Max James Watters (born 23 March 1999) 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 Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for club

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. Watters started his career playing non-league football with

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

and Ashford United before signing with

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 ...

side

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

in summer 2018. Following loan spells at Grantham Town,

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

, Mickleover Sports and

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

, he was released by Doncaster Rovers at the end of the 2019–20 season. He signed for League Two club

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

in October 2020, moving to Championship club

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 ...

in January 2021.

Early and personal life

Born in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

, Watters attended

Hall Mead School Hall Mead School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Cranham area of the London Borough of Havering, England. Faculty Simon London (Hons.) served as Head Master for fifteen years; London stepped down from the ...

and

Shenfield High School A Secondary School Based In England Shenfield High School is a coeducational 11-18 secondary school located in Shenfield, Essex, England. It has over 1200 students on roll, including 300 in the sixth form. It opened in 1962, celebrating its 50th ...

Club career

Early career

Watters began his career in non-league football with

and Ashford United. He never made a first-team appearance for Thurrock. With Barking, he scored 3 goals in 11 league games, and 3 goals in 4 cup games. With Ashford, he scored 8 goals in 25 league games; he also made a further 2 cup appearances, without scoring.

Doncaster Rovers

In May 2018 it was announced that Watters would turn professional with

for the 2018–19 season, joining the club on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He moved on loan to Grantham Town in August 2018. He scored 4 goals in 21 games in all competitions for Grantham Town. He then joined

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

on 18 January 2019 on a month-long loan. He scored on his debut for the club the following day with the only goal of a 1–0 win over Mickleover Sports. In September 2019 he moved on loan to Mickleover Sports. He made his senior debut for Doncaster on 29 October 2019 in the

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 ...

, before making his league debut on 7 December 2019 as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. On 21 February 2020, he moved to

on a month-long loan. He made his league debut for the club the following day, starting in a 2–1 defeat at home to Hampton & Richmond Borough. He failed to score in four league appearances whilst at Maidstone United. He was released by Doncaster at the end of the 2019–20 season, having made 5 league appearances whilst at the club.

Crawley Town

After being released by Doncaster Rovers, Watters had trial spells with Maidstone United,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

and

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

before joining

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

on trial after playing against them in a friendly for Maidstone United in September 2020. On 10 October 2020, he signed for Crawley Town on a one-year contract with the option of a further year. He scored on his Crawley debut on 13 October 2020 in an

tie against Arsenal U21s. He then scored twice on his league debut in a 4–0 victory over

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

four days later. After scoring 5 goals in 5 League Two games for Crawley in October 2020, he was nominated for the

EFL League Two Player of the Month The EFL League Two Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Originally named the Football League Two Pl ...

award for October, though it was awarded to

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

striker Paul Mullin. Crawley's signing of Watters was praised by former footballer

Stephen Warnock Stephen Warnock (born 12 December 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Starting off his career at Liverpool, he went on to also represent Coventry City, Bradford City, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Bolt ...

(appearing on the ''

EFL on Quest ''EFL on Quest'' was a football highlights programme on the Quest channel in the United Kingdom. The programme covered the English Football League, taking over from Channel 5's '' Football League Tonight''. History Starting from the 2018–1 ...

'' TV show) as a "terrific piece of recruitment". Having scored 6 league goals in December 2020, including a brace as a substitute against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

and a hat-trick against

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

, he was awarded the League Two Player of the Month award for December.

Cardiff City

He signed for

on 16 January 2021 on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Crawley Town manager

John Yems John Yems (born 28 August 1959) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently manager of Crawley Town F.C., Crawley Town. Playing career As a player, Yems was a member of the reserve teams of Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal P ...

later suggested the fee was £1 million. On 8 July 2021, Watters joined League One side

on loan for the duration of the 2021–22 season. After missing the start of the season through injury, he scored his first goal for the club on 18 September 2021 in a 4–1 away win over Gillingham. On 30 December 2021, Cardiff City activated a clause to return Watters from his loan early, having scored 7 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions for MK Dons. Following his return, on 22 January 2022 Watters scored his first goal for Cardiff in his first game back for the club in a 3–2 defeat away to

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 ...

. On 5 January 2023, Watters returned to League One to join

on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season. He scored his first goal for Barnsley on 11 February 2023 in a 2-0 win against

, but was later sent off in the same match. He signed permanently for

in July 2023.

International career

Watters has represented England Schoolboys.

Career statistics

Honours

;Individual *

: December 2020

References

External links

Max Watters
at cardiffcityfc.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Watters, Max 1999 births Living people English men's footballers Thurrock F.C. players Barking F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Mickleover F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Northern Premier League players Men's association football forwards Footballers from the London Borough of Camden