Cheye Alexander

Cheye Christian Alexander (born 6 January 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for League One side AFC Wimbledon.

Cheye Alexander
Alexander with Barnet in 2020
Personal information
Full name Cheye Christian Alexander[1]
Date of birth (1995-01-06) 6 January 1995[2]
Place of birth Newham, England[3]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Position(s) Right-back
Club information
Current team
 AFC Wimbledon
Number 7
Youth career
2003–2013 West Ham United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Port Vale 0 (0)
2013–2014 → Ilkeston (loan) 9 (0)
2014 Concord Rangers 2 (0)
2014–2015 Bishop's Stortford 1 (0)
2015–2018 Aldershot Town 135 (5)
2018–2020 Barnet 77 (2)
2020– AFC Wimbledon 0 (0)
National team
2016 England C 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:33, 5 September 2020 (UTC)

A former West Ham United Academy graduate, he spent the 2013–14 season with Port Vale, though only played first-team games during a loan spell at Ilkeston. He had brief spells with Concord Rangers and Bishop's Stortford before joining Aldershot Town, initially on a non-contract basis, in March 2015. He remained with the club for just over three seasons, playing 146 games in league and cup competitions. He was signed by Barnet in June 2018 and spent two seasons with the club before he returned to the English Football League following a six-year absence after signing with AFC Wimbledon.

Club career

Early career

Born in Newham, Alexander supported his local team West Ham United as a child and joined their academy in 2003, remaining there for ten years before being released as an 18-year old in summer 2013.[4][5] He was diagnosed with Osgood–Schlatter disease, which causes knee pain but gave him a growth spurt during his last year as a schoolboy.[6] This meant that he had to play through the pain during the 2011–12 season, and though he managed to join the under-18 team during the 2012–13 season he was not given a professional contract by the club.[6] He instead signed a one-year deal with Port Vale, but did not make any first team appearances for the "Valiants". On 13 December 2013, he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division side Ilkeston on a one-month loan deal.[7] Vale manager Micky Adams confirmed that Alexander would not be offered a new contract in April 2014.[8]

On 5 September 2014, he signed with Conference South side Concord Rangers.[6] He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 win over Weston-super-Mare on 1 November and played a total of three games for the "Beach Boys".[3] On 28 November 2014, he joined fellow Conference South club Bishop's Stortford.[9] He played two games for the "Blues", one each in the league and FA Trophy.[3]

Aldershot Town

Alexander joined Aldershot Town on a non-contract basis on 3 March 2015.[10][11] He made his club debut in a 1–1 draw with Braintree Town on 11 April and played three further Conference Premier games by the end of the 2014–15 season.[3] He signed a one-year contract with the "Shots" in June 2015.[5] Manager Barry Smith said that "he's got all of the attributes of a full-back and he’ll play in the style that I want to play".[5]

He scored his first career goal on 22 August 2015, in a 4–0 win at Guiseley.[12] He scored two goals in 50 appearances across the 2015–16 campaign.[3] He signed a new one-year contract in June 2016, with manager Gary Waddock commenting that he felt he could improve the player further.[13] He made 45 appearances during the 2016–17 season, scoring one goal, as Aldershot qualified for the play-offs with a fifth-place finish. However they were beaten 5–2 on aggregate by Tranmere Rovers in the play-off semi-finals.[14]

On 19 August 2017, he scored from 25-yards out at Boreham Wood but claimed it meant nothing to him as the team lost the game 2–1.[15] He ended the 2017–18 season with two goals in 45 games, with Aldershot again claiming a play-off spot with a fifth-place finish. However this time they lost a penalty shoot-out to Ebbsfleet United after their play-off quarter-final game ended in a 1–1 draw at the Recreation Ground.[16] He was released by his own request in May 2018.[17] Upon his departure from the club he said that "I feel I have improved as a player and I’ve learned so much at Aldershot.... it's an amazing club that’s become a big part of my life".[18]

