John Alexander (footballer, born 1985)

John David 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.[2] 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.

John Alexander
Personal information
Full name John David Alexander[1]
Date of birth (1985-09-24) 24 September 1985[2]
Place of birth Middlesbrough, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Position(s) 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[4] (22)
2014– Crook Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Alexander was born in Middlesbrough,[2] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

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,[8] and Alexander made no more first-team appearances before December, when he joined Northern Premier League club Bishop Auckland on loan.[9] He returned to Darlington's first team in December 2003, when he made three appearances, each time as a late substitute.[10] After another brief loan spell with Bishop Auckland,[11] Alexander was released in April 2004 and signed for Billingham Synthonia.

He scored on his Northern League debut, against Dunston Federation,[12] 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.[13] He helped them reach the 2004 Atlantic Sun Conference post-season tournament,[14] but was sent off in the quarter-final match which the Hatters lost after two periods of overtime.[15] He returned to Billingham Synthonia in January 2005,[16] and took his total appearances for the club to 18, with two goals.[17]

Alexander signed for Marske United in January 2006,[18] and was Billingham Town's top Northern League scorer in 2008–09 with 21 goals.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] In March, he made a sideways move to Newcastle Benfield,[23] where he finished the season.

In 2012 pre-season, Alexander 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,[24] and he remained with Benfield until rejoining another former club, Marske United, in another sideways move in October.[25] He was their top scorer in 2013–14 with 21 goals in all competitions, 14 in league matches,[4] and started in the Northern League Cup final as Marske beat Whitley Bay 2–1 after extra time.[26] In October 2014, he joined yet another Northern League club, Crook Town.[27]

References
  1. "John Alexander". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  2. "John Alexander". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  3. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2003). Playfair Football Annual 2003–2004. London: Headline. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7553-1313-6.
  4. "Top scorers". Marske United F.C. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014.
  5. "Gray puts faith in youth as Quakers look to the future". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 7 June 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  6. "Tino's fitness warning". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 29 August 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  7. "New tactics almost so costly for tinker Taylor". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 2 September 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  8. "Rovers extend unbeaten records". Lancashire Telegraph. 10 September 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  9. "The UniBond League". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 13 December 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  10. "Games played by John Alexander in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  11. "Next three are vital, Honour". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 22 March 2004. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  12. "The Albany Northern League". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 16 April 2004. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  13. "Alexander paces Stetson". Orlando Sentinel. 10 October 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2014 – via Newsbank.
  14. 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.
  15. "Mercer rallies late to defeat Stetson in A-Sun Tournament". GoHatters.com. Stetson University. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  16. "The Albany Northern League: Revenge over Prudhoe is the main driving force for Nissan". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 8 January 2005. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  17. "A–Z of 'The Synners' 1945/46 – 2013/14". Billingham Synthonia FC. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  18. "Safety is the big incentive for Shildon ahead of crunch clash". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 28 January 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  19. "Division One Leading Scorers (League Only) 0809". Northern Football League. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  20. "John Alexander". Blyth Spartans A.F.C. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  21. Simpson, Ray (14 September 2011). "Spennymoor exodus continues". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  22. "Colliers sign Alexander". Ashington A.F.C. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
    Simpson, Ray (8 November 2011). "Town debut tonight for Magowan". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  23. "March moves (part four)". Pitchero Non-League. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  24. 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.
  25. 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. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  26. "Marske win Northern League Cup after late spot kick drama against Whitley Bay". Evening Gazette. Middlesbrough. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  27. Simpson, Ray (3 October 2014). "Whitley back in Vase qualifying for first time in eight years". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 4 December 2014.

John Alexander at Soccerbase

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