Dion Leonard Sembie-Ferris (born 23 May 1996) 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 ...

as a winger. Sembie-Ferris began his footballing career with

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 the age of nine, but was released in 2008, moving to Peterborough Junior Alliance side Netherton Vultures. He later joined St Neots Town, where he broke into the first-team at the age of 17. After impressing

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

scouts, he made a move to the

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 ...

club's

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in November 2013. He made his professional debut for Colchester in January 2015, and later had a loan spells with

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

sides

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

and

Concord Rangers Concord Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Canvey Island in Essex, England. The club currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Thames Road ...

. He was released by Colchester in August 2017 and made a return to St Neots the same month.

Career

Early career

Born in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, Sembie-Ferris attended Leighton Primary School then Bushfield School in his hometown, while on the books at

between the ages of nine and twelve. He was released by Peterborough in 2008, joining Netherton United junior side Netherton Vultures in the Peterborough Junior Alliance. Sembie-Ferris was a member of the under-14s side that won the 2010 ET Sports 'Team of the Year' award. He continued his football education at the Tresham Academy, where he helped the under-21 team to the Central Conference reserve league title in 2013. After graduating from the Academy, Sembie-Ferris joined

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

side St Neots Town to continue his development. During his brief stay with the club, he had a trial with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, and made his debut for St Neots in the

Huntingdonshire Senior Cup The Huntingdonshire Senior Cup is the second level association football, football cup competition organised by the Huntingdonshire Football Association below the Huntingdonshire Premier Cup. The cup was first played for during the 1888–89 season, ...

final on 3 May 2013, a game which his side won against Huntingdon Town after a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

. He made four appearances in the Southern League during the early stages of the 2013–14 season.

Colchester United

After a six-week trial with

side

, Sembie-Ferris was offered a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season with a view to earning a Professional Development contract after impressing academy manager

Tony Humes Anthony Humes (born 19 March 1966) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is currently director of football at English club Colchester United. Humes played as a defender in the Football League for Ipswich Town bet ...

. During his first season with Colchester, Sembie-Ferris helped the Colchester under-18 side to a Youth Alliance South East league title and Youth Alliance Cup double, playing 78 minutes in the final on 29 April 2014, as the U's beat

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

4–2 at

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...

2014–15 season

Now first-team manager, Tony Humes had been impressed by Sembie-Ferris' performances at under-21 level. Humes selected Sembie-Ferris to travel with the first-team for Colchester's League One game against

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 27 September, although he was an unused substitute. Sembie-Ferris made his first-team debut for Colchester on 2 January 2015, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for

Elliott Hewitt Elliott Jack Hewitt (born 30 May 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for club Mansfield Town. He can play in a variety of different positions, including right-back, centre-back, winger or central midfield. He is known for his ve ...

in their 3–1

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 ...

third round defeat to

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 ...

at the

Cardiff City Stadium The Cardiff City Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd) is a stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City Football Club and the Wales national football team. Following expansion of the Ninian Stand in July 2014 ...

. Following his debut, Sembie-Ferris set his sights on making a league debut, saying that it was a "great feeling" to make his professional bow, and that his aim was to "get an appearance in the league and hopefully push on from there". The fixture that followed Colchester's FA Cup tie was a league match at his former and hometown club,

, on 10 January. Sembie-Ferris stated that he was "desperate to play at London Road. Despite missing the 2–0 win, Sembie-Ferris made his league and home debut in the following game, again replacing Elliott Hewitt after 79 minutes of Colchester's 2–0 defeat to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 17 January. He made his first start for the club in their 2–0 home win over

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on 17 March, playing 71 minutes before being substituted for

Gavin Massey Gavin Alexander Massey (born 4 October 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for club Port Vale. Massey is a versatile attacker who can play as a forward or as a winger. Massey was one of the first pla ...

. Utilised mainly as a late substitute by Tony Humes, Sembie-Ferris put this to good effect on 25 April in Colchester's game away 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 ...

. He came off the bench in the 73rd minute to replace

Alex Gilbey Alexander Scott Gilbey (born 9 December 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Stevenage on loan from League One club Charlton Athletic. Career Colchester United Born in Dagenham, London, Gilbey grew up in Col ...

, and won his side a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the 87th minute, which was duly converted by Chris Porter to win the game 3–2 and turn around a 2–1 deficit. Humes praised Sembie-Ferris' impact, hailing him as an "exciting prospect". After ending the season with eleven appearances in all competitions in the 2014–15 season, Sembie-Ferris signed a new three-year contract with Colchester on 15 May 2015.

2015–16 season and Margate loan

After making a handful of appearances for Colchester in the early stages of the 2015–16 season and none since new manager

Kevin Keen Kevin Ian Keen (born 25 February 1967) is an English football coach and former player. Keen is currently the coach of West Ham United under-18 team. Keen began his career with Wycombe Wanderers before joining West Ham United in 1983. He spen ...

arrived in December 2015, Sembie-Ferris was allowed to leave the club on loan. He joined

side

on 24 March 2016 until the end of the season. He made his debut in Margate's 4–1 defeat at

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

on 26 March, playing the full 90-minutes. He went on to make five appearances for the club. He made ten first-team appearances for Colchester over the course of the campaign.

2016–17 season and Concord Rangers loan

Sembie-Ferris scored his first goal for Colchester on 4 October 2016 in their 2–1

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

defeat to Southampton U23 at the

Colchester Community Stadium Colchester Community Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the JobServe Community Stadium, is a football stadium in Colchester, England. It is the home of Colchester United Football Club. It has a capacity of 10,105 and opened in August 200 ...

. In December 2016, Sembie-Ferris was again allowed to leave the club on loan, joining National League South side

for one month. He made his debut as a substitute on 26 December in Concord's 1–1 home draw with East Thurrock United. He scored twice against St Albans City on 28 January 2017, his second a 91st-minute winner with Concord recording a 3–2 victory. On 24 February, Sembie-Ferris' loan at Concord was extended until the end of the season. He made 20 appearances for the Beach Boys during his loan spell scoring four goals. He scored one goal in ten first-team appearances for Colchester across the campaign. He was released from his contract by mutual consent in August 2017.

Return to St Neots Town

In August 2017, Sembie-Ferris made a return to his former club St Neots Town, saying that he had "unfinished business" at the club.

Peterborough Sports

Following financial issues at St Neots Town, Dion signed for Southern League Division One Central side Peterborough Sports in November 2018.

Scunthorpe United

On the 2nd February 2023, Sembie-Ferris was announced as a new signing for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. On 28 October 2023, Sembie-Ferris returned to former club Peterborough Sports on a loan till the end of the season. Dion was released by Scunthorpe at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Career statistics

Honours

;St Neots Town *2012–13

winner ;Colchester United U18 *2013–14

Football League Youth Alliance The Football League Youth Alliance is a youth football competition in Football in England, England, consisting of four regional divisions. It acts as League 2 of the U18 Professional Development League system. Current structure North West Co ...

South East winner *2013–14 Football League Youth Alliance Cup winner

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sembie-Ferris, Dion 1996 births Living people Footballers from Peterborough English men's footballers Black British sportsmen Men's association football wingers Peterborough United F.C. players St Neots Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Margate F.C. players Concord Rangers F.C. players Peterborough Sports F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players National League (English football) players