Dale Allan Watkins (born 4 November 1971) is an English former

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 played as a forward.

Career

Watkins began his career with

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. In 1991, Watkins signed for hometown club

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 ...

. At Peterborough, Watkins made ten Football League appearances, before dropping into Non-League football, playing for Peterborough City, Wisbech Town and Grantham Town. In January 1993, Watkins signed for

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...

. On 19 January 1993, Watkins scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on his full debut against Hinckley Town. Following the signing of

Carl Alford Carl Peter Alford (born 11 February 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He notably played in the Football League for Rochdale, Burnley and Stockport County, but spent most of his car ...

in 1996, Watkins became surplus to requirements at the club and subsequently signed for Gloucester City. During Watkins' time at Rushden & Diamonds, he scored 98 goals in 162 appearances in all competitions. At Gloucester, Watkins scored 35 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions in his single season at the club. In 1997, Watkins moved across

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, signing for

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

. Watkins enjoyed a successful spell whilst at Cheltenham, scoring 29 goals in his first season, winning the

1998 FA Trophy Final The 1998 FA Trophy Final was the 29th final of the FA Trophy, the Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. It was contested by Cheltenham Town F.C., Cheltenham Town and Southport F.C., Southport ...

and winning the

1998–99 Football Conference The Football Conference season of 1998–99 was the twentieth season of the Football Conference. Changes since the previous season * Doncaster Rovers F.C., Doncaster Rovers (relegated from the Football League 1997–98) * Barrow A.F.C., Barrow ( ...

. Following a four-game loan spell with

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

in the winter of 1999, Watkins joined the club permanently on 23 December 1999. Watkins made 71 league appearances, scoring 14 times for the club. In 2002, Watkins signed for

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

. During his time at the club, Watkins went out on loan to Grantham and King's Lynn, before joining the latter permanently. Following a spell at King's Lynn, Watkins joined Stamford, having spells out on loan with Yaxley and Blackstones, before joining Yaxley permanently in 2006.

References

1971 births Living people Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Footballers from Peterborough Sheffield United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Wisbech Town F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players Yaxley F.C. players Blackstones F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players England men's youth international footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers {{England-footy-forward-1970s-stub