John David Alexander (born 24 September 1985) 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 made four appearances 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 as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in the 2000s. While still at Darlington, he had loan spells at

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

club

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

, and went on to play

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

in the north-east of England for a number of clubs, mostly in the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

. He also played American college soccer for the Stetson Hatters.

Football career

Alexander was born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, and despite receiving offers of a traineeship from

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, began his football career in the youth system of

in June 2002. He was included among the substitutes for the Division Three match against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

on 27 August, chosen in preference to the injured Danny Mellanby and the out-of-form Mark Sheeran, but remained unused. The 16-year-old Alexander was given his debut the following Saturday, as a second-half substitute in the visit to

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 ...

. He entered the game together with

Neil Wainwright Neil Wainwright (born 4 November 1977 in Warrington) is an English former footballer. Wainwright played most of his football on the wing or in more recent times at full back. His former clubs include Wrexham, Sunderland and Darlington. He ret ...

and Phil Hadland just after the home side had taken a lead, and the energy of the fresh players helped Darlington exert enough pressure to draw the match. A trial with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Blackburn Rovers, in which he scored twice for their under-17 team against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

under-17s, came to nothing, and Alexander made no more first-team appearances before December, when he joined

club

on loan. He returned to Darlington's first team in December 2003, when he made three appearances, each time as a late substitute. After another brief loan spell with Bishop Auckland, Alexander was released in April 2004 and signed for Billingham Synthonia. He scored on his

debut, against Dunston Federation, and finished the season with the club. He then took up a place at Stetson University, in DeLand, Florida, where he played college soccer for the Stetson Hatters. He helped them reach the 2004 Atlantic Sun Conference post-season tournament, but was sent off in the quarter-final match which the Hatters lost after two periods of overtime. He returned to Billingham Synthonia in January 2005, and took his total appearances for the club to 18, with two goals. Alexander signed for

Marske United Marske United Football Club is a football club based in Marske-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mount Pleasant. History The club was established in 1956 by members of Marske Cricket Club.

in January 2006, and was Billingham Town's top Northern League scorer in 2008–09 with 21 goals. He joined Conference North club Blyth Spartans ahead of the next season, and scored six goals from 56 appearances in all competitions for them over two seasons. He then signed for Northern League champions

Spennymoor Town Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field. The club began playing in the Northern ...

, but only four weeks into the season and having scored four times already, he was transfer-listed and returned to Blyth. After four more games for Blyth, and a loan spell with Ashington during which he played once, in the

Northern League Cup The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Division O ...

, Alexander signed for fellow Northern League club Norton & Stockton Ancients. In March, he made a sideways move to Newcastle Benfield, where he finished the season. In 2012 pre-season, Alexander had a trial with former club

, who had lost most of their players after administrative demotion to the Northern League, but no contract ensued, and he remained with Benfield until rejoining another former club, Marske United, in another sideways move in October. He was their top scorer in 2013–14 with 21 goals in all competitions, 14 in league matches, and started in the Northern League Cup final as Marske beat Whitley Bay 2–1

after extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Draw (tie), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is ...

. In October 2014, he joined yet another Northern League club,

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Footba ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, John 1985 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Darlington F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players Billingham Synthonia F.C. players Marske United F.C. players Billingham Town F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. players Norton & Stockton Ancients F.C. players Newcastle Benfield F.C. players Crook Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players National League (English football) players