Barnet

On 26 June 2018, Alexander joined Barnet on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee, with "Bees" manager John Still admitting that he had tried to sign the player on previous occasions.[19] He scored two goals from 53 appearances during the 2018–19 campaign as Barnet posted a 12th-place finish in the National League. He scored two goals in 42 games during the 2019–20 season, which was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, with Barnet in the play-offs with a seventh-place finish. He turned down a short-term contract extension in June 2020 that would have kept him at The Hive Stadium for the delayed play-off campaign after informing manager Darren Currie that he had found a move to a club in the English Football League.[20]

AFC Wimbledon

On 23 July 2020, he returned to the Football League by signing for League One club AFC Wimbledon.[21] Manager Glyn Hodges said that he had impressed the club's scouts and that he hoped to have found a "hidden gem in non league" as they found with left-back Nesta Guinness-Walker the previous year.[21] He made his debut on 5 September, when he started an EFL Cup tie away at Oxford United.[22]

International career

Alexander played one game for the England C team, coming on as a substitute in an away win against Estonia U23 on 15 November 2016.[23]

Personal life

In 2016 Alexander set up his own brand, Christian Rose, combining his name with that of his younger sister 'Rose'.[24]

Career statistics
As of match played 5 September 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Port Vale 2013–14[3] League One 0000–0000
Ilkeston 2013–14 NPL Premier Division 9000–0090
Concord Rangers 2014–15[3] Conference South 2010––30
Bishop's Stortford 2014–15[3] Conference South 1000–1[lower-alpha 1]020
Aldershot Town 2014–15[3] Conference Premier 4000000040
2015–16[3] National League 46230001[lower-alpha 1]0502
2016–17[3] National League 42100003[lower-alpha 2]0451
2017–18[3] National League 43220002[lower-alpha 3]0472
Aldershot total 13555000601465
Barnet 2018–19[3] National League 43171003[lower-alpha 1]0532
2019–20[3] National League 34130005[lower-alpha 1]1422
Barnet total 7721010081954
AFC Wimbledon 2020–21[3] League One 0000100010
Career total 2247151101512709
  1. Appearances in FA Trophy
  2. Two appearances in FA Trophy, one appearance in National League play-offs
  3. One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in National League play-offs

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: AFC Wimbledon" (PDF). English Football League. p. 3. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. Cheye Alexander at Soccerbase
  3. Cheye Alexander at Soccerway
  4. "Cheye-sing his dreams | West Ham United". www.whufc.com. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. "Cheye Alexander Returns | Aldershot Town FC". theshots.co.uk. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. "Beachboys Bring in Ex-Hammer". nonleague.pitchero.com. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. "Striker Tyrell Waite rejoins Ilkeston from Notts County and Robins also sign Port Vale defender Cheye Alexander". Derby Telegraph. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. "Micky Adams wants positive finish to the season". The Sentinel. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  9. Whetstone, Sean (28 November 2014). "Former Hammer joins The Bishops". Claretandhugh. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  10. "Shots Sign Alexander | Aldershot Town FC". theshots.co.uk. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  11. "Alexander Joins The Shots". Pitchero Non-League. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  12. "Guiseley 0-4 Aldershot Town | Aldershot Town FC". Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  13. "Alexander and Saville commit to Aldershot Town". Alton Herald. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  14. "Tranmere Rovers 2-2 Aldershot Town (agg: 5-2)". BBC Sport. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  15. Seckington, Kaylee (21 August 2017). "Alexander: We didn't win our battles against Boreham Wood". SurreyLive. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  16. "Football Web Pages". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  17. "Six leave Shots after play-off defeat". BBC Sport. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  18. Youlton, Clive (17 May 2018). "Departing defender wants to play for Shots later in career". SurreyLive. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  19. "Transfer | Cheye Alexander signs for Barnet FC". www.barnetfc.com. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  20. "Darren Currie on player departures". www.barnetfc.com. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  21. Slavin, Chris (23 July 2020). "Glyn swoops to make first summer signing". www.afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  22. "Oxford United 1-1 AFC Wimbledon (4-2 on pens)". BBC Sport. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  23. Association, The Football (16 November 2016). "Goals from Elliott Whitehouse and Jamal Lowe secure ICT Final place for non-League XI". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  24. "About Us | Christian Rose Clothing". Christian Rose. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.