Ethan Alexis Chislett (born 11 August 1998) is a South African professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. He plays with flair, creativity, and the ability to score goals with late runs into the opposition penalty area. His grandfather, Gordon, represented the South Africa national soccer team. Chislett spent his formative years

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Aldershot Town,

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

and Basingstoke Town, though developed quickly with a spell in Spain with Reddis. He returned to Metropolitan Police and managed to win a move back to Aldershot Town, where he would score nine

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

goals in the 2019–20 season. He was then signed to

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

in August 2020 and played 123 games in three seasons, top-scoring from midfield in the 2022–23 campaign. He joined Port Vale in July 2023.

Early life

Ethan Alexis Chislett was born on 11 August 1998 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa. His grandfather, Gordon Chislett, represented the South Africa national soccer team. His father, Donovan, played soccer professionally in South Africa and was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the under-18's at

until September 2021. The family moved to England in 2005.

Career

Early career

Chislett spent time with youth team Guildford Saints before joining the academy at

, where he was released at the age of 14 for being too small. He then spent two years with Aldershot Town, before joining

, helping the under-18s to reach the fourth round of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

before he progressed onto the senior team in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division in 2015. In October 2016, he briefly joined Southern League Premier Division club Basingstoke Town, before moving to Spain, where Chislett played for Reddis and also had a trial at Belgian club

Eupen Eupen (, ; ; formerly ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border (Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the "High Fens" na ...

. He scored five goals in nineteen

Segona Catalana The Segona Catalana is the seventh tier of the Spanish football league system and the second highest league in the autonomous community of Catalonia. The league was formed in 2011 to replace Territorial Preferent as second level of Catalonia and ...

matches for Reddis. He credited his career to his time in Spain, saying the change of culture taught him a lot. He was due to sign with Pobla Mafumet before the club dismissed their

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Chislett returned to England to rejoin Metropolitan Police for the 2018–19 season, with manager Gavin Macpherson expressing a wish to promote youth. He played in the

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 ...

first round defeat to Newport County on 10 November, with

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

reporting that "Ethan Chislett should have levelled for Met, but

headed Headed may refer to: *A headed phrase, in linguistics *Headed notepaper See also * * Head (disambiguation) * Header (disambiguation) * Heading (disambiguation) Heading can refer to: * Heading (metalworking), a process which incorporates the extr ...

straight at Joe Day". He was part of the side that won the Southern League Premier Division South play-offs before losing to

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The club was founded as Tonbridge Football Club in 1947 and became known as "The Angels" in 1949 when they started playing at the Angel Ground. S ...

in the one-off super play-off final, in which Chislett scored the opening goal. On 18 June 2019, he re-joined Aldershot Town in the

. He said the move up two divisions went well as the "transition was quite smooth". He scored nine goals in 38 games in all competitions in the curtailed 2019–20 season to finish as the club's top-scorer. Manager Danny Searle said the club was proud to have given him a platform to secure a move into the

English 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 Engl ...

. Italian club

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

had also reportedly offered him a deal.

AFC Wimbledon

On 12 August 2020, Chislett signed for

, with manager

Glyn Hodges Glyn Peter Hodges (born 30 April 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former professional player who is assistant manager at Bradford City. During his playing career he played for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Watford, Crystal Palace, Sheffield Un ...

impressed by his creative spark and the prior success of former Met Police signing Nesta Guinness-Walker. He made his debut at Plough Lane in the

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 ...

against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

on 1 September. He scored his first goal for the Dons in a 2–2 draw with Northampton Town on 12 September; he scored just twenty seconds into the match in what was his

EFL 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 ...

debut. He set a goal target of ten for the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

campaign, though would instead score three goals from 36 games. He lost his first-team place under Mark Robinson in the 2021–22

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

season, though won back a starting place in January following a run of 13 games on the bench. He was given more freedom to join the attack by new manager

Johnnie Jackson John Alec Jackson (born 15 August 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder or as a defender. He is the current manager of League Two club AFC Wimbledon. Club career Tottenham Hotspur Born ...

in the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, playing on the right side of midfield in a partnership with

Harry Pell Harry David Balraj Pell (born 21 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League Two club AFC Wimbledon. Pell came through the youth system at Charlton Athletic where he spent 12 years. He spent time on ...

as the club struggled to adapt to

EFL 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 ...

. He was offered a new

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

as he finished as the club's top-scorer with eleven goals and three assists in 51 games, also being named as Players’ Player of the Year. He was reported to be a target for

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 ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Port Vale

On 3 July 2023, Chislett signed for League One side

on a two-year deal, and was hailed by manager Andy Crosby as "an incredible asset". He scored two goals on his home debut at Vale Park, a 3–2 victory over

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 ...

in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

on 8 August; his first was described in '' The Sentinel'' as a "wonderful flighted shot from the edge of the penalty area" and the second was a diving header. The first goal won him the competition's goal of the round award. On 16 December, he scored his first career

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 ...

in a 3–2 win over

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, ...

, showing the end product that had previously been lacking in what was statistically the club's most effective player by the mid-season stage. Having been dropped by new manager

Darren Moore Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current manager of Sheffield Wednesday. Born in England, he earned two international caps for Jamaica. Moore is a ...

, Chislett won back his first-team place to help the Vale to record back-to-back wins at the end of March. He scored eleven goals from midfield, though could not prevent the club from being relegated at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Style of play

Chislett is a

with flair and elegance on the ball, though he is weak at

heading Heading can refer to: * Heading (metalworking), a process which incorporates the extruding and upsetting processes * Headline, text at the top of a newspaper article * Heading (navigation), the direction a person or vehicle is facing, usually si ...

the ball.

David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the director of football at club Port Vale. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry ...

, the director of football at Port Vale, said that Chislett "is a player that loves to find space in between midfield players and defenders... his timing of runs into the box to create goalscoring opportunities is outstanding". He is also an accomplished free kick taker.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chislett, Ethan 1998 births Living people Soccer players from Durban White South African people South African men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Southampton F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Metropolitan Police F.C. players Basingstoke Town F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Port Vale F.C. players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players English Football League players South African expatriate men's soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England South African expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain