John Clayton (born 20 August 1961) is a Scottish 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 ...

. A striker, he made over 150 appearances in 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 ...

and had spells playing in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and the Netherlands. A product of the Scottish Highland Football League, Clayton began his professional football career with his home town club, Elgin City FC, then of the Scottish Highland Football League, prior to transferring to England with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, signing with the club at the age of 17 after completing his A-levels. He was forced to retire in 1993 due to persistent back problems that required surgery. Following his retirement, Clayton moved to Bristol in 1995 because of his wife's business and started assisting

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

to coach the various levels of youth football at their academy where his son Jon was playing. He later worked as assistant to

Keith Millen Keith Derek Millen (born 26 September 1966) is an English football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He was most recently manager of Carlisle United. Millen was appointed as Steve Coppell's successor, after Coppell chose to ...

with the club's under-17 side and, in October 2006, he was appointed as head coach of Bristol City's academy. In a backroom reshuffle in 2012, Clayton was put in charge of the under-18's side with Willie McStay replacing him as academy boss.

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* 1961 births Living people English footballers Association football forwards Derby County F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Fortuna Sittard players FC Volendam players Burnley F.C. players English Football League players Eredivisie players Place of birth missing (living people) Bulova SA players {{Scotland-footy-forward-1960s-stub