Jak Alnwick

Jak Alnwick

Personal information
Full name	Jak Alnwick[1]
Date of birth	17 June 1993
Place of birth	Hexham, England[2]
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team	Port Vale
Number	21
Youth career
2005–2008	Sunderland
2008–2011	Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2011–2015	Newcastle United	6	(0)
2011–2012	→ Gateshead (loan)	6	(0)
2015	→ Bradford City (loan)	0	(0)
2015–	Port Vale	40	(0)
National team
2008–2009	England U17	4	(0)
2010–2011	England U18	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 1 May 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

Jak Alnwick (born 17 June 1993) is an English football goalkeeper who plays for League One side Port Vale.

He turned professional at Newcastle United in 2008, and went on to represent England at under-17 and under-18 levels. He spent time on loan at Gateshead in the 2011–12 season, and played eight Premier League games for Newcastle in the 2014–15 season. He joined Bradford City on loan in March 2015, and Port Vale on a free transfer that August.

Club career

Newcastle United

Alnwick joined Newcastle United from local rivals Sunderland in 2008. He won the Wor Jackie Award for the club's best youth player in 2011.^[3]

He was loaned to Conference Premier club Gateshead in September 2011.^[4] After a man of the match performance in a 3–2 defeat to Southport at the Gateshead International Stadium on his first team debut his initial four week loan spell was extended until the end of the calendar year by manager Ian Bogie.^[5] He made a total of six league and three FA Cup appearances during his loan spell.

Alnwick signed a new two-year contract in July 2013.^[6] He made his debut for Newcastle United as a half-time substitute for the injured Rob Elliot in a 2–1 Premier League home win over Chelsea on 6 December 2014 and made five saves throughout the match.^[7] Two days later manager Alan Pardew declared that Alnwick was playing for a new contract with his current deal due to expire in the summer.^[8] A week later, in his first full start, Newcastle lost 4–1 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.^[9] He made his first League Cup appearance in the quarter-finals at Tottenham Hotspur, and spilled a corner while under no pressure, which allowed Nabil Bentaleb to open the scoring in a 4–0 defeat.^[10] In his first start at St James' Park, Alnwick conceded in injury time from Sunderland's Adam Johnson as Newcastle lost the Tyne-Wear derby on 21 December.^[11] His final Premier League outing of the 2014–15 season came in a 3–3 draw with Burnley on 1 January. Tim Krul returned from injury for Newcastle's trip to Chelsea ten days later.^[12]

Alnwick joined League One club Bradford City on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season on 13 March 2015.^[13] The following day, he started away to Notts County in a 1–1 draw,^[14] but was cup-tied for their defeat by Reading in an FA Cup sixth round replay on 16 March.^[13] In Bradford's next league game, a 2–2 draw with Fleetwood Town at Valley Parade five days later, Alnwick was dropped to the bench as regular goalkeeper Ben Williams returned.^[15] On 24 March, Alnwick admitted that his Newcastle career may be over and regretted not getting loaned out earlier on in his career in order prove himself.^[16] His season ended in early April as he picked up a wrist injury which required surgery.^[17] On 29 May, Newcastle announced that they had opted against offering him a new contract.^[18]

Port Vale

After an unsuccessful trial at Championship side Leeds United,^[19] Alnwick joined League One club Port Vale on a five-month contract to cover for the injured Chris Neal on 6 August 2015.^[20] He kept a clean sheet on his debut, the opening game of the 2015–16 season, a 0–0 draw with rivals Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road.^[21] He continued his highly impressive form, and was praised for a world class save to deny Sheffield United's Billy Sharp a goal during a 2–1 win at Vale Park on 3 October.^[22] He signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract in October 2015.^[23] He retained his first team place upon Neal's recovery from injury, and was named in the Football League's Team of the Week for "a string of fine saves" in a 2–1 victory over Barnsley on 14 November.^[24] His good form led to him being linked with moves to Wigan Athletic and Preston North End in the January transfer window, though he said that he was "over the moon" to stay with Port Vale.^[25] However a stomach injury he picked up in February caused him to miss four games, during which time Neal impressed in goal.^[26]

