A goalkeeping life in the lower leagues is balanced with a job as an Estate Planner at a law firm and a goalkeeper coaching school for Laurie Walker. A journey through the English game can be one of football's most characterful.
For Laurie Walker, being a successful goalkeeper goes way beyond physical and technical attributes.
“If I can give anyone advice, it is to crack your mental side,” he says, speaking exclusively to Goalkeeper.com. “The struggles will be there, but the burning passion inside needs to be stronger. You need to be thick-skinned and understand that you will make mistakes and won’t be perfect. You may need to take a step back to move forward and set aside your ego.”
The 36-year-old plays for National League outfit Solihull Moors, works with his partner as an Estate Planner at a law firm, and runs his goalkeeper coaching programme PROSAVEGK to help aspiring youngsters. Walker is thriving and brimming with belief, but he’s been tested to the limit at points in his journey. Setbacks have shaped a resilient goalkeeper who has proudly stuck to his principles and enjoyed a rollercoaster career.
Initially, Walker was picked up by Luton Town as a nine-year-old, spending his childhood glued to the football pitch. In 2006, at the age of 16, he was offered an apprenticeship at Milton Keynes Dons. “It was massive for me,” Walker reflects. “You can’t replace that feeling. It gives you the belief that you’re going to get somewhere, but you can be very naive. In my first year, I took it for granted. Only in the second year did I realise the effort that was required.” When he was released at the end of his apprenticeship, Walker remembers feeling “the lowest of lows” and like his “life had come crashing down.”
However, within a month of this disappointment, he signed a pro contract with Millwall. Whilst at the Lions in 2009, the Englishman had loan spells at non-league sides Tooting & Mitcham and Harrow Borough to continue his development. Still in the infancy of his career and after recovering from an injury, manager Kenny Jackett released Walker, posing another huge challenge to his confidence.
“I was heartbroken. I loved being at the club. When a new deal doesn’t materialise, it smashes you to the ground. I was thinking, what now? Do I carry on? Where do I go with this? It created that burning desire inside me to keep going because I knew I had something. I just needed someone to take a chance on me and give me that opportunity.”
Walker had short stints at Cambridge United and Morecambe before spending a year at Kettering Town, eventually leaving the club after it entered administration. He joined Brackley in 2012 and bounced around other non-league clubs for many years, including Leamington, Hemel Hempstead Town and Oxford City.
During this time, the goalkeeper balanced football with other work commitments, but relished the process: “When I was at Brackley the first time, I got a job with the company ‘Back of the Net’ in schools as a PE teacher. The loan from Brackley to Leamington, as well as winning the Southern Premier League, were big parts of my learning and development. I can't speak any higher about those years in non-league because it teaches you a lot about the real game of football. You can do something you really love, to a very high standard, but it may not be at that full-time level that you want.”
Walker’s full-circle moment arrived in 2019, when he re-signed for then-League One team MK Dons, transitioning back into football on a full-time basis, over a decade after his apprenticeship had finished. He loved non-league, but this jump meant everything to him. “Going back full-time at 29, it was something that I’d worked towards for my whole career. I've pushed to do it since leaving school. Returning to the environment where it all started was everything I’d dreamed of.”
This move was made extra special for Walker due to this deeper connection with the club. As a part-time player in non-league, MK Dons asked him to be their academy goalkeeper coach, a role he held for a year. Some parents approached him to inquire about private coaching. “I started doing one-to-one sessions with two lads from MK Dons academy at the time,” he says. “It progressed into a Facebook page, and I advertised group sessions, so it picked up momentum.”
The transfer also helped Walker’s coaching business, PROSAVEGK, which he started 11 years ago while at Hemel Hempstead. He says it “boosted” and “propelled” his company, allowing him to “build more of a status.”
After three years with MK, Walker spent a short time at Stevenage before moving to Barnet in 2022 and was crowned the player of the year in his first season with the club. In the following campaign, he unfortunately lost his place in the team halfway through the season. But, without dwelling, Walker moved to Solihull Moors in August 2024. His time with Barnet had taken its toll, and in February 2025, after losing his starting spot in the side, he made the loan move to National League North outfit Oxford City.
“From everything that happened at Barnet, there was a little bit of a hangover. Coming into the season, I put a lot of pressure on myself, which stopped me from being my best. I was overthinking everything. Going to Oxford was a complete reset, and it paid off massively. I arrived with the mindset of just being myself, and I played so well. I felt like I hadn't ever been off the pitch. Sometimes you need to come away to come back stronger.”
Walker returned to the Moors in April, marking his comeback with a sensational performance in a 1-0 away victory over Southend United. Since then, he has remained the club’s undisputed first-choice goalkeeper, starting their first 19 league games of the season. When asked how much he’s enjoying football currently, Walker replied: “Mate, I’m buzzing! Playing every week, you just can’t beat it!”
Through the highs and lows, Walker says the unconditional love and support from his partner have been crucial. “She’s been monumental in building my confidence and has trusted me to get qualified for her law firm. She’s put so much belief and effort into making that work. From a football aspect, she’s been my biggest cheerleader and my rock. I can't thank her enough for being by my side and providing me with something to do after football as well. She's really progressed me as a human being.”
Walker’s unwavering love for football and drive to prove the doubters wrong have guided his evolution. As a child, Walker revealed he was often named a “problem child” at school. “It was difficult growing up because I felt that without football, I didn’t know what I was going to do. It was hard to create an identity. It was only in my late 20s that I realised I had so much more to give. I’m a very talented coach and work at my partner’s law firm. Sometimes, it takes the right people around you to make you understand and see that.”
