Jamie Griffiths (born 4 January 1992) 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 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 ...

or striker for

Long Melford Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by ...

on loan from

Needham Market Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market. History It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 1665. ...

. He previously played for

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

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, ...

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

A.F.C. Sudbury Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a football club based in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. ...

and Long Melford F.C.

Career

Ipswich Town

Griffiths joined

at the age of eight, having been spotted playing for local Suffolk team Cornard Dynamos. He progressed through the club's youth system and was offered a professional contract by manager

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

in April 2010. Griffiths made his first team debut in a 3–1

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on 26 October 2010, coming on as a substitute for

Carlos Edwards Akenhaton Carlos Edwards CM (born 24 October 1978) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who plays as a winger or right-back for Bury Town. He started his footballing career in Trinidad and Tobago before moving to Wrexham in 2000 ...

. A double stress fracture in his back kept Griffiths out for a couple of months, but he was offered a six-month contract extension by new manager

Paul Jewell Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town. Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a t ...

. "Obviously I am delighted," he said in the ''Suffolk Free Press''. "It was the best outcome I could have hoped for. It is the worst injury I have had and I am just looking forward to getting fit as soon as possible and pushing on from there."

Plymouth Argyle (loan)

Griffiths joined

on a one-month loan on 31 August 2011, reuniting him with former team-mate

Conor Hourihane Conor Geraroid Hourihane () (born 2 February 1991) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Derby County and the Republic of Ireland national team. His previous clubs include Aston Villa, Barnsley, Plymout ...

. He made his debut on 3 September in a 2–1 defeat to

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

, and the loan was extended for a second month in October. In his final appearance, he received a red card for a dangerous tackle while playing upfront against

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 ...

. Griffiths returned to Ipswich in November, having made nine appearances for Argyle, and was released when his contract expired in December.

A.F.C. Sudbury

He joined

Isthmian League Division One North 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 teams ...

side

in March 2012 after having trials with

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 ...

and Gillingham. He rejected a contract offer with

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

to join Sudbury, with a view to trialling at more

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 ...

clubs in the summer.

Kettering Town

Griffiths 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 ...

club

in July on a two-year contract. "Jamie came to the trial game and we liked what we saw. He's very athletic and although he's still got a lot to learn, he has done very well so far," said Kettering assistant manager Dean Greygoose.

Long Melford

In July 2014 Griffiths joined

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

Division One club

. Griffiths made 33 appearances in his début season, scoring 25 goals, helping Melford earn promotion to the Premier Division for the first time in their history. On a personal level, he also picked up end-of-season awards for the clubs 'Player of the Season', 'Supporters Player of the Season' and 'Top Goalscorer'. Griffiths suffered cruciate ligament damage to his left knee during a preseason friendly in August 2016, in what would prove to be his final game for the club, with a scan confirming a nine-month layoff. Reacting to the setback Griffiths commented "I twisted one way and I heard a really loud crack.I just hoped I hadn't torn my ACL, but unfortunately that's what's happened, It's the worst injury I've ever had."

Needham Market

In June 2017, Griffiths opted to join

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 ...

side

. He returned to Long Melford on loan in July 2019.Former Ipswich Town striker Jamie Griffifths rejoins Long Melford on loan from Needham Market
Suffolk Free Press, 18 July 2019

Personal life

Griffiths grew up in

Great Cornard Great Cornard is a large village and civil parish that is part of the town of Sudbury, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. History The area now called Great Cornard has been occupied since pre-history, with evidence of ...

with his parents Alan and Tracey and sisters Danielle and Rebecca.

References

External links

*
Jamie Griffiths profile at Ipswich Town Talk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Jamie 1992 births Living people People from Sudbury, Suffolk Footballers from Bury St Edmunds English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Ipswich Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players A.F.C. Sudbury players Kettering Town F.C. players Long Melford F.C. players Needham Market F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players