Will Hatfield

William Henry Hatfield (born 10 October 1991) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North club Darlington.[4] He began his career with Leeds United, but never made an appearance for their first team. He went on to play in the Football League for Accrington Stanley as well as in non-league football for York City, FC Halifax Town and Guiseley.

Will Hatfield

Hatfield playing for York City in 2011
Personal information
Full name	William Henry Hatfield[1]
Date of birth	10 October 1991[2]
Place of birth	Liversedge, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Darlington
Number	8
Youth career
199?–2010	Leeds United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2012	Leeds United	0	(0)
2011	→ York City (loan)	4	(0)
2011	→ Accrington Stanley (loan)	4	(0)
2012	FC Halifax Town	1	(0)
2012–2015	Accrington Stanley	83	(5)
2014	→ FC Halifax Town (loan)	6	(0)
2015	FC Halifax Town	11	(2)
2015–2019	Guiseley	144	(14)
2019–	Darlington	40	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:50, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Early life

Hatfield was born in Liversedge, West Yorkshire[5] and attended Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Bridge.[6]

Career

Hatfield came through the Leeds United youth system, having joined the club as an eight-year-old.[7] His first involvement in the first team came on 3 February 2010 as an unused substitute in a 3–1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in an FA Cup fourth-round replay.[8] Hatfield joined Conference Premier club York City on 28 January 2011 on a one-month loan,[9] playing four matches.[10]

He joined League Two club Accrington Stanley on 14 October 2011 on a one-month loan.[11] He made his debut the following day as a half-time substitute in a 2–0 home defeat to Swindon Town in League Two.[12] Having made four appearances, his loan was extended until the end of December 2011.[13] After his loan spell at Accrington ended, Hatfield and his Leeds teammate Sanchez Payne joined Conference Premier club Lincoln City on trial.[14]

Hatfield left Leeds on 12 January 2012 after agreeing to mutually terminate his contract.[15] He signed for Conference North club FC Halifax Town later that month,[16] making his debut on 24 January 2012 as a 66th-minute substitute in a 2–2 home draw with Gainsborough Trinity in the Conference North.[17]

On 10 February 2012, Hatfield re-signed for League Two club Accrington Stanley on a contract until the end of 2011–12 season.[18] He signed a new one-year contract with the club in June 2012.[19] He scored four goals in an FA Cup tie against AFC Fylde on 3 November 2012.[20]

Hatfield re-joined Conference Premier club FC Halifax Town on 27 November 2014 on a 28-day loan.[21] He signed for the club permanently on 15 January 2015 after leaving Accrington by mutual consent.[22] Hatfield signed for newly promoted National League club Guiseley on 19 June 2015,[23] and went on to spend four seasons with the club. He left Guiseley in July 2019 and signed for fellow National League North Club Darlington.[24]

Hatfield was named as Darlington's Away Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season, as well as winning their Goal of the Season award for his strike against Kidderminster Harriers),[25]

Career statistics

As of match played 16 January 2021

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
Leeds United	2009–10[26]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2010–11[27]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2011–12[12]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
York City (loan)	2010–11[10]	Conference Premier	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
Accrington Stanley (loan)	2011–12[12]	League Two	4	0	0	0	—		—		4	0
FC Halifax Town	2011–12[28]	Conference North	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Accrington Stanley	2011–12[12]	League Two	13	3	—		—		—		13	3
	2012–13[29]	League Two	32	2	1	4	1	0	0	0	34	6
	2013–14[30]	League Two	31	0	0	0	2	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	34	0
	2014–15[31]	League Two	7	0	0	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	9	0
	Total		83	5	1	4	4	0	2	0	90	9
FC Halifax Town	2014–15[17]	Conference Premier	17	2	—		—		3[lower-alpha 2]	0	20	2
Guiseley	2015–16[17]	National League	38	3	2	0	—		5[lower-alpha 2]	1	45	4
	2016–17[17]	National League	44	6	2	0	—		1[lower-alpha 2]	0	47	6
	2017–18[17]	National League	30	1	1	2	—		0	0	31	3
	2018–19[17]	National League North	32	4	3	1	—		0	0	35	5
	Total		144	14	8	3	—		6	1	158	18
Darlington	2019–20[17][32]	National League North	31	3	5	0	—		4[lower-alpha 2]	1	40	4
	2020–21[17][33]	National League North	8	0	2	0	—		3[lower-alpha 2]	2	13	2
	Total		40	3	7	0	—		7	3	54	6
Career total			293	25	16	7	4	0	18	4	331	36

1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
2. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy

References

1. "Professional retain list & free transfers: 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014.
2. "Will Hatfield". ESPN FC. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
3. "Will Hatfield". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
4. "Will Hatfield departs for Darlington". Guiseley A.F.C. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
5. "Will Hatfield". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
6. Geldard, Suzanne (8 June 2013). "Football the right choice for Accrington Stanley ace Hatfield". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
7. "Leeds United v Accrington Stanley: Hatfield relishing return to former club". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
8. "Leeds: Results/matches: 2009/10". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
9. "Leeds United's Will Hatfield goes to York City on loan". BBC Sport. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
10. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2011). Non-League Club Directory 2012. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-1-869833-70-1.
11. "Accrington Stanley sign Dobie and Hatfield". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
12. "Games played by Will Hatfield in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
13. "Accrington Stanley extend Will Hatfield loan from Leeds". BBC Sport. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
14. Flett, Dave (6 January 2012). "Match preview: Lincoln City v York City". The Press. York. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
15. "Midfielder allowed to move on". Leeds United F.C. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
16. "Altrincham FC archived news: January, 2012". Altrincham F.C. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
17. "W. Hatfield: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
18. Flanagan, Chris (20 February 2012). "Accrington Stanley cool Cook interest". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
19. Cryer, Andy (6 June 2012). "Hatfield commits future to Stanley". Lancashire Telegraph. Blackburn. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
20. "AFC Fylde 1–4 Accrington". BBC Sport. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
21. "Will Hatfield: FC Halifax sign Accrington Stanley midfielder". BBC Sport. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
22. "Hatfield back at the Shay". FC Halifax Town. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016.
23. "Will Hatfield: Guiseley sign former Accrington midfielder". BBC Sport. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
24. Stoddart, Craig (7 July 2018). "Will Hatfield becomes Darlington's latest arrival". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
25. "Will wins four awards and Alex wins young player of the year". Darlington F.C. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
26. "Games played by Will Hatfield in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
27. "Games played by Will Hatfield in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
28. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2012). Non-League Club Directory 2013. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 202–203. ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0.
29. "Games played by Will Hatfield in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
30. "Games played by Will Hatfield in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
31. "Games played by Will Hatfield in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
32. For FA Cup qualifying rounds: Simpson, Ray (21 September 2019). "Quakers win first FA Cup tie in five years". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
    Simpson, Ray (5 October 2019). "Tyrone and Justin put Quakers through". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
    Simpson, Ray (19 October 2019). "Two from Tyrone help to fire Quakers into the first round". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
    For FA Trophy third qualifying round: Simpson, Ray (23 November 2019). "Sub Justin scores the winner". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
33. For FA Cup 2nd qualifying round: Simpson, Ray (3 October 2020). "Quakers win penalty shootout to go through in Cup". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 3 October 2020.

External links

• Will Hatfield profile at the Guiseley A.F.C. website
• Will Hatfield at Soccerbase