Nicholas Leonard Fenton (born 23 November 1979) is an English former 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 ...
and head physiotherapist of
EFL 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
Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...
.
As a player, he was as a
defender who played between 1996 and 2014. He played for
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
,
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 ...
,
AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
and
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 ...
and
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 ...
.
Club career
Manchester City
Preston born Fenton came through the youth ranks of
Premiership side
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
. Though born in England, as he went to a school in Wales he represented Wales at schoolboy level, captaining the under-15 side.
He was called up by England at both under-16 and under-18 level.
He was promoted to the Manchester City first team squad a few months after the club's relegation in the summer of 1996. By the time Fenton was given his first team debut City had suffered a further relegation into the third tier of English football. On 19 August 1998 Fenton earned his first appearance for City when he started the match in a 7–1
English League 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 ...
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 ...
at
Maine Road
Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
. City earned promotion back to the First Division in May 1999 via the play-offs following a penalty shootout victory over
Gillingham at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
, however Fenton although a squad member had not been involved in first team action since February. During the 1999–2000 season Fenton made his final appearance for City in a 4–3 League Cup defeat against
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
when he came on as a 91st-minute substitute for
Richard Edghill
Richard Arlon Edghill (born 23 September 1974) is an English football coach and former professional footballer.
He played as a defender from 1993 to 2008, spending the majority of his career with his home town club, Manchester City. He spent ...
. In October 1999 he joined
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 ...
on loan where he made 13 appearances and scoring his first career goal against
Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...
. In March 2000 he signed on loan with
AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
where he played 8 times where his performances proved himself worthy of a fresh bid by the club in the 2000–01 season and he returned on loan to Bournemouth in August. Fenton returned to Notts County on loan a month later and on 10 November he joined the club on a permanent deal.
Notts County
Fenton signed for County for £150,000. Fenton played over 150 appearances for The Magpies until his departure at the end of the 2003–04 season.
Doncaster Rovers
His next port of call was to sign with
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 ...
who had previously earned two back to back promotions that had seen the
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
club rise from 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 ...
to the
Football 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 ...
. Fenton played out the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons Rovers and after playing in the club's first round League Cup game against
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
at the beginning of the 2006–07 season he departed the club.
Grimsby Town
Fenton was signed for Grimsby on 25 August 2006 by
Graham Rodger
Graham Rodger (born 1 April 1967) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and scout.
As a player, he was a defender from 1984 until 1998 for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Coventry City and Luton Town before finishing his care ...
from
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 ...
, the same day that centre half
Ben Futcher
Benjamin Paul Futcher (born 20 February 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, he works for the Football Association as a youth coach developer.
As a player, he was a defender from 1999 to 2013 notably playing ...
left the club for
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
. Fenton was joined at
Blundell Park
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...
by Rovers teammate
Ricky Ravenhill
Richard John Ravenhill (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who is the assistant manager of Mickleover.
As a player, he was a midfielder, who began his professional career with Barnsley in 2000 after a short spell ...
. He slotted in at centre half along with
Justin Whittle
Justin Philip Whittle (born 18 March 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1994 until 2011.
As a player, he notably captained Humber derby clubs Hull City and Grimsby Town. He also appeared for Celt ...
, as the season progressed manager Rodger was replaced by
Alan Buckley
Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside.
As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, Wa ...
but he continued to feature as a regular. On the final day of the season he had the distinction of scoring the last ever goal at
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 ...
's
Gay Meadow
Gay Meadow was the home ground of Shrewsbury Town football club in Shropshire, England. Just outside the town centre, on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910.
The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League season and t ...
stadium. During the 2007–08 season Fenton was a part of the Grimsby team that made it to 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 ...
final at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
, however the club were beaten 2–0 by the
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 ...
. In the summer of 2008 Fenton was told that he would not be offered a new contract with Grimsby and that he was free to leave the club.
Rotherham United
Fenton was signed by
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
on 8 August 2008 on a free transfer He made his
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
debut away to local rivals
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
. He had a brilliant game and was given a 9 rating in most match reports. He made his league debut for the Millers away to
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 ...
. He scored his first goal for the club when Rotherham caused an upset by beating Championship side Southampton in the League Cup. Fenton kept up his goal scoring form by scoring further goals against Leeds United in the Football League Trophy and Barnet in the league. He was released by the club in May 2011.
Morecambe
He joined
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 ...
side
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 ...
in summer 2011 where he enjoyed two mid-table seasons for the Shrimps before leaving early in April 2013 to continue in his physiotherapy training and to find a new club.
Alfreton Town
On 2 August 2013 he signed a contract with
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 ...
until the end of the
2013-14 season, after impressing in pre-season.
Having made 32 league appearances and scored three goals, Fenton was released by Alfreton at the end of the 2013–14 season.
International career
As a youngster Fenton captained Wales under-15s and was called up by England at
under-16 and
under-18 level.
Physiotherapist
Following his release by Alfreton, Fenton retired from the playing side of the sport and was hired by
Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...
as the club's team physiotherapist for the
2014-15 season.
Honours
Grimsby Town
*
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 ...
runner up:
2007–08
Manchester City
*
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
Play-off winner:
1998–99
*
First Division Runner up:
1999-00
References
External links
Nick Fenton profileat Alfreton Town F.C.
*
Nick Fenton profileat codalmighty.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Nick
1979 births
Living people
Footballers from Preston, Lancashire
English footballers
England youth international footballers
Welsh footballers
Association football defenders
Manchester City F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
AFC Bournemouth players
Doncaster Rovers F.C. players
Grimsby Town F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Morecambe F.C. players
Alfreton Town F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Burton Albion F.C. non-playing staff