Alex William Purver (born 1 December 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Scarborough Athletic. Purver began his football career with home-town club Leeds United as a six-year-old, progressed through the academy to captain their under-21 team, but left in 2017 for National League club Guiseley, where he had already spent two spells

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

. Two years later, he signed professional terms for Östersund, for which he made eight

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

appearances over an 18-month contract. He returned to England and spent two seasons with Darlington before joining another National League North club, Scarborough Athletic, in 2023.

Life and career

Purver was born in 1995 in Leeds. He joined Leeds United's academy as a six-year-old, took up a two-year scholarship in 2012, and in his first season as a scholar, was a regular in the under-18 side that won the U18 Professional Development League North Divisiontheir record included a 12-match unbeaten runand reached the fifth round of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. Purver signed a one-year professional contract in 2014, and was given a first-team squad number. He regularly captained their under-21 team in 2014–15, although he played less in his preferred position of central midfielder than he did filling in at right back or elsewhere, and travelled with Neil Redfearn's squad for a Championship match at Birmingham City, but was not in the matchday 18. Purver's contract was extended for a further year in 2015, and again in 2016, when he played in first-team pre-season friendlies, and then went

to Guiseley to gain experience of competitive men's football. He was a regular in the team, playing 21 National League matches and scoring twice before returning to his parent club in January 2017. Having had no further involvement with Leeds' first team, Purver rejoined Guiseley in March on loan to the end of the season, before joining the club permanently on 1 August 2017 after his release from Leeds. He began the new season in the Guiseley team, but his progress was disrupted by a combination of a heavy defeat at Leyton Orient on 2 September in which he conceded two

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, a change of management and a hamstring injury, and he did not return to the side until late November. Against a background of "constant chopping and changing" of players and a second managerial dismissal, Purver finished the season with 28 league appearances, mainly as a starter, as Guiseley were relegated to the National League North. He was one of just nine players retained, and missed only one match in all competitions over the 2018–19 season. He helped Guiseley progress from the second qualifying round of the FA Cup to the second round proper. In the first round, Guiseley took a 4–0 lead before League Two opponents Cambridge United scored three times to produce a nervy finish. In the second round, defensive errors helped Fleetwood Town of League One score twice in three minutes; within two minutes, Purver returned the goalkeeper's poor clearance back over his head and into the net from to reduce the deficit, but Guiseley were unable to find an equaliser. At the end of the season, Purver was invited for a trial with Swedish club Östersunds FK. The trial was successful, and in July 2019 he signed an 18-month deal. He made his debut for Östersund on 21 July, playing the whole of a 3–0 loss to

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

in the

. He made eight Allsvenskan appearances before leaving the club when his contract expired. While playing semi-professionally for Guiseley, Purver had coached at the Leeds United academy, and after he joined Östersund, he set up a coaching programme for individuals and small groups in the city. After returning to England, Purver trained with Hartlepool United with the intention of signing a short-term deal, but the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant he was unable to find a new club. On 5 July 2021, he signed for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

of the National League North. He made his debut as a first-half substitute in Darlington's first match of the season, a 3–2 defeat at home to Alfreton Town. He played in every match in all competitions in the 2022–23 seasonall but two as a starterand won both the Darlington Supporters' and Players' Player of the Year awards. In May 2023, he joined National League North rivals Scarborough Athletic.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Supporters' Player of the Year:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* Darlington Players' Player of the Year: 2022–23

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purver, Alex Living people 1995 births Footballers from Leeds Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Leeds United F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Östersunds FK players Darlington F.C. players Scarborough Athletic F.C. players National League (English football) players Allsvenskan players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden