Rory Watson (born 5 February 1996) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

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 ...

. Watson played youth football with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

, signing a professional contract with the latter in June 2014. He had

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 ...

spells with

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 ...

, Scunthorpe United and

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

before signing for Scunthorpe permanently in January 2017.

Early life

Watson was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, North Yorkshire and was raised in the nearby village of

Bishopthorpe Bishopthorpe is a village and civil parish three miles south of York in the City of York unitary authority area and ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Bishopthorpe is close to the River Ouse, and has a population of 3,174, increas ...

. He attended

Tadcaster Grammar School Tadcaster Grammar School founded in 1557, is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, educating children aged 11–18 years old, and has an on-site sixth form. The school is located in t ...

Career

Early career

Watson was signed by

on schoolboy terms at the age of 10 after impressing scouts while playing for junior team Bishopthorpe White Rose. He was released in 2009 as he was deemed to not be tall enough, before joining

at under-13 level. He agreed a two-year scholarship with Hull in February 2012. Watson signed a professional contract with Hull in June 2014. His first involvement with the first team came on 25 October 2014 as an unused substitute in a 0–0 draw away to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the

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 ...

. Watson joined

Conference 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 ...

club

on a 6 February 2015 on a one-month

. He made his debut when starting a 2–1 away defeat to Leamington in the league on 14 February 2015. The loan was extended until the end of the 2014–15 season, after Watson had been named man of the match in two of his four appearances. Watson finished the loan with 14 appearances as Gainsborough ranked in 17th place in the table. He joined

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 ...

club

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on 10 August 2015 on a 28-day emergency loan, as cover for the suspended

Luke Daniels Luke Matthew Daniels (born 5 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for club Middlesbrough as a goalkeeper. Daniels is product of the Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion academies and played much of the early year ...

. He did not play and was an unused substitute in three matches. On 1 July 2016, he joined newly promoted

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

on loan for the 2016–17 season. He made his debut on 6 August 2016 in a 0–0 draw at home to

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 ...

, which was North Ferriby's first match at National Level.

Scunthorpe United

He was recalled from his loan ahead of permanent transfer to Scunthorpe United on a free transfer. He signed for the club on 31 January 2017 on a three-and-a-half-year contract and was immediately loaned back to North Ferriby for the rest of the season. Watson was recalled by Scunthorpe on 30 March 2017, having been an ever-present in the North Ferriby team in 2016–17 with 42 appearances. He was an unused substitute for Scunthorpe's eight remaining fixtures in 2016–17, a season that culminated in a 3–2 aggregate defeat to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

in the League One play-offs. Watson started 2017–18 as backup to first-choice goalkeeper

Matt Gilks Matthew Gilks (born 4 June 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the goalkeeping coach for Bolton Wanderers, the last team he played for. He played for Blackpool, Burnley, Norwich City, Rochdale, Rangers, ...

, with his first-team appearances limited to 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 ...

. His debut for Scunthorpe had come in this competition, when starting in a 3–1 home win over Sunderland U21 on 29 August 2017. He helped Scunthorpe to the second round, when they were beaten 2–1 at home by Leicester City U21 on 5 December 2017. After Gilks picked up a calf injury, Watson made his league debut for Scunthorpe by starting a 1–1 draw away to Portsmouth on 13 January 2018. He remained in goal for three more matches before Gilks returned for a match against

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

on 3 February 2018. Watson was next called upon as a 61st-minute substitute in the first leg of Scunthorpe's play-off semi-final against

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 12 May 2018 after Gilks picked up an injury and conceded once as Scunthorpe drew 2–2. Watson started in the second leg four days later, which Scunthorpe lost 2–0 and were therefore eliminated 4–2 on aggregate. Watson was released by Scunthorpe at the end of the 2021–22 season. He made 101 appearances in all competitions for the club.

Wrexham

On 4 August 2022, Watson signed for

as short-term cover following a pre-season injury to goalkeeper Christian Dibble.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the Scunthorpe United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Rory 1996 births Living people Footballers from York English footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Leeds United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players North Ferriby United A.F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players