Benjamin Philip Pringle (born 25 July 1988) is an English 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 ...

who plays 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 ...

for

UAE Second Division League UAE Second Division League is the third tier of football league competition in the United Arab Emirates, the league is organised by UAE Football Association for private funded clubs and universities with amateur teams. The league was established ...

club Fleetwood United. He has notably played for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

with further spells 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 ...

with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

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 ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

, Gillingham and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

. Prior to his professional career he had played at Non-League level for

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, it won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Divi ...

Morpeth Town Morpeth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Morpeth, Northumberland, England. They are currently members of the and play at Craik Park. History The club was established in 1909. They joined the Northern Alliance in 193 ...

and Ilkeston Town.

Early life

Pringle was born and raised in

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...

, Tyne and Wear.

Career

Early career

Pringle started his career at

Wallsend Boys Club Wallsend Boys Club is an English youth football club based in Wallsend, North Tyneside. The club is well known for producing professional footballers; more than 65 players from the club have gone on to play professionally, some of them even ...

, before joining the youth system 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 ...

. After being released by

, he joined Non League side

before a spell at

Ilkeston Town

In 2008 joined Ilkeston Town. At Ilkeston he made a total of 54 competitive first team appearances, scoring 6 goals.

Derby County

In May 2009 it was announced he was moving to

on a one-year deal, with the move set to be completed in July. He made his Derby debut as an 80th-minute substitute against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

on 8 August 2009. The following game of the 2009–10 football season, Pringle started his first game for Derby in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

2–1 loss to

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 ...

side

. Pringle signed an extension to his Derby deal to take him through to the end of the 2010–11 season on 11 December 2009. Pringle was captain of the Derby County reserves side that won the 2009–10 Central League Central Section title and was also named the club's Young Player of the Season for the campaign. He was handed his first League start in the final game of the 2009–10 season against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in a 2–0 win and earned the supporter's Man of the Match award. In February 2011, Pringle's contract was extended until summer 2012.

Torquay United (loan)

In March 2011, Pringle joined then League Two outfit

on a months loan. Pringle spent just 19 days of the loan at Torquay, playing five games, but returned to Derby after expressing a desire to fight for a place in the Derby first team rather than remain at Plainmoor. Upon his return to Derby, despite having had his contract extended at the end of the 2010–11 campaign, Pringle was told he was free to find another club.

Rotherham United

On 3 June 2011, it was revealed he had agreed personal terms with Rotherham United. The transfer was confirmed later that day, with Pringle joining ''The Millers'' on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract. He made his first team debut for Rotherham at home to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

on 6 August 2011, and scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

on 16 August.Career stats summary at Soccerbase
/ref> He had made nine appearances for Rotherham up until mid-October but following his substitute appearance versus Bristol Rovers he had not played again for them as of mid-February. However, he was an unused sub in Rotherham's game against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

on 18 February. Pringle's form contributed greatly to the clubs' automatic promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

at the end of the 2012–13 season. On 18 January 2013, Pringle signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract with Rotherham. His goals and assists during the 2013–14 season helped Rotherham reach the League One playoff final. Pringle played in the final, and after a 2–2 draw, Rotherham earned promotion after beating

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

4–3 on penalties to earn a second successive promotion. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Pringle was voted in the 2013–14 Football League One PFA Team of the Year. On 9 August 2014, Pringle started for Rotherham in their opening fixture of

The Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

season in a 1–0 defeat against his former club Derby County. On 23 August 2014, Pringle scored his first goal in the Championship with a winner in Rotherham's 1–0 victory against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. On 9 January 2015, Rotherham agreed a fee with Millwall for Pringle, however Pringle turned down the move to the club. On 27 January 2015, Pringle scored his second goal of the season in a 4–2 victory against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

where he was also named man of the match.

Fulham

On 19 June 2015, Pringle signed for

on a two-year contract, joining on the same day as goalkeeper

Andy Lonergan Andrew Michael Lonergan (born 19 October 1983) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton. Lonergan is a former England ...

Ipswich Town (loan)

Pringle joined

on an initial one-month loan on 12 February 2016.

Preston North End

On 4 July 2016, Pringle signed for

on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. On 31 August 2018, Pringle joined

on a season-long loan. However, his loan was cut short, with Pringle joining League Two rivals

on 22 January 2019 He was released by Preston at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Gillingham

In September 2019, Pringle joined Gillingham on a contract intended to run until the end of the season. He went on to make 11 appearances for the Kent side in all competitions, but was released at the conclusion of the 2019–20 season.

Morecambe

On 10 August 2020, Pringle joined

side

on a one-year deal. He was released by the club's new manager in June 2021 after the club had won promotion through the playoffs.

Altrincham

On 3 August 2021, Pringle joined

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 ...

side

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

following his release from Morecambe. He was released at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Fleetwood United

Ahead of the 2023–24 season, Pringle joined Fleetwood United as a player/coach, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

-based sister club to

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

Honours

Ilkeston Town *

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Premier Division play-offs:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Rotherham United *

Football 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 ...

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Tranmere Rovers *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Morecambe *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2013–14 League One *

Young Player of the Year: 2009–10 * Ilkeston Town Player of the Year: 2008–09

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Ben 1988 births Living people People from Whitley Bay Footballers from Tyne and Wear English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Wallsend Boys Club players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Newcastle Blue Star F.C. players Morpeth Town A.F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Derby County F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players