Joshua David Falkingham (born 25 August 1990) is an English 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 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 ...

for club

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

. Falkingham started his career as a youth player with Leeds United, before having spells with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

. He spent four years with Dunfermline Athletic, where he won promotion to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

, as well as being

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

over two spells.

Club career

Falkingham grew up in Rothwell just outside

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and played at youth level for Leeds United from the age of eight. He featured in their various youth teams for eleven years, however was unable to break through to the first team and was released from the club in 2010. On 19 March 2010, Falkingham signed for

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

, on a short-term deal. On 5 May 2010, he made his debut for the club, coming on as a 28th-minute substitute replacing Murray Davidson in a 0–0 draw with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. After only one appearance, Falkingham was released by the club at the end of the season. In June 2010, he signed for

Scottish Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

side

on a one-year deal. He made his debut on 24 July 2010, in a 1–0 defeat to Dunfermline Athletic in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

. On 7 August 2010, the opening day of the league season, he scored twice in a 5–3 win over Elgin City. He was a regular starter in his first season, scoring 9 goals and helping the team win the title and promotion to the Scottish Second Division. Falkingham signed a contract extension to extend his stay at the club for another season. He held his place in the team and scored a further eight goals, with the team finishing second in the league, losing out on promotion in the play-offs. He was subsequently named in the PFA Scotland's Division Two Team of the Year. In all Falkingham made 70 league appearances, scoring 17 times for Arbroath. On 8 June 2012, Falkingham signed for Scottish First Division side Dunfermline Athletic on a three-year deal. An undisclosed development fee was paid to

as compensation due to his age. He made his debut on 28 July 2012, in a 3–2 defeat to

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

in the

. On 11 August 2012, he made his league debut in a 4–0 win over Cowdenbeath, scoring the last goal. In September 2013 he scored a stunning goal against Ayr United in which the game ended 5–1. On 20 February 2014, Falkingham signed a contract extension until 31 May 2016. After achieving promotion to the second tier of Scottish football, Falkingham was released by Dunfermline at the end of the 2015–16 season. After four months without a club, Falkingham signed for

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side Darlington 1883 in September 2016, making his debut in a 0–1 defeat against

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

in the Second qualifying round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. In May 2017 Falkingham signed for Harrogate Town, winning the National League playoffs in 2019/20 and FA Trophy 2019/20, with Falkingham scoring the winning goal for the club first ever FA Trophy title. (the game was played in 3 May 2021 though due to covid-19 pandemic)

Career statistics

Honours

Dunfermline Athletic *

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

: 2015–16 Harrogate Town *

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

play-offs:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Falkingham, Josh 1990 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Leeds United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players National League (English football) players English Football League players People from Rothwell, West Yorkshire Sportspeople from the City of Leeds Footballers from West Yorkshire