David Anthony Bell (born 21 January 1984) is a former professional

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 ...

. A midfielder, he played for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. The cl ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Playing career

The 2006–07 season was very much a breakthrough season for him as he went from a squad player at Luton to one of the club's key players under Mike Newell and

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He is currently the manager of Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima. Ea ...

. In January 2007 he was given a contract extension, running through to 2010. At the end of season awards, Bell won the Internet Player of the Season and Young Supporters' Player of the Season – an achievement few fans believed possible at the start of the season, as Bell had not even broken into the starting line-up at the season's beginning. On 28 March 2008, he joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

on loan with a view to a permanent transfer. However, Leicester's relegation to

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 ...

meant the permanent deal did not go ahead. On 23 July 2008 it was confirmed that Bell had agreed a three-year deal with

, signing for an undisclosed fee. His debut for the club was delayed by an ankle injury incurred before his signing. He finally made his first appearance in a home defeat to

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 1884 ...

on 4 October 2008. On 29 January 2009, he signed for

, for a fee believed to be on the region of £500,000. Bell scored his first goal for Coventry on 21 March 2009 with a 45-yard strike against Doncaster at the Ricoh Arena. Bell scored in Coventry's FA Cup 3rd round tie draw at Premier League club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 2 January 2010. On 19 July 2013 Bell signed for

after being released from his contract with Coventry. On 24 January 2014 he was released by Notts County by mutual consent and signed for King's Lynn Town.

Coaching career

On 19 October 2016, Bell was appointed as Assistant Manager to fellow former Rushden & Diamonds academy product Gary Mills at

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...

. Bell became Corby manager in May 2017 after Mills left the club. He was sacked in September 2017.David Bell Departs Steel Park
Corby Town, 29 September 2017

Statistics

Stats according t
Soccerbase
:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

and

Football League 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 Leag ...

References

External links

*
Republic of Ireland profile
at Soccer Scene {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, David 1984 births People from Wellingborough Living people Association football midfielders English footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players King's Lynn Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Corby Town F.C. players English football managers Corby Town F.C. managers