Adrian Lewis Clifton (born 12 December 1988) is an English born Montserratian

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 ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

and the Montserrat national team.

Club career

Isthmian League

Clifton started his career in the youth ranks of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, developing with the club from the ages of 11 to 15, followed by spells with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He served three prison sentences as a youngster before heading into non-league football. During his last prison sentence he featured on

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

's TV show Football Behind Bars. The midfielder joined

Isthmian League Division One North The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

side

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

ahead of the 2011–12 season, having impressed in a pre-season trial. After a short stint playing in the non-

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TTFF League for Yalova, Clifton returned and scored on his debut in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Unable to reproduce the form he displayed in the summer, he left the club at the end of the season. Clifton joined

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

in August 2012, and took the captain's armband and while featuring regularly for the first team. In April 2013, Clifton left Waltham Forest to join East Thurrock United. Having declined several offers from teams in the Isthmian Division One North, he finally left in order to climb the ranks to the

Isthmian Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

. His final game for Forest saw him score a hat-trick against Ilford.

National League

Clifton featured nine times for East Thurrock United in the final month of the season, recording seven wins and two draws. However, in May 2015 he was snapped up by National League South side

, who had been previously watching the midfielder. He won the Manager's Player of the Season award in 2013/14, and was nicknamed 'Yaya' after comparisons with

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an academy coach for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Touré aspired to be a striker during his you ...

. At the end of his second season with the Magpies, he helped the club lift their first

Berks & Bucks Senior Cup The Berks & Bucks FA County Senior Cup is the Senior County Cup competition of the Berks & Bucks FA, which first took place in 1878–79 – a time when the FA Cup had only been going for seven years, there was no Football League, and most countr ...

in four years, scoring in the 4–0 final win over

Aylesbury United Aylesbury United Football Club is a football club based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. They are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Chesham United's Meadow ground, having been evicted from their ...

. After two seasons at York Road, Clifton became Lee Bradbury's first signing at

Havant & Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, after relegation from the National League in the ...

, joining in the summer of 2015 on a two-year contract. After suffering an injury that ruled him out for four months, Clifton joined

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

side

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

on a one-month loan in February 2016. He made four appearances in his time with the club before returning to Havant. He joined Staines permanently for the 2016–17 season. On 22 July 2017,

's official Twitter account announced that Clifton had once again signed for them. Clifton scored a brace against

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

on 24 October 2017, though many sources incorrectly stated that he scored a hat-trick. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Clifton won all five awards at the Magpies' end of season awards, winning the Player of the Season awards from each of the players, manager and supporters, the Golden Boot award with 15 goals in all competitions, and the Goal of the Season award. On 3 May 2019, it was announced that Clifton would join

for the 2019–20 season.Adrian Clifton signs for Bromley
/ref> On 18 September 2020, Clifton signed for Dagenham & Redbridge. He was released by Dagenham along with five others in June 2021 following the expiration of his contract. On 3 September 2021, Clifton signed for Boreham Wood. After coming on as a substitute to score in Wood’s FA Cup second round tie with St Albans City, Clifton then repeated the trick against AFC Wimbledon in round three to set up a clash with Championship high-flyers AFC Bournemouth. Clifton came on as a late substitute as Boreham Wood exited the competition in front of a 38,836 crowd at Goodison Park in the fifth round. On 27 June 2022, Maidenhead United announced that Clifton had re-joined the club for a third spell. On 17 February 2023, he joined Hampton & Richmond Borough on loan.

International career

Clifton made his international debut for

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

on 31 March 2015, featuring in a 2–2 draw with

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

during 2018 World Cup qualification.

Personal life

Clifton works as a gas engineer.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Montserrat's goal tally first.''

Honours

;Maidenhead United *

: 2014–15, 2016–17 (final played in 2017–18 pre-season)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton, Adrian 1988 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney Montserratian footballers Montserrat international footballers English footballers English people of Montserratian descent Romford F.C. players Waltham Forest F.C. players East Thurrock United F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Association football forwards Black British sportspeople