Brad Walker made rapid progress to the first team in the summer of 2013. Having top-scored from midfield for the youth team in the season just finished, Walker made a good enough impression on the new management team of Colin Cooper and Craig Hignett to be invited on the summer training trip to Holland. His performances in those games, and in the home friendlies that followed, were enough for Cooper to offer the youngster professional terms a year before the end of his apprenticeship. Walker's impressive progress was complete when he was named in the starting lineup for the first league game of the new season at Rochdale, and was man of the match a week later in his first league match at the Vic. He remained a regular in the Pools side throughout his debut season, a season that saw him win call-ups to training sessions with the England under-18 squad. He was named the League Two Apprentice of the Year as the season drew to a close and was undoubtedly one of the bright spots in what was a disappointing season for the club. From that point onward things took a slight backward step. A loss in form saw Walker become a more infrequent member of the first team. He was still highly rated within the game, with a number of clubs in higher divisions showing an interest, but the overwhelming feeling among Pools supporters was one of frustration. The second half of the 2016/17 saw a change of tact for the player, with manager Dave Jones switching him to centre half, and the move seemed to inject him with a new lease of life as he turned in a string of impressive performances. When the club was relegated at the end of that season, Walker turned down the chance of a new contract and instead opted to stay in the Football League with Crewe Alexandra. He left Crewe after 18 months and had further spells in the Football League with Shrewsbury , Port Vale and Tranmere, before rejoining Pools in the summer of 2025.