walden entered the army by joining the cheshire regiment in april 1902 at the age of 14 and a half as a drummer boy and served in india and ireland. he played for the army against the navy in 1910 and 1911, and also served in world war i, for the west yorkshire regiment, rising to the rank of captain. after the war ended he joined arsenal and played six times for the gunners, twice against oldham athletic scoring a single goal and in four friendlies, with his debut coming on 12 february 1921. with just those games to his name, he returned to bradford at the end of the 1920–21 season.