Christopher Lee Clements (born 6 February 1990) is an English footballer 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

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove district in northeast Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow. The Lickey Hills Country Park is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the northwest. It is south of Bir ...

. He has played in the Football League with

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 ...

, Mansfield Town,

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 t ...

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

and Cheltenham Town, in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

with ÍBV and in Non-league football for Barrow,

Nantwich Town Nantwich Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1884 and is nicknamed ''The Dabbers'', a reference to the town's tanning industry. They currently compete in and pla ...

, Leigh Genesis, Stafford Rangers, Hednesford Town and Stafford Rangers.

Career

Crewe Alexandra

Clements began his career with

as a member of the club's renowned academy. His career debut came in a loan spell at

in 2008. Following this loan, Clements was sent out on loan to Leigh Genesis during the 2008–09 season, and also to Stafford Rangers, before signing his first professional contract with Crewe. Having signed his first contract, in 2009 Clements was loaned out once more, this time alongside A-Jay Leitch-Smith, to Icelandic club ÍBV, before returning to England early due to an injury crisis at his parent club. Clements made his debut for Crewe on 7 November 2009, in a 3–2

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 ...

first round defeat away at Conference National side

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

; starting on the substitutes' bench, he replaced James Bailey in the 90th minute. This proved to be Clements' only appearance for Crewe; at the end of the 2009–10 season, when his contract expired, he was released by the club.

Hednesford Town

In the summer of 2010, Clements joined Hednesford Town; he had a two-season stint at the club. He picked up the young player of the year award at the end of the 2011–12 season at the Northern Premier League's annual event.

Mansfield Town

Clements played as a trialist for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

's reserve side in a 3–1 win over

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 ado ...

on 30 April 2012. In spite of the trial being unsuccessful, Clements was signed by Mansfield Town at the beginning of June 2012. After helping the Stags to the 2012–13 Conference National title, Clements was awarded a new contract at the club for 2013–14.

Grimsby Town

On 18 January 2017, Clements signed an 18-month contract with newly promoted

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

. He scored the opening goal on his debut for the club on 4 February 2017, a 56th-minute header, in a 1–1 draw against

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 ...

. Clements didn't feature in a first team game for Grimsby during the 2017–18 campaign, mainly due to personal reasons and the need to gain match fitness. He 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 Barrow on 29 September 2017 on a three-month loan deal. He debuted one day later in their 1–0 home defeat against

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

, and made seven appearances for Barrow before the loan expired on 25 November 2017. Clements joined newly promoted League Two side

on 31 January 2018, transfer deadline day, until the end of season. He debuted three days later, coming on in the 63rd minute as a substitute, in their 2–1 home victory against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. On 24 May 2018 Clements was released by Grimsby.

Cheltenham Town

In August 2018, Clements joined Cheltenham Town on a short-term deal. In May 2019 he signed a new one-year contract to remain at Cheltenham for the 2019-20 season. He helped Cheltenham reach the 2019-20 League Two play-offs, only for the team to bow out losing 3-2 on aggregate to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

over two legs. In August 2020, he signed a new one-year contract to stay at Cheltenham for the 2020-21 season.

Non-league

On 18 September 2021, Clements signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

. On 22 September 2022, Clements departed Nuneaton Borough to return to league rivals Hednesford Town, ten years after departing the club previously. Clements returned to Stafford Rangers during the 2022–23 season. In June 2023, Clements signed for

Career statistics

Honours

Player

Hednesford Town * Southern League Cup (1): 2010–11 Mansfield Town *

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-profess ...

Champions: 2012–13

Cheltenham Town

Champions: 2020-21

Individual

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 ...

Young Player of the Year award: 2011–12

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Chris Living people 1990 births English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players Leigh Genesis F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja players Hednesford Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Alvechurch F.C. players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players English Football League players Southern Football League players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands