Michael Paul Husbands (born 13 November 1983) is a

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 winger and

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He began his professional football career with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in 2002. He was

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 ...

ed out to

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

before signing with Southend United in 2003. In 2005, he moved to

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 ...

via Bristol Rovers and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. After two seasons with Vale, he joined

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

. There, he was loaned out to Telford United before finishing his career with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

in 2008. He was an Elite Commando in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. He accepted a call-up from the Saint Lucia national team in September 2012. He returned to club football with

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the V Trico Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke. ...

in December 2012.

Club career

Husbands, a

, began his career at

as an associated schoolboy in 1998, and he was a member of the FA Youth Cup winning team of 2001–02. He had a trial at

before he joined

in December 2002, he made five substitute appearances over his two months at

Edgar Street Edgar Street is a football stadium in Hereford and was the home of Hereford United Football Club from the club's formation in 1924 until December 2014, when the club was wound up. It is now the home of Hereford FC, a phoenix club formed to rep ...

. He was allowed to join Southend United in July 2003; he spent two years at the club but played only 16 games due to several injuries, including a pelvic problem. In August 2005 he joined Bristol Rovers for a short spell on a non-

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

basis before moving on to

the next month and then

in October 2005. Husbands made 47 league appearances for the "Valiants". The highlight of his time at Vale Park was on 26 September 2006 against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, he scored within 14 seconds – the fastest goal of that season. He was released by Port Vale in July 2007, and joined

, where he became

Ian Brightwell Ian Robert Brightwell (born 9 April 1968) is an English former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a defender from 1986 to 2006 and who played 468 league games in a 20-year career the Football League and Premier League. H ...

's first signing as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He joined Telford United of the Conference North on a one-month loan in November, which was extended by a month after he impressed at New Bucks Head, before the loan was eventually extended until the end of the season. Husbands made 25 appearances for the

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

side scoring three times. He rejected the opportunity to sign permanently at the end of the campaign and so after a trial at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

in July, he opted to join

in the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

in August 2008. Manager Darren Patterson urged him to make the most of this opportunity, saying, "For whatever reason he's had lots of clubs, but you can see his sharpness. Maybe this is the last chance saloon for Michael. He needs a club where he plays regularly and scores goals." However, he was released by Oxford at the end of the month after his contract expired. After leaving the professional game, Husbands joined the

. He made his debut for the Marines football team against the Devon & Somerset Fire Service on 18 May 2010, scoring twice in the game. In December 2012, he returned to English football with Southern League club

International career

Husbands is of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

n descent, but for many years chose not to represent

in international competitions. He finally accepted a call-up. He was named to their squad for the

2012 Caribbean Cup qualification A total of 25 teams entered the qualification process for the 2012 Caribbean Cup, competing for a total of 8 spots in the final tournament. Jamaica, as the holders, and Antigua and Barbuda, as hosts, qualified automatically, leaving 6 spots open ...

. He had not played professionally for over four years, though had remained fit as he was serving in the

. He did not end up featuring at the qualification stage, and Saint Lucia did not qualify.

Career statistics

Honours

Aston Villa *

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Husbands, Michael 1983 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers English people of Saint Lucian descent Black British sportsmen Naturalised citizens of Saint Lucia Saint Lucian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Aston Villa F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players AFC Telford United players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players 21st-century Royal Marines personnel Royal Marines ranks