Howard Lee Forinton (born 18 September 1975) 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 ...

who played as a striker. Forinton made 65 appearances and scored 14 goals 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 ...

playing for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

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 ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Forinton also managed at

Southern Football League 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 fo ...

side

Woodford United Woodford United Football Club is a football club based in Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Byfield Road. History The club was established in 1946. After playing in the Rugby & District ...

having been appointed in September 2012 though he departed in November 2012 with the club rooted to the bottom of the table.

Career

Forinton was born in

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hull ...

. He began his football career as an apprentice at

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

, but was released at the end of his apprenticeship. He joined Abingdon Town and, after a short spell at

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

, he joined

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 ...

where he scored 23 goals in just 25 matches. His prolific scoring soon caught the eye of

boss

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player follo ...

, who paid £75,000 for him. He made very few first-team appearances but finished as top scorer for Birmingham's reserve team in both of his seasons at the club. While at Birmingham City he went on loan to both

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. In November 1999, he signed for

for £250,000. However, after a number of injuries he failed to impress. He looked set to join

in July 2000, but remained with Peterborough and joined Yeovil Town on loan in 2001. Forinton moved to

on a free transfer in August 2002, signing on a non-contract basis, and made just one appearance, in which he set up a goal, before the club decided not to offer him a further deal. He returned to Yeovil on a monthly contract later the same month, but was released in November 2002 while awaiting operations on both ankles. He joined

the following month, and then moved to

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

in June 2003, but was released in September 2003 and returned to Oxford City the following month. In November 2003 Forinton moved to

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

. He then moved to

Banbury United Banbury United Football Club is a football club based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Spencer Stadium. History The club was established in 1931 as Spencer Sports Club, a works team of the Sp ...

in June 2004, leaving to join

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rece ...

in May 2005. After one season at Halesowen he re-signed for Banbury in May 2006. In October 2006 he rejected a move to

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

, opting to stay at Banbury to take on a player/coach role in the club. Forinton left Banbury United after the departure of manager Kevin Brock to join

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. ...

in June 2007, but rejoined Banbury United in October 2008. At the end of 2009, Forinton left Banbury United for Woodford United in the Southern League Midlands Division, to pursue a player/coach role. After a spell with

Daventry Town Daventry Town F.C. is a football club based in the town of Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, formed in 1886. They are members of the . History The club was established in 1886 as a local-town club playing in the Northampton Town League. T ...

, Forinton returned to Banbury United for the 2012–13 season in a player/coach capacity before departing just two months later after the playing budget was cut. Forinton returned to Woodford United having taken up his first managerial post, in 2012. However, he resigned in November 2012 after only two months in the job, and was one of many Woodford managers during the 2012–13 season which culminated in their relegation from the

in 2013 with the unwanted record of having lost all 42 matches.

2012–13 Southern Football League The 2012–13 season was the 110th in the history of the Southern League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales. From the pr ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Forinton, Howard 1975 births Living people People from Boston, Lincolnshire English footballers Men's association football forwards Abingdon Abbotts F.C. players Oxford City F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Banbury United F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Woodford United F.C. players Daventry Town F.C. players Southam United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Woodford United F.C. managers