Steve Walklate

Football career Walklate was born in Durham, He was a member of Chester-le-Street Junior Schools representative football team for two years rather than the usual one, and played for Durham County Schools at under-16 level. He began his career with Middlesbrough, but never played for their first team, and after a trial, signed for Darlington ahead of the 2000–01 Football League season. He made his debut on 2 September 2000, as a second-half substitute in the Division Three match at home to York City which finished as a 1–1 draw, and made his first start in the League Cup visit to Division One club Nottingham Forest a few days later; he was replaced at half time by eventual match-winner Stuart Elliott. He also played in the next round of the competition, as Darlington lost 7–2 to Premier League club Bradford City. According to the Northern Echo's correspondent, manager Gary Bennett was having to ask players, Walklate included, "to fill the boots of their of their quality predecessors – but the new bunch simply weren't up to the task".

After his release, Walklate played two Northern Premier League matches for Blyth Spartans, and then one Scottish Second Division match as a triallist for Queen of the South, in a 2–2 draw with Berwick Rangers on 25 March. He signed for the club, remained in the starting eleven for the next fixture, also against Berwick, and also a draw, and appeared in five of Queens' six remaining matches, all but one as a starter. and Walklate scored his first goal for the club in the Northern League Challenge Cup final, in which Durham beat Shildon on a golden goal to secure their first ever senior trophy. His second and third seasons were disrupted by a double leg fracture suffered during a match in March 2003; he made his first-team comeback at the end of October. He scored just twice in league matches, at each end of the 2004–05 season: the late fourth in a 4–0 win away to Billingham Town, and a lob in a 1–1 draw at West Auckland Town.

Walklate spent the 2005–06 season with Bedlington Terriers, He stayed with Nissan for two seasons, in the second of which he received the Manager's Player of the Year award. The same year, he was a member of the Hetton Lyons team that won the FA Sunday Cup. Walklate then spent three seasons with Shildon, a few months with Bishop Auckland, and a spell with Crook Town during which he helped them win the Northern League Division Two title.