Jonathan Walters

Jonathan Ronald Walters (born 20 September 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is sporting director of Stoke City. Walters started his senior career at Blackburn Rovers but failed to break into the first team and joined Bolton Wanderers. He then went out on loan to Hull City, Crewe Alexandra and Barnsley before joining Hull permanently. He then went on to play for Wrexham and Chester City before finally finding regular football at Championship side Ipswich Town. Walters spent three years at Portman Road before joining Stoke City for £2.75 million in August 2010. He scored twice in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final against Bolton Wanderers to bring the final score to 5–0, with Stoke reaching the 2011 FA Cup Final. Walters played 54 matches during the 2011–12 season and then played in UEFA Euro 2012 with the Republic of Ireland. Walters remained a regular at Stoke under managers Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes, scoring 62 goals in 271 appearances, before joining Burnley in July 2017. Walters scored five times for the Republic of Ireland in 2015 during their successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and was acknowledged with that year's FAI Senior International Player of the Year award.