Oliver Gregory Shenton (born 6 November 1997) is an English

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

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 Leek Town.

Career

Stoke City

Shenton was born in

Blythe Bridge Blythe Bridge is a village in Staffordshire, England, south-east of Stoke-on-Trent. Etymology Blythe Bridge is so called as it is built around the site of a bridge over the River Blithe (spelt differently from the name of the village itself), a ...

and joined the Stoke City Academy in 2004. At 15 Shenton began playing regularly with the under-18s side and he signed a long-term contract with the club in September 2013. In April 2014 he won the

Generation Adidas Cup The Generation Adidas Cup (previously known as the SUM U-17 Cup) is a competition run by Major League Soccer for all U-17 MLS academy teams. As part of the Homegrown Initiative, the Generation Adidas Cup focused on player development while provi ...

with Stoke City U17s. He signed on scholarship forms in July 2014. In 2014–15 pre-season Shenton began training with the first-team and played 30 minutes in a 0–0 draw with

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 ...

. He began the 2014–15 season playing with the under-21s and scored on his debut in a 1–1 draw 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 ...

. He made his professional debut on 27 August 2014, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for

Peter Odemwingie Peter Osaze Odemwingie (born 15 July 1981) is a retired Nigerian professional footballer who played as a forward and winger. Odemwingie grew up in Uzbekistan and Russia and began his career with Bendel Insurance in the Nigeria Premier League. ...

in a 3–0 win over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the

Football 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 ...

second round. After making his senior debut Shenton earned praise from assistant manager Mark Bowen for his performance. On 25 November 2014 Shenton signed a professional contract with Stoke. Shenton made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut on 11 February 2015, coming on as an added-time substitute for

Steven Nzonzi Steven Nkemboanza Mike Christopher Nzonzi (born 15 December 1988) is a French professional footballer who is currently a free agent Nzonzi began his career with Ligue 2 side Amiens, impressing enough to earn a move to Premier League side Blackb ...

in a 4–1 home defeat against

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 ...

. The match came two days after the funeral of his mother; following the game Shenton swapped shirts with

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

. Shenton signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract in January 2016 keeping him contracted at Stoke until the summer of 2020. On 20 January 2017 Shenton joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2016–17 season. Shenton played 17 times for the Dragons, scoring once against

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

on 4 March 2017. On 30 August 2019, Shenton joined

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

on a six-month loan. This was extended for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. Shenton scored three goals in 24 matches for Kidderminster until the season was ended early on 22 April 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England are NHS England and Public ...

Chorley

Shenton joined

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 ...

in June 2020. In March 2024, Shenton 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 ...

Premier Division club Warrington Rylands on loan until the end of the season.

Personal life

Shenton attended

Blythe Bridge High School Blythe Bridge High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Blythe Bridge in the English county of Staffordshire. Previously a foundation school administered by Staffordshire County Council, in March 2023 Blythe Brid ...

and grew up supporting

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. His mother, Mandy, died of cancer in January 2015.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shenton, Ollie 1997 births Living people Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Warrington Rylands 1906 F.C. players Premier League players National League (English football) players Men's association football midfielders