Joshua Neil Law (born 19 August 1989) 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 defender or

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 Basford United. He has played in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

for

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

and 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 ...

for

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Early and personal life

Born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, Nottinghamshire, Law is the son of the former Chesterfield manager Nicky Law and brother of fellow professional footballer, also called

Nicky Nicky is a diminutive form of the name Nicholas, Nicola and Nicole, occasionally used as a given name in its own right. It can also be used as a diminutive of Dominic. It may refer to: People Sports * Nicky Adams (born 1986), English-born Welsh ...

. In June 2015, Law got married in New York, United States, with his brother Nicky as his best man.

Career

Chesterfield

Law started his apprenticeship with

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in 2005, before signing his first professional contract in July 2007. He made his first-team debut against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

in September 2007, seeing a shot cleared off the line and another hitting the bar.

Alfreton Town

He joined

Conference 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 ...

club

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

, managed by his father, on a three-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

in October 2007. At the end of the loan, the deal was extended until the end of the 2007–08 season. After being released by Chesterfield upon the expiry of his contract, Law made a permanent move to Alfreton in the 2008 close season. After his first full season at the club, Law signed a one-year contract and then the following summer signed another one-year contract. During his time at the club, Law played in both full back and midfielder position. At the end of 2010–11, Law was given the Players' Player of the Season Award. He was also named in the 2010–11 Conference North Team of the Season. At the end of 2011–12, Law signed another one-year contract with the club. In May 2013, Law signed another one-year contract with the club. Law spent seven seasons at Alfreton and made over 250 appearances, where he was one of the longest serving players at the club at the time.

Motherwell

On 21 May 2014, Law completed a free transfer to

club

, the same club his brother Nicky had played for previously, on a one-year contract. Law said he hoped the move to Motherwell would help him "establish myself in my own right and make a name for myself". Law made his first competitive appearance for Motherwell on 17 July 2014, in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

second qualifying round first leg match against

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the League ...

, in which he scored both Motherwell goals in a 2–2 draw at

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. Mo ...

. Law also played in the second leg, but Motherwell lost 3–2, being eliminated 5–4 on aggregate. Half-way through the season, Law changed role, moving into defence as a right-back, starting against

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on 10 January 2015. Law's performance soon earned him the club's Player of the Month award for February. In 2014–15, Law made 40 appearances, scoring twice. On 27 May 2015, Law signed a new two-year contract with Motherwell. Law played in both legs as a right-back against his brother, as Motherwell beat Rangers 6–1 on aggregate to stay in the Scottish Premiership.

Oldham Athletic

On 9 July 2016, having asked to leave Motherwell for family reasons, Law signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

on a one-year contract. He scored his first goal for Oldham in a 2–1

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

win against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on 9 August 2016. He was released at the end of 2016–17.

Later career

Law signed for newly relegated

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 ...

club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on 3 July 2017 on a one-year contract. He was released at the end of the 2018–19 season. Law signed for

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 ...

Premier Division club Basford United on 11 May 2019 as a player and youth coach.

Style of play

Law primarily plays at right back but can also play in midfield.

Career statistics

Honours

Alfreton Town *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Individual *Conference North Team of the Year: 2010–11

References

External links

Profile
at the Basford United F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Josh 1989 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Chesterfield F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players York City F.C. players Basford United F.C. players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Northern Premier League players