Jon-Paul Pittman

Jon-Paul Pittman

Pittman warming up with Wycombe Wanderers in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Jon-Paul Pittman[1]
Date of birth	24 October 1986[1]
Place of birth	Oklahoma City, United States
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Playing position	Striker / Winger
Club information
Current team	Grimsby Town
Number	18
Youth career
1995–1998	Aston Villa
1998–2005	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2005–2006	Nottingham Forest	0	(0)
2006	→ Hartlepool United (loan)	3	(0)
2006	→ Bury (loan)	9	(1)
2007	Doncaster Rovers	0	(0)
2007–2009	Crawley Town	61	(22)
2009–2011	Wycombe Wanderers	77	(14)
2011–2013	Oxford United	30	(5)
2011	→ Crawley Town (loan)	4	(1)
2013–2014	Wycombe Wanderers	10	(0)
2014–	Grimsby Town	52	(13)
National team
2008	England C	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:23, 08 February 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

Jon-Paul Pittman (born 24 October 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger or a striker for National League club Grimsby Town.

Pittman began his career in Aston Villa's academy before moving to Nottingham Forest's, where he spent eight years. This also included two loan spells at Hartlepool United and Bury. Following a short spell at Doncaster Rovers, he moved to Crawley Town. A five-figure move to Wycombe Wanderers followed, he then joined Oxford United and after a short return on loan to Crawley Town and then a season back at Wycombe, he joined Grimsby Town, on 28 July 2014.

Pittman has represented England at semi-professional level.

Club career

Early career

Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,^[1] Pittman's career started at Aston Villa's youth academy as an eight-year-old, before he moved to Nottingham Forest where he served his scholarship. He went on to appear in FA Cup and Football League Trophy fixtures in his penultimate season there. To gain experience whilst under the management of Gary Megson, he was loaned out to Hartlepool United. The following season he went to Bury on loan where he scored his first Football League goal in Bury's 3–1 home defeat to Chester City in August 2006.

Pittman's eight-year spell at Forest ended in December 2006. January 2007 saw him sign for Doncaster Rovers on a short-term deal to see him though until the end of the season. As a free agent Pittman was signed by Steve Evans at Crawley Town on 28 June 2007.

2009–2011: Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers' previous manager Peter Taylor put in a five-figure bid for Pittman. He officially signed for the Chairboys on 2 February 2009.^[2]

His first Wycombe goal was an important one, the winner in a 1–0 away victory at Dagenham & Redbridge on 17 February. The club celebrated promotion to League One that season, but were eventually relegated back to League Two the following season.

Back in League Two, Pittman scored a trademark goal during Wycombe Wanderers' 2010–11 season opener against Morecambe in a 2–0 victory.^[3] On 11 September 2010, he suffered a hamstring tendon injury and required surgery. This kept him out of action until mid-January, when he played 60 minutes in the reserves, scoring twice. Ultimately he scored four league goals in only six starts to help the club to a second promotion in three seasons. Pittman made 42 starts, 40 substitute appearances, and scored 17 goals in the Football League and FA Cup during two and a half seasons.^[4]

2011–2013: Oxford United

Having not been offered a new deal by Gary Waddock at Wycombe Wanderers, he was subsequently signed by League Two local rivals Oxford United on 19 May 2011, on a two-year contract.^[5]

2011: Crawley Town (loan)

Pittman made a surprise return to Crawley Town on a 93-day emergency loan.^[6] The winger scored once in four appearances, which aided in the sides eventual rise to League 1 later that season. This was Crawley's second successive promotion. Coincidentally, upon his return to Oxford in December 2011, he scored his first competitive goal for the club against Crawley Town in a 1–1 draw.^[7]

2013–2014: Second spell at Wycombe Wanderers

Pittman's Oxford exit came alongside eleven teammates who had also reached the end of their contracts. This alerted Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth, who had played alongside Pittman during his previous Wycombe spell, to resign the forward on a one-year deal.^[8]

2014–present: Grimsby Town

On 28 July 2014 Pittman signed for Conference Premier side Grimsby Town on a one-year contract,^[9] having spent time participating in pre-season, as a trialist beginning 21 July.^[10] Pittman entered the 2015 Conference Premier play-off final as a 70th minute substitute, in front of a Conference record 47,029 crowd at Wembley Stadium. The game was forced to penalties where Pittman missed the penultimate penalty in their 5–3 shootout loss against Bristol Rovers.^[11]

International career

England C manager Paul Fairclough called up Pittman, for whom he gained a cap against Italy in the 2007–09 International Challenge Trophy.

