Stoke City are still benefiting from bargain Ipswich Town deal.
Legendary Stoke City boss Tony Pulis loved a bargain buy in his successful period at the club from 2006 to 2013, and one 2010 signing from the Championship went on to become a cult hero in the Potteries, and is still a key part of the club’s boardroom in the present day.
Pulis splashed a club-record £8 million on Kenwyne Jones from Sunderland in the summer of 2010, in an unusual move for Stoke to spend that money on one player, and yet it was another, more low-key forward that joined Stoke just days later and epitomised exactly what the club was about over the next seven years.
Jonathan Walters moved to the Potters from Ipswich Town for a reported fee of £2.75m, and the rest was history, as he became an iconic figure at the height of their Premier League success, with goals in key matches and spirit and tenacity week in, week out that won the hearts of Stoke fans.
The Republic of Ireland international was never the quickest or most skilful player, but he was a danger to opponents with his sharp eye for goal and never-say-die attitude that complimented a Potters side that transformed into one of the most aesthetically pleasing teams in the league under Mark Hughes.
Walters left Stoke in 2017, but his connection with the club never faded, and he is now back in a much different capacity, with his influence in ST4 more prevalent than ever over 14 years on from his arrival.
Jonathan Walters was Stoke City personified
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How a certain team, or even club as a whole, is perceived, can usually be attributed to the type of players they look to recruit, and there have not been many, if any, as similar to Stoke City’s gritty attitude of the late 2000s and early 2010s, than Walters himself.
He initially joined the club as a right midfielder, but was often deployed in a more central striking role by Pulis, who seemed to almost instantly make him a key man after dubbing him a “fantastic professional” following his first goal for the club against Blackburn Rovers in October 2010.
The story of Walters’ debut season in ST4 was undoubtedly Stoke’s historic FA Cup run, and he was the main man throughout with goals against Cardiff City and Brighton in tight early rounds, before he bagged a brace to help seal the 5-0 semi-final demolition of Bolton Wanderers, and cap off a game that will be savoured by many generations of Potters fans to come.
