlier in his career, Walker has developed into a senior figure within the Yellows dressing room.

Since Walker’s arrival at the club, a youth pathway has been implemented to include an U18s and U21s side – both of whom earned silverware last season.

The club’s U18s were crowned Runcorn and District Youth Cup champions, while the U21s were victorious in the Runcorn and District Sunday Challenge Cup and also secured promotion to the North West U21 Development League Premier Division via the play-offs.

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Several up-and-coming players from those sides have been invited to link up with the first team when pre-season training begins in late June, and Walker believes a fully-functioning youth setup will help ensure future success for the club in years to come.

“Bringing in the U18s and U21s is massive – to be a feeder for those young lads to play football, train with us and see if they’re up to it,” the 32-year-old added.

“With the likes of Sam [Gill] coming through, it’s a massive thing to say, “if you do well you can play in the first team”.

“There’s a pathway for them now, to go with the under 18s, then the under 21s, then hopefully make it to the first team.”

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