David Staff (born 8 November 1979) 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 le ...

, born in

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...

, who played 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 ...

for

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

. He is currently a coach at Brackley Town . Before joining

in August 2004, Staff played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for clubs including

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 ...

, Stamford and

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

, who he joined on transfer deadline day in 2002, making his Linnets debut on 1 April 2002 against Cambridge City. Despite King's Lynn's relegation to the Southern League Eastern Division at the end of that season, Staff remained with The Linnets. He initially played in a midfield role which he hated because he was lazy and hated running, but latterly became utilized in a more attacking role. He scored 20 goals in all competitions in the 2002/03 season, and was King's Lynn's leading scorer in the 2003/04 season with 23 goals in all competitions, helping King's Lynn to the Southern League Eastern Division title and promotion back to the Premier Division. "Staffster" was seen as something of a dead-ball specialist and a number of his goals came from goal kicks. In February 2004 he scored directly from a corner kick in King's Lynn's 4–1 victory over Banbury United. He left King's Lynn for Boston United in the summer of 2004, making his Football League debut on 21 August 2004 as a very late substitute in the

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 ...

game against

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

which finished 1–1, but failed to establish himself in Boston's first team and returned to King's Lynn. Described as a " versatile attacking midfielder", Staff went on to play for

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 ...

, Cambridge City on loan, Rugby Town, initially on loan, Brackley Town, before returning to Rugby Town in January 2009. Staff appeared on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's game-show ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'', which he won, before also winning on the 'Champion of Champions' show. He works as a sports coach for

Kettering Borough Council Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

and

Moulton College Moulton College is a further education college based in Moulton, Northamptonshire, England. Although initially established as the Northamptonshire Institute of Agriculture in 1921, it now has expanded its teaching curriculum to cover a wide ...

in Northamptonshire.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Staff, David 1979 births Living people People from Market Harborough Footballers from Leicestershire English footballers Men's association football midfielders Gladiators (2008 British TV series) Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Rugby Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Northern Premier League players