John Alexander (footballer, born 1985)

John Alexander
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-09-24) 24 September 1985[1]
Place of birth Middlesbrough, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Playing position Forward
Youth career
– Darlington
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2002–2004 Darlington 4 (0)
2002–2003 → Bishop Auckland (loan)
2004 → Bishop Auckland (loan)
2004 Billingham Synthonia
2004 Stetson Hatters
2005 Billingham Synthonia
2006–200? Marske United
200?–2009 Billingham Town
2009–2011 Blyth Spartans
2011 Spennymoor Town
2011 Blyth Spartans
2011 → Ashington (loan) 0 (0)
2011–2012 Norton & Stockton Ancients
2012 Newcastle Benfield
2012–2014 Marske United[3] (22)
2014– Crook Town

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

John Alexander (born 24 September 1985) is an English footballer who made four appearances in the Football League playing as a forward for Darlington in the 2000s.[1] While still at Darlington, he had loan spells at Northern Premier League club Bishop Auckland, and went on to play non-league football in the north-east of England for a number of clubs, mostly in the Northern League. He also played American college soccer for the Stetson Hatters.

Football career

Alexander was born in Middlesbrough,[1] and despite receiving offers of a traineeship from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley, began his football career in the youth system of Darlington in June 2002.[4] He was included among the substitutes for the Division Three match against Carlisle United on 27 August, chosen in preference to the injured Danny Mellanby and the out-of-form Mark Sheeran, but remained unused.[5] The 16-year-old Alexander was given his debut the following Saturday, as a second-half substitute in the visit to Kidderminster Harriers. He entered the game together with Neil Wainwright and Phil Hadland just after the home side had taken a lead, and the energy of the fresh players helped Darlington exert enough pressure to draw the match.[6]

A trial with Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, in which he scored twice for their under-17 team against Tottenham Hotspur under-17s, came to nothing,[7] and Alexander made no more first-team appearances before December, when he joined Northern Premier League club Bishop Auckland on loan.[8] He returned to Darlington's first team in December 2003, when he made three appearances, each time as a late substitute.[9] After another brief loan spell with Bishop Auckland,[10] Alexander was released in April 2004 and signed for Billingham Synthonia.

He scored on his Northern League debut, against Dunston Federation,[11] and finished the season with the club. He then took up a place at Stetson University, in DeLand, Florida, where he played college soccer for the Stetson Hatters.[12] He helped them reach the 2004 Atlantic Sun Conference post-season tournament,[13] but was sent off in the quarter-final match which the Hatters lost after two periods of overtime.[14] He returned to Billingham Synthonia in January 2005,[15] and took his total appearances for the club to 18, with two goals.[16]

Alexander signed for Marske United in January 2006,[17] and was Billingham Town's top Northern League scorer in 2008–09 with 21 goals.[18] He joined Conference North club Blyth Spartans ahead of the next season, and scored six goals from 56 appearances in all competitions for them over two seasons.[19] He then signed for Northern League champions Spennymoor Town, but only four weeks into the season and having scored four times already, he was transfer-listed and returned to Blyth.[20] After four more games for Blyth, and a loan spell with Ashington during which he played once, in the Northern League Cup, Alexander signed for fellow Northern League club Norton & Stockton Ancients.[21] In March, he made a sideways move to Newcastle Benfield,[22] where he finished the season.

In 2012 pre-season, he had a trial with former club Darlington, who had lost most of their players after administrative demotion to the Northern League, but no contract ensued,[23] and he remained with Benfield until rejoining another former club, Marske United, in another sideways move in October.[24] He was their top scorer in 2013–14 with 21 goals in all competitions, 14 in league matches,[3] and started in the Northern League Cup final as Marske beat Whitley Bay 2–1 after extra time.[25] In October 2014, he joined yet another Northern League club, Crook Town.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "John Alexander". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Rollin, Glenda & Rollin, Jack, eds. (2003). Playfair Football Annual 2003–2004. London: Headline. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7553-1313-6.
  3. 1 2 "Top scorers". Marske United F.C. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Gray puts faith in youth as Quakers look to the future". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 7 June 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Tino's fitness warning". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 29 August 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "New tactics almost so costly for tinker Taylor". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 2 September 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Rovers extend unbeaten records". Lancashire Telegraph. 10 September 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "The UniBond League". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 13 December 2002. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Games played by John Alexander in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Next three are vital, Honour". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 22 March 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Albany Northern League". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 16 April 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Alexander paces Stetson". Orlando Sentinel. 10 October 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2014 – via Newsbank.
  13. ↑ Plaisted, Ed (10 November 2004). "Hatters punch postseason ticket – Stetson extends season after beating FAU". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved 4 December 2014 – via Newsbank.
  14. ↑ "Mercer rallies late to defeat Stetson in A-Sun Tournament". GoHatters.com. Stetson University. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "The Albany Northern League: Revenge over Prudhoe is the main driving force for Nissan". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 8 January 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "A–Z of 'The Synners' 1945/46 – 2013/14". Billingham Synthonia FC. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "Safety is the big incentive for Shildon ahead of crunch clash". The Northern Echo (Middlesbrough). 28 January 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "Division One Leading Scorers (League Only) 0809". Northern Football League. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "John Alexander". Blyth Spartans A.F.C. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  20. ↑ Simpson, Ray (14 September 2011). "Spennymoor exodus continues". The Northern Echo (Darlington). Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  21. ↑ "Colliers sign Alexander". Ashington A.F.C. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
    Simpson, Ray (8 November 2011). "Town debut tonight for Magowan". The Northern Echo (Darlington). Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  22. ↑ "March moves (part four)". Pitchero Non-League. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  23. ↑ Stoddart, Craig (16 July 2012). "Quakers parade trialists". The Northern Echo (Darlington). Retrieved 4 December 2014.
    "Gray goes cool on former Quakers". The Northern Echo (Darlington). 17 July 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  24. ↑ Simpson, Ray (5 October 2012). "Consett try to stop the Spennymoor juggernaut". The Northern Echo (Darlington). Retrieved 4 December 2014.
    "Match Report: Newcastle Benfield (Away)". Marske United F.C. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  25. ↑ "Marske win Northern League Cup after late spot kick drama against Whitley Bay". Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough). 7 May 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  26. ↑ Simpson, Ray (3 October 2014). "Whitley back in Vase qualifying for first time in eight years". The Northern Echo (Darlington). Retrieved 4 December 2014.

External links

John Alexander career statistics at Soccerbase

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