Career statistics

As of match played 3 October 2015.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nottingham Forest	2005–06[12]	League One	0	0	1	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	2	0
Hartlepool United (loan)	2005–06[12]	League One	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
Bury (loan)	2006–07[13]	League Two	9	1	—		1	0	—		10	1
Doncaster Rovers	2006–07[13]	League One	0	0	—		—		1[lower-alpha 1]	0	1	0
Crawley Town	2007–08[14]	Conference Premier	36	12	2	0	—		6[lower-alpha 2]	4	44	16
	2008–09[15]	Conference Premier	25	10	1	0	—		4[lower-alpha 3]	5	30	15
	Total		61	22	3	0	—		10	9	74	31
Wycombe Wanderers	2008–09[16]	League Two	17	3	—		—		—		17	3
	2009–10[17]	League One	41	7	2	1	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	2	45	10
	2010–11[18]	League Two	19	4	0	0	1	0	0	0	20	4
	Total		77	14	2	1	2	0	1	2	82	17
Oxford United	2011–12[19]	League Two	15	3	—		1	0	—		16	3
	2012–13[20]	League Two	15	2	2	1	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	19	3
	Total		30	5	2	1	2	0	1	0	35	6
Crawley Town (loan)	2011–12[19]	League Two	4	1	0	0	—		—		4	1
Wycombe Wanderers	2013–14[21]	League Two	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	11	0
Grimsby Town	2014–15[22]	Conference Premier	31	10	2	0	—		6[lower-alpha 4]	1	39	11
	2015–16[22]	National League	9	3	0	0	—		0	0	9	3
	Total		40	13	2	0	—		6	1	48	14
Career total			234	56	10	2	6	0	20	12	270	70

1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
2. Four appearances and two goals in FA Trophy, two appearances and two goals in Conference League Cup
3. Two appearances and one goal in Conference League Cup, two appearances and four goals in FA Trophy,
4. Three appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, three appearances in Conference Premier play-offs

Honours

Wycombe Wanderers

• Football League Two third place promotion: 2008–09, 2010–11

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 336. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
2. "Wycombe snap up striker Pittman". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
3. "Wycombe Off to Flier". AttackingSoccer. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
4. "'JP' Inspires Blues Victory". WWFC.com Sport. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
5. "Oxford United swoop for striker Jon-Paul Pittman". BBC Sport. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
6. "Oxford United striker Jon-Paul Pittman moves to Crawley". BBC Sport. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
7. "Oxford Utd 1 – 1 Crawley Town". BBC Sport. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
8. "JP's Back!". WWFC.com. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
9. "Grimsby Town snap up Jon-Paul Pittman and Craig Clay". 21 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
10. "No new Grimsby Town signing today – but striker joins on trial". 21 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
11. "Bristol Rovers 1–1 Grimsby". BBC Sport. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
12. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
13. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
14. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2008). Non-League Club Directory 2009. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 54–55. ISBN 9-781869-833596.
15. Williams, Tony; Wright, James, eds. (2009). Non-League Club Directory 2010. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 56–57. ISBN 9-781869-833664.
    "Ebbsfleet 4–4 Crawley". BBC Sport. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
16. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
17. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
18. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
19. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
20. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
21. "Games played by Jon-Paul Pittman in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
22. "J. Pittman". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 4 October 2015.

External links

• Jon-Paul Pittman profile at Grimsby Town F.C.
• Jon-Paul Pittman career statistics at Soccerbase