Walsh wants to repay the debt he feels he owes Town fans with Vertu Trophy win
Midfielder had a tough time of it on the pitch last season with two red cards
Midfielder Liam Walsh believes that bringing Vertu Trophy success to the Hatters will continue to repay the debt he still feels he owes to the Luton supporters.
The 28-year-old moved to Kenilworth Road in August 2024, but saw his start to life in Bedfordshire marred when sent off twice in just six outings, the first after just 60 seconds when coming off the bench against Oxford United for a rash challenge. Banned for three games, when he returned, Walsh lasted a mere 11 minutes just five matches later, a lunging tackle on Blackburn Rovers’ Yuki Ohashi leading to his second red card in quick succession, as he had to sit out another four fixtures, taking his total suspension to seven games in total.
Hit by a severe fine from the club, who described his antics as ‘mind-boggling’, and facing some real fury from Luton supporters, some stating they never wanted to see him play again in an orange shirt, Walsh released a statement on social media off his own back, apologising for his on-field behaviour and vowing to make things right.
It’s fair to say he has gone a long way to doing that too, having now made 62 appearances in all competitions for the Hatters, booked just six times since those indiscretions, with a dubious red card against Coventry City last season thankfully rescinded on appeal, plus delivering some fine displays, scoring the goal that took Town to Wembley in the semi-final against Northampton Town last month.
Being able to help the club add some silverware to their trophy cabinet when facing Stockport County in the final at Wembley on Sunday will go a long way to righting those wrongs in Walsh’s mind too, as he said: “I had my ups and downs last season and that happens. It's (being able to comeback from that) just purely down to hard work and how much I want to win a football game. I’ve said that I owe the fans something and that’s all I want to do. I still know that I owe them something and I try and go out there every single game to deliver that and Sunday couldn’t be a more perfect opportunity.”
Asked just how he was able to get through such a tough period in his career, Walsh continued: “People that are close to me definitely, first, because you’ll have stuff online that you’ll see and rightfully so, which isn’t nice at times, but you have your people close to you who stay by you and support you. I think the main thing was this football club as well, inside the club, the players and the coaching staff. They fully supported me through everything and I think just getting out there and wanting to give the fans something back, I think that’s what driven me every game.”
Now that he has done that, then having played 28 times in the league this season, with seven assists, the most appearances he has ever managed during a campaign in his career to date, he certainly feels like Luton is now his home, stating: “It’s the most settled I’ve felt as I’m going into each game and I’ve found my feet now, so I’m not trying extra hard, to try and prove to the manager that I should be playing.
"I’ve got my consistency and my fitness is where it needs to be at, where it was at when I was younger, and at Coventry, I just need to build on that again and finish the season strongly. I’ve been trying to build up to when I get to Wembley and get a goal there too. I think just as a deep-lying midfielder and playmaker, I do want to add goals to my game and when I do find that opportunity to get myself up the pitch, I will do it, but hopefully on Sunday.”
When trying to achieve his ambition of triumphing at Wembley this weekend, Walsh will have plenty of support behind him on the day, with a huge number of family and friends heading to the capital to see him in action on what will be his first ever appearance at the home of English football. Describing how it feels to finally get the chance of achieving a lifelong ambition, he said: “I’m nothing but excited. I said at the start of the season, I’ve always wanted to try and get to Wembley whether that’s in this cup or a play-off game, whatever it is.
"I only ever go when Liverpool are in the final or semi-final, that’s been the only times in the last five or six years. I won’t be going this year as they haven’t been the best and I’ve always said it’s always been my dream is to play at Wembley. My dream is to get in the play-off final, but this comes just as close to it. We’ve got a game for a big trophy and it’s going to be unbelievable.
"It’s completely different to as a supporter too. We’re going down Saturday to have a look at the pitch, I think that’s just when it’s going to sink in. I’ve got all my family coming as well and there will be a coachful of 26 of my mates coming down, so you’ll probably notice them, as guaranteed they’ll be the loudest there definitely.”
Luton can finally go into the game in some kind of form as well, with just one defeat in their last 11 matches and having won four from five including going back-to-back over the Easter period. On why he thinks they have managed to turn things around, Walsh added: “I put it down to just believing in ourselves a little bit more and doing what the gaffer wants us to do on the pitch.
"When you’re losing games, you find yourself trying extra hard and you find yourselves out of position and trying to win the ball back. It’s like strikers when they haven’t got a goal, they try to hard to score, it’s like that. I think now you just see the confidence when we’re playing, we just trust our gameplan and it seems to be working.
"We’ve been battling each game since Jack’s (Wilshere) come in and I think we’ve finally found that form and that way of playing. Everyone on the pitch now is comfortable where they’re at the results speak for themselves. It’s a game that we want, our confidence is through the roof, we’re unbeaten in 10 and four wins from five so we’re going in expecting to definitely win the game.”