Andrew Mark Drury (born 28 November 1983) is an English

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 ...

and football manager, who currently plays for

Isthmian League 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 ...

South East Division club Chatham Town. He started his career in non-League football for

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

in 2001, moving to Gravesend & Northfleet in 2003. He remained with the club for three seasons before signing for

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side Lewes in 2006. In 2008, Drury moved up a division to the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

, signing for

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

. In 2009, Drury won the FA Trophy with the club and, the next season, won promotion to

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 ...

. He opted against signing a new contract, instead joining Conference Premier side

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. He remained at Luton for half a season before his strong performances attracted the interest of

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. In January 2011 he moved to

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internation ...

in a transfer worth £150,000. He played in 64 games for Ipswich, alongside a loan spell at

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, before leaving in 2013 to sign for Crawley on a two-year contract. In June 2014, Drury signed for his former club Luton Town, now newly promoted to League Two, for a £100,000 fee. His second spell at the club ended by mutual consent a year early. Drury then went to play for

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

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 ...

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

and

Folkestone Invicta Folkestone Invicta Football Club is a association football, football club based in Folkestone, Kent, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cheriton Road. History The club was established in 1936 and joined the East Kent Wedne ...

before becoming the manager of

club Whitstable Town.

Playing career

Early career

He started his club career at

, making 107 appearances before moving onto Gravesend and Northfleet (now Ebbsfleet United). He then went on to play for Lewes before a move up a division to Stevenage. At Stevenage, he won both the 2008-09 FA Trophy and the

title, before making a short move to

. His performance in Luton's 2–2

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 ...

draw with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

, in which he scored two goals, brought him to the attention of clubs higher up the football pyramid, including

Ipswich Town

On 31 January 2011, Drury signed for Ipswich Town in a £150,000 move, signing a -year deal. He made his league debut coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute, replacing Lee Martin in a 6–0 away win against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. He made his home debut the following weekend against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

, his first start for the club. After the game, Drury said: He was not offered a new contract and left Ipswich in the summer of 2013, having made 64 appearances for the club.

Crawley Town

Drury joined

as a 93-day emergency loanee on 15 September 2011. He scored on his debut for the club two days later in a 3–1 victory over

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

. He returned to Ipswich when his loan spell expired, and was immediately selected for the New Year match against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

boss Steve Evans said after the loan, "The reality is despite how much I wanted him, the clubs could not agree on a transfer fee. I also think maybe his wages could have been a problem because it should not be forgotten they were heavily subsidised by Ipswich when he was on loan with us." On 17 June 2013, Drury signed a new two-year contract with Crawley after being released by

Luton Town (second spell)

Drury rejoined

for a £100,000 fee on 30 June 2014 after two previous bids had been rebuffed by Crawley. He made his debut on the opening game of the season, starting in a 1–0 win away to Carlisle United. Drury's second spell at the club never reached the heights of the first, and in July 2015 his contract was cancelled a year early by mutual consent.

Non-League

On 14 July 2015, Drury signed 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

. Drury joined Isthmian League Premier Division club

as player-assistant manager in May 2021 before departing the club following the departure of manager Danny Kedwell in December 2021. In January 2022, Drury signed for

Premier Division side

. Following spells as manager at Whitstable Town and

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

, he resumed his playing career by signing for

South East Division club Chatham Town in January 2023.

Managerial career

On 22 March 2022,

South East Division side Whitstable Town announced the appointment of Drury as club manager. Following the departure of Jay Saunders, Drury was appointed manager of Isthmian League Premier Division club

. He was dismissed on 26 December 2022 with Margate 16th in the table.

Honours

Lewes *

: 2007–08 Stevenage Borough * FA Trophy: 2008–09 *

: 2009–10

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drury, Andy 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Chatham, Kent Footballers from Kent English footballers Men's association football midfielders Sittingbourne F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players Folkestone Invicta F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Isthmian League managers Margate F.C. managers