Daniel Mitchley (born 7 October 1989) 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 ...
who plays as a
forward for
Skelmersdale United
Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footb ...
.
Career
From youth team to first team at Blackpool
Born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, Mitchley played at
Skelmersdale United
Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footb ...
until he was 15 years old. He then spent one season with the
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 be ...
Centre of Excellence, followed by a short spell with
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
's Centre of Excellence, before joining Blackpool, where he became a regular starter for the youth team in the
Football League Youth Alliance, North West Conference.
By December 2007 Mitchley had scored 25 goals in just twelve matches for Blackpool's youth and reserve teams, and despite only just having turned eighteen, Blackpool manager
Simon Grayson
Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru.
As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in ...
stated that he was "not frightened of throwing him into the action if I need to." Mitchley had been training with the first-team squad and had already travelled with them when he was included in the squad that went to
Scunthorpe United.
Grayson also confirmed that Mitchley would be training with the first team over the Christmas period and that he was close to a first team call up.
By February 2008, Mitchley had scored 35 goals for the youth and reserve team in the 2007–08 season. However, he then suffered a broken foot, which kept him out of action for the rest of the season.
On 4 March 2008 Mitchley was offered his first professional contract, together with youth-team captain, Ashton Bayliss.
On 6 May he won two awards at the club's annual presentation night: the Blackpool Supporters Association Young Player of the Year, and the Chris Muir Memorial Trophy for Young Player.
He made his return from injury on 15 October 2008 in a reserve-team match at
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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
.
He was then included in the Blackpool squad for the first time in the
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 ...
home match against
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 188 ...
on 21 October 2008, but was an unused substitute as ''the Seasiders'' won 3–2.
Four days later, he made his professional debut when he came on as a late second-half substitute in the 89th minute for
Gary Taylor-Fletcher at
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...
in a 2–2 draw with
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
.
Mitchley started the
2009–10 season with Blackpool and was twice an unused substitute. Firstly in ''the Seasiders'' 2–1
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 ...
victory 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 ...
at
Gresty Road
Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153.
History
Cre ...
on 11 August 2009. Then again on 15 August in a 1–1 draw with
Cardiff City at Bloomfield Road. Mitchley spent most spells of 2009 and 2010 on loan at various lower league clubs. He was released by Blackpool in June 2010.
Loan moves whilst at Blackpool
On 27 March 2009, Mitchley signed for
Conference North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...
side
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Iris ...
on loan for the rest of the
2008–09 season.
He made his debut as a substitute the following day in the Sandgrounders 3–2 win over
Stafford Rangers at
Haig Avenue
Haig Avenue is a football stadium in Blowick, Southport, Merseyside, England, that holds 6,008 people (1,660 seated, 4,164 standing) Since its opening in 1905 it has been the home ground of Southport F.C. Everton Reserves also use the stadium f ...
. He made a total of seven league appearances for Southport.
On 18 August 2009 he was loaned out to
Northern Premier League side
Burscough
Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale.
The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin ...
, along with fellow Blackpool player Mark Halstead. He made his debut on 22 August in a 0–4 home defeat to
King's Lynn at
Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to:
Places Australia
* Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales
* Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse
* Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...
.
[ ] After two more substitute appearances, Mitchley made his full debut on 15 September in a 0–1 home loss to
Stocksbridge Park Steels.
[ ]
On 25 March 2010, Mitchley joined
Conference National side
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
on a one-month loan deal.
He made his debut two days later in a 3–0 win over
Histon
Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In ...
at the
Racecourse Ground
The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C.
It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home ...
.
Non-league
On 27 October 2010, Burscough announced that they have captured the signing of Mitchley. He had a trial with
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
prior to him re-joining Burscough. He began his second stint at Burscough with a 3–2 defeat against
F.C. Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 seaso ...
.
Mitchley signed for
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
in November 2010 and scored on his debut against
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 ...
, however was on the losing side, going down 2–1. He was originally released by Mansfield in May 2011, with still a year left on his contract, however he returned in the pre-season. Mansfield boss
Paul Cox stated that Mitchley did not feature in his plans for 2011–12.
He joined
Nuneaton Town
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 to ...
on loan, and after scoring twice on his debut in the FA Cup, he failed to score again in 18 league appearances. He signed for
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 ...
in the summer of 2012.
Having struggled to break into the first team at Altrincham with only a handful of first team appearances, he went out on a 1-month loan spell to Marine. After returning to Altrincham, he had a second loan spell, this time at Kendal Town, where he scored on his debut.
Leaving
Marine after four seasons, Mitchley moved to
Radcliffe FC in the summer 2019. On 20 December 2019, he was loaned out to
Witton Albion for one month. The deal was later extended for one mont further and he returned to Radcliffe on 20 February 2020.
Danny Mitchley Returns To Radcliffe
betvictornorthernpremier.co.uk, 20 February 2020
In August 2020, he re-signed for Skelmersdale United
Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footb ...
of the North West Counties Football League, having spent five years away from the club.
Career statistics
Honours
;Blackpool
* Football League Championship play-off winner (1): 2009–10
;Mansfield Town
* FA Trophy runner up (1): 2011
*Challenge Cup winner 1): 2015-16
References
External links
*
Danny Mitchley profile
at blackpoolfc.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchley, Danny
Living people
1989 births
English men's footballers
Altrincham F.C. players
Blackpool F.C. players
English Football League players
Southport F.C. players
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Mansfield Town F.C. players
Footballers from Liverpool
Burscough F.C. players
Nuneaton Borough F.C. players
Marine A.F.C. players
Skelmersdale United F.C. players
Kendal Town F.C. players
Radcliffe F.C. players
Witton Albion F.C. players
Men's association football forwards