Gavin Liam Caines (born 20 September 1983) 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 ...

who is currently with non-league club

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

Career

Caines began his career as a trainee with

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 ...

, but without making any first team league appearances he left to sign for

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

in July 2004 after a trial period in pre-season which saw him score on his first appearance against

Bishops Cleeve Bishop's Cleeve is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham. The village lies at the foot of Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds. Bishop's Cle ...

. In his time with Walsall he spent an 11-game spell out on loan at

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

. In his first full season at

Whaddon Road Whaddon Road, known as the Completely-Suzuki Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Cheltenham, England. It is the home ground of Cheltenham Town F.C. It has a total capacity of 7,066, with a mixture of seating and terracing. T ...

Caines won the Young Player of the Year award, and the next season was involved in the club's promotion 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 ...

. He became a regular squad member during the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons as Cheltenham consolidated their position in League One. Caines played only 8 league games in his final season at Cheltenham, a season which ended in relegation back to

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 released from his contract in May 2009. In August 2009, Caines signed for

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

side

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

on a one-year contract. He played 33 league games, though later fell out of favour with new Harriers manager

Steve Burr Steve Burr (born 12 January 1960) is a Scottish former footballer who was most recently manager of Hednesford Town. Playing career Steve Burr began his football career as a player with Stafford Rangers but it was with a summer 1984 move to Macc ...

and was loaned to divisional rivals

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 ...

for the rest of the season on 25 March 2010. His loan at Luton finished on 7 May 2010, with Caines not having made a single appearance for the club. On 6 August 2010, he appeared as a trialist for fellow Conference 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 ...

in their 0–0 friendly draw against Stoke City. On 13 August 2010, he put pen to paper and signed for Conference side

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 ...

after a busy week for the club in the transfer market, he became one of eight new signings. He made his debut the next day, scoring in a 3–1 away loss against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, 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 ...

. After making 43 league appearances in his first season with Forest Green, Caines was offered a new contract by

Dave Hockaday David Hockaday (born 9 November 1957) is an English professional footballer who is currently Head of Male Football at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. He has previously worked as a manager at Leeds United, Forest Green Rovers, Kidde ...

for the 2011–12 season. Caines rejected the offer however and left the club. Caines then dropped down a level and linked up with

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

in August 2011 who are jointly managed by Caines former playing teammate at Forest Green and Cheltenham, Craig Armstrong. Later on in the 2011–12 season Caines joined

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the V Trico Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke. ...

on a one-month loan deal before later returning to Eastwood. Caines left Eastwood at the end of the season and joined

Rushall Olympic Rushall Olympic Football Club is an English football club based in Rushall, a former mining village now forming part of the northern suburbs of Walsall. The team plays in the . History Early years Although football had been played in the villa ...

References

External links

Gavin Caines player profile
at forestgreenroversfc.com

at ctfc.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caines, Gavin 1983 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers Association football defenders Walsall F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Eastwood Town F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players