Adam Christian Buckley (born 2 August 1979) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

from 1996 to 2013. Buckley played as a professional in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Grimsby Town and Lincoln City between 1998 and 2003, after coming through the youth ranks at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. He then forged a career in non-league football and has played for Brigg Town, Harrowby United, Stamford,

Spalding United Spalding United Football Club is a football club based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Sir Halley Stewart Field. History The club was established in 1905 when Fulney Institute and Vic ...

, Bourne Town, Lincoln Moorlands Railway, Sleaford Town,

Nettleham Nettleham is a large village and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, north-east from the city of Lincoln between the A46 and A158. The population of the civil parish was 3,437 at the 2011 census. History ...

and Gainsborough Town.

Career

Grimsby Town

Buckley first got his break in the professional game with

as an academy player in 1996, This was while his father,

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, Wa ...

was the club's manager. With limited chances though he failed to make the grade and step up to the first team at Albion, prompting Buckley to eventually follow his father to Grimsby Town in 1997, when Alan re-took the managerial post at

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

for the second time. He made his debut for Grimsby in a First Division defeat to Swindon Town on 24 April 1998. He would make one further appearance that season in another away defeat, this time to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. The following season, Buckley was eased into first-team action by his father, and was a regular presence on the bench during the 1999–00 campaign. During his time with The Mariners Buckley was cast aside by Grimsby supporters as a player who only featured professionally because his father was the club's manager. There may have been truth in that factor as following the departure of his father from his managerial role in September 2000, Buckley junior failed to be included in any of new manager's Lennie Lawrence's teams. With this he would not even make the Grimsby substitute bench during the 2000–01, and to add to this he also struggled to hold down a place in the club's reserve team and in July 2001, his contract with Grimsby was cancelled by mutual consent.

Lincoln City

In July 2001, Buckley joined his father once again, agreeing a two-year contract with Lincoln City. He made his

debut, as a substitute, for Lincoln in the 3–0 home victory over

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

on 25 August and was a regular presence in the first-team squad during his first season, making a total of 31 league appearances, 12 of which came from the substitutes bench. In April 2002, due to financial constraints,

departed Lincoln, and under new manager Keith Alexander chances were rare. Buckley would make only three league appearances, all from the substitutes bench, during the 2002–03 season with a further three appearances in cup competitions. The season did, however, bring Buckley his only goal in his professional career when he netted a free-kick in the 2–1 home defeat to Shrewsbury Town in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

on 12 November 2002. Buckley like at Grimsby also found cast aside by the Lincoln City supporters for only playing a part in first team affairs because his father was the team's manager. His career at Lincoln ended when he was arrested over allegations of theft from the club's ground in May 2003. In June 2003 he was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after pleading guilty to four counts of theft from his teammates.

Non-League

Buckley then moved into

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

. He had an unsuccessful trial with Ilkeston Town, which was followed by a short spell with Brigg Town. He then joined Harrowby United in March 2004. In October 2005, he signed for Stamford, linking up with his former Harrowby boss Graham Drury. In February 2006, Buckley joined

on loan, debuting in the defeat to Kidsgrove Athletic on 19 February 2006; the move became permanent in April 2006. He was released by Spalding in September 2006 and was next heard of at Bourne Town, making his debut in the 4–0 home defeat to St Neots Town on 7 March 2007. After an unsuccessful trial with

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

in August 2007, Buckley linked up with

for a second time. Buckley then moved on to play with Lincoln Moorlands Railway in 2008. He made a brief sojourn to Sleaford Town, appearing for the club in a 1–1 friendly draw with

Lincoln United Lincoln United Football Club is a football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Ashby Avenue. Nicknamed the Whites after their home kit colours, they have played at Ashby Avenue since thei ...

on 12 November 2008, before returning to Moorlands. In September 2010, he joined Sleaford Town debuting in the 1–0

United Counties Football League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckinghamshi ...

Premier Division home victory over St Ives Town on 11 September 2010. He moved on to play in the Lincoln Sunday League Premier Division for Welton Sports and joined

on the Saturdays. He then moved back to Lincoln Moorlands Railway for the remainder of the 2011–12 season before joining newly elected

Lincolnshire League The Lincolnshire Football League is an English football league. The league has one division, which stands at level 11 of the English football league system). History The League runs a representative side that compete in the FA Inter League Cup. ...

side Gainsborough Town in August 2012. Buckley failed to make a single appearance for Town and briefly re-joined Moorlands Railway where he eventually ceased playing competitive football in 2013.

Personal life

He is the son of former Grimsby Town manager

, he played for his father while at West Bromwich Albion, Grimsby and Lincoln. He is also the nephew of the former Derby County and Lincoln City player, Steve Buckley. His elder brother Simon also had a short stint as a professional footballer and was contracted to Grimsby Town, West Bromwich Albion and

but failed to make an appearance in the

. His career at Lincoln ended when he was arrested over allegations of theft from the club's ground in May 2003. In June 2003 he was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after pleading guilty to four counts of theft from his teammates. Buckley's son

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

currently plays for Cleethorpes Town.

References

External links

Lincoln City F.C. Official Archive ProfileUnofficial Adam Buckley Profile
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The Forgotten Imp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, Adam 1979 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English footballers Association football midfielders West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Brigg Town F.C. players Harrowby United F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players Bourne Town F.C. players Lincoln Moorlands Railway F.C. players Sleaford Town F.C. players Nettleham F.C. players Gainsborough Town F.C. players Winterton Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players English criminals