International career

Alnwick was capped by England at under-17 and under-18 level and was named in Brian Eastick's squad for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia as back-up to Jack Butland and Lee Nicholls.^[27]

Personal life

Alnwick was born in Hexham and is the younger brother of former Sunderland and England under-21 goalkeeper Ben Alnwick.^[2][28] The pair played against each other in a 1–1 draw between Port Vale and Peterborough United on 17 October 2015.^[29]

Statistics

Season	Club	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other[30]		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2011–12[31]	Newcastle United	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2011–12[32]	Gateshead (loan)	Conference Premier	6	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
2012–13[33]	Newcastle United	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2013–14[34]			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2014–15[35]			6	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
2014–15[35]	Bradford City (loan)	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Total			6	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
2015–16[36]	Port Vale	League One	40	0	3	0	2	0	2	0	47	0
Total			40	0	3	0	2	0	2	0	47	0
Career total			52	0	7	0	3	0	3	0	65	0

References

1. "Barclays Premier League: notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). Premier League. p. 14. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
2. "Jak Alnwick profile". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
3. King, Dan (8 March 2011). "Jak Of All Trades". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
4. "Gateshead sign Newcastle United goalkeeper Jak Alnwick". BBC Sport. 8 September 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
5. Bowron, Jeff. "Alnwick Deal Extended". gateshead-fc.com. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
6. Marshall, Anthony (4 July 2013). "New Deals For Young Stars". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
7. Sanghera, Mandeep (6 December 2014). "Newcastle United 2–1 Chelsea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
8. Ryder, Lee (8 December 2014). "Newcastle United manager says Jak Alnwick is in the shop window at the moment". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
9. Johnston, Neil (13 December 2014). "Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
10. Jurejko, Jonathan (17 December 2014). "Tottenham 4-0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
11. "Newcastle 0-1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. 21 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
12. Reddy, Luke (10 January 2015). "Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
13. "Newcastle United keeper Jak Alnwick joins Bradford City on loan". BBC Sport. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
14. "Notts County 1-1 Bradford". BBC Sport. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
15. "Bradford 2-2 Fleetwood". BBC Sport. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
16. Ryder, Lee (24 March 2015). "Jak Alnwick admits his Newcastle United career could be over". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
17. Ryder, Lee (8 April 2015). "Jak Alnwick's Newcastle United career over? Goalkeeper's out for the season". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
18. "Jonas Gutierrez and Ryan Taylor released by Newcastle United". Sky Sports. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
19. "Leeds linked with Alnwick, Turnbull". Teamtalk.com. 7 July 2015.
20. Baggaley, Mike (6 August 2015). "New signing Jak Alnwick thrilled with Vale chance". The Sentinel. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
21. "Port Vale Alnwick out to play for keeps after clean debut". The Sentinel. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
22. Baggaley, Mike (4 October 2015). "Port Vale 2, Sheffield United 1: Fans say Alnwick save was like Banks v Pele". The Sentinel. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
23. "Jak Alnwick: Port Vale goalkeeper signs new contract". BBC Sport. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
24. Baggaley, Mike (16 November 2015). "Jak Alnwick named in Football League team of the week". The Sentinel. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
25. "Jak Alnwick: Port Vale keeper taking transfer talk in his stride". BBC Sport. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
26. Baggaley, Mike (8 March 2016). "Jak Alnwick returns to fitness to give Rob Page selection dilemma". The Sentinel. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
27. "World Cup squad announced". thefa.com. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
28. Edwards, Luke (6 December 2014). "Newcastle v Chelsea: Jak Alnwick faces uncertain future despite goalkeeping heroics". Daily Telegraph.
29. "Port Vale 1 - 1 Peterborough". BBC Sport. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
30. Includes other competitive competitions, including the Football League Trophy.
31. "Games played by Jak Alnwick in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
32. Jak Alnwick profile at Soccerway
33. "Games played by Jak Alnwick in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
34. "Games played by Jak Alnwick in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
35. "Games played by Jak Alnwick in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
36. "Games played by Jak Alnwick in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2013.

External links

• Jak Alnwick career statistics at Soccerbase