Lenell Nicholas John-Lewis (born 17 May 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 striker for

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 ...

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 ...

. He began his career with

non-league 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 ...

side Grantham Town before later turning professional with Lincoln City. He later took in spells with

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

, Newport County,

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

Career

Grantham Town

John-Lewis started his career with Grantham Town. After going on trial for

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 being linked with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, he joined Lincoln City where he was awarded a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

Lincoln City

He made his Lincoln debut in 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 ...

against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

on 11 November 2006. He scored his first goal in his second league appearance, against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

on 4 December 2007. On 26 December 2007, John-Lewis scored an equaliser in the 51st minute, smashing the ball home off the bar into the top corner in the 2–1 defeat at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. On 7 May 2010 John-Lewis was placed on the transfer list by Lincoln City manager

Chris Sutton Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit and commentator for BT Sport, regularly working on their coverage of Scottish football. He is now also a pundit ...

. Two weeks later, he departed the club by mutual consent.

Bury

On 5 August 2010 he signed a twelve-month contract with

after impressing manager

Alan Knill Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a professional football manager and former player, who is a coach for the Wales national team. He played as a centre-back for several clubs, spending the most time at Halifax Town, Bury and Scuntho ...

. John-Lewis was part of Bury's promotion winning side, playing in Bury's 3–2 victory over

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 ...

, coming on as a substitute in the final game of the season at

Proact Stadium Technique Stadium (formerly known as b2net Stadium and Proact Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Whittington Moor, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on the site of the former Dema Glassworks. It is the home of Chesterfield FC, replacing the ...

, seeing Bury

promoted Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

after a ten-year absence from

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 ...

. In May 2011 he was offered a new 12-month contract, which he signed in June 2011.

Grimsby Town

On 31 January 2013 John-Lewis signed for

on an 18-month deal. He scored his first goal for the club in the final league game of the 2012–13 season against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, a header on the line in the 75th minute, having already sealed a play-off spot. In May 2014 he activated a clause in his contract giving him another year with The Mariners. On 25 October 2014 he scored a brace against

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in t ...

in the 3–0 victory of the

First Round, heading in the second goal from a blocked

Nathan Arnold Nathan Anthony Arnold (born 26 July 1987) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player he was active between 2005 and 2020 and was primarily a winger but could also play as a striker. He played for Lincolnshire ...

shot, the third goal of the game came when Arnold fired the ball across goal after cutting in from the left for John-Lewis to tap in at the far post. On 17 May 2015, John-Lewis scored the opening goal inside two minutes against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

, in the 2015 Conference Premier play-off Final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, he forced the ball over the line from close range with a header, Rovers equalised later in the first half, the game went to extra-time, but with the game still at a stalemate, Grimsby ended up losing 5–3 on penalties, John-Lewis having scored his penalty kick. John-Lewis featured in 39 league games during the 2014–15 season, scoring 16 goals, 4 of which were from penalties, this was his best tally of his career so far.

Newport County

On 29 May 2015, John-Lewis signed for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Newport County on a two-year contract. He made his debut for Newport on 8 August 2015 versus Cambridge United. He scored his first goal for Newport on 3 October 2015 in the League Two match versus Exeter City. His time at Newport County was blighted by injury. He missed half of the 2015–16 season due to a hamstring injury. In July 2016 he suffered a knee injury in a pre-season friendly match causing him to miss most of the 2016–17 season. Returning to the side for the last two matches of the season, he played a key role in securing the clubs Football League status by winning a penalty which was successfully converted by

Mickey Demetriou Michael David Demetriou (born 12 March 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for club Crewe Alexandra. He has played internationally for England C, making his debut against Bermuda on 4 June 2013. Club career Early career Dem ...

to open the scoring in a final day victory over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Shrewsbury Town

On 26 May 2017, it was announced that John-Lewis had signed a one-year deal with

side

, with the option of a further year. He scored his first goal for Shrewsbury on his debut in a 1−0 win over

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 5 August 2017. He was offered a new contract by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2017–18 season. He was injured in January 2019. He signed a new six-month contract with the club in May 2019 but was released by Shrewsbury in January 2020

Hereford

On 7 February 2020, John-Lewis signed for Shrewsbury's local rivals

on a deal until the end of the 2019–20 season.

Return to Grimsby Town

On 1 February 2021, John-Lewis re-signed for

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, on a permanent deal until Summer 2022, joining up with former manager Paul Hurst whom he played under in his previous spell with Grimsby and at Shrewsbury. On 15 February 2022, John-Lewis signed for

on a one-month loan. He made his debut later that day, coming on as a 76th minute substitute in a 3-1 win against

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United, founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. Currently members of the National League North, they ...

. The loan was further extended until the end of the 2021–22 season. John-Lewis scored a vital goal for York as they beat

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

to secure a play-off place in a 2-1 victory on 2 May 2022. In the play-off quarter finals John-Lewis scored again in a 2-1 victory over

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

to advance to the semi-finals. On 14 May, John-Lewis would score the only goal in York's 1-0 win over

Brackley Town Brackley Town Football Club is a Association football, football club in Brackley, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at St. James Park. The club won the FA Trophy in 2018. History Established in 1890, the club sp ...

to advance to the National League North play-off final. He capped off his final appearance of his loan spell by scoring the first goal in a 2-0 win over

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

in the play-off final, which secured York's promotion to the

. Grimsby secured promotion with victory in the

play-off final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, though John-Lewis was not in the matchday squad at

London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford district of London. It is located in the Lower Lea ...

. On 11 June 2022, following Grimsby's promotion back to 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 ...

the club announced their retained list ahead of the 2022–23 season and confirmed that John-Lewis would be among those released when his contract expires on 30 June.

York City

Following the success of his loan spell, John-Lewis signed a permanent deal with

on 29 June 2022.

Career statistics

Honours

Bury *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Grimsby Town *

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 ...

runner-up:

2012–13 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 ...

Shrewsbury Town *

EFL 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 Le ...

runner-up: 2017–18 York City *

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 ...

play-offs: 2022

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:John-Lewis, Lenell 1989 births Living people Footballers from Hammersmith English footballers Association football wingers Association football forwards Grantham Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Bury F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Hereford F.C. players York City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Black British sportspeople