Mark Walters dealing with racism in Scotland BBC article

[Diablo]

BBC article about Mark Walters leaving Villa and his time at Rangers dealing with racism http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42371953 I didn't know he was back at the club

[rob_bridge]

Thanks for that - an interesting read.

[manic-road]

I used to watch Mark Walters in the youth team and he looked the real deal then, gutted when he left to go to Rangers but the abuse he got there even from his own fans was diabolical.

Happy that he is involved with the Villa again.

[saunders_heroes]

Was absolutely gutted when Walters left us. He was one of my favourite Villa players ever, certainly one of the most exciting as well. Such a skilful player.

[Sexual Ealing]

My first memory of watching us is of Mark Walters beating two men and being generally ace.

[eamonn]

Did we get much for him? Were ye pissed off with him when he left or was it understandable given how 2010s-like shite we had become? I was young, I didn't know a thing at all.

[tomd2103]

Bit too young to remember if it actually happened many times, but have subsequently wondered over the years what having Mark Walters on one wing and Tony Daley on the other would have been like.

[Pete3206]

About 4:35 in watch a lovely bit of skill

[TheMalandro]

I knew it would be a step over.

[garyshawsknee]

As a 10 year old, I was crushed at the time, Rangers were big spenders back then, we were in the old second division, so I guess it was the sign of the times. We then used that money on the Gray brothers and maybe Platt, can't remember if he signed in the summer before.

[saunders_heroes]

Did we get much for him? Were ye pissed off with him when he left or was it understandable given how 2010s-like shite we had become? I was young, I didn't know a thing at all.

About £600k if I remember rightly, which was a hell of a lot of money back then (and he was worth even more really). He had his heart set on a move during the relegation season but I thought he’d stay once Taylor took over but it never happened. The fans were gutted but we had Tony Daley up and coming so that softened the blow. Imagine having players of that quality coming along more or less at the same time. Two terrific players

[garyshawsknee]

They wouldn't make the bench under Bruce !!

[paul_e]

Did we get much for him? Were ye pissed off with him when he left or was it understandable given how 2010s-like shite we had become? I was young, I didn't know a thing at all.

About £600k if I remember rightly, which was a hell of a lot of money back then (and he was worth even more really). He had his heart set on a move during the relegation season but I thought he’d stay once Taylor took over but it never happened. The fans were gutted but we had Tony Daley up and coming so that softened the blow. Imagine having players of that quality coming along more or less at the same time. Two terrific players

Green, o'Hare and Grealish, used properly, could be an excellent attacking midfield.  The difference between now and then, mainly, is that top clubs (prem or top half of the champ) are far less willing to throw kids in for a few games, then rest, then in for a few more.  It's just easier to let a smaller club do the work and then buy the end product.  That's the cycle we need to break.  The biggest issue is that the clubs who are least likely to use the academy kids (man city, chelsea, man utd in particular) find any 15-16 year olds with promise and flood their academies only for the players to be stuck in a cycle of reserves and loans until they're 22-23.

[darren woolley]

It must have been a terrible for him going through that I've got nothing but respect for him nobody should go through that in any era I just wished he would have stayed at the Villa.

[Damo70]

Bit too young to remember if it actually happened many times, but have subsequently wondered over the years what having Mark Walters on one wing and Tony Daley on the other would have been like.

I think I saw Walters debut at VP against Leeds not long before the European cup final. We lost 1-4. I think we played a cup game at Leeds when Walters and Daley both got loads of abuse. Walters' debut was '82 and Daley's was '84 (Brian Little was in charge of the youth team and his row with Turner over putting Daley in the first team too soon ended up with Little leaving) so they would have had about three years to play together. I remember Walters getting a lot of stick away to Hull in one of SGT's early games as he wanted to leave. I think Rangers and Everton were both in for him. I remember a lot of headlines about how well he was doing for Rangers but also about the racist abuse he was getting. I seem to recall one particulatr match that was talked about was at Tynecastle when there were more bananas than fans. Having said that I witnessed bananas being thrown at him at the sty once too. The last time I saw Walters play was just before I moved abroad in 1994. I went with a Stoke supporting mate of mine around Easter time to watch Stoke play Small Heath at the sty and Walters was on loan at Stoke. No bananas on that occasion thankfully.