Ross Daniel Flitney (born 1 June 1984) 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 for

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

as a

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 ...

Career

Born in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

, Flitney started as a youth player at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

before moving to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in 2003 where he was cover for senior keepers such as Edwin van der Sar and

Mark Crossley Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born 16 June 1969) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2011 and he has previously played for numerous clubs in England's top flight, notably for Notti ...

, but never made a first-team appearance despite making the bench on several occasions in the 2004–05 season. He did however have two loan spells with Brighton & Hove Albion and a further loan spell with Doncaster Rovers. In March 2005 he joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

side Yeading on loan. He was released by Fulham in May 2005, joining

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

the following month. On 26 October 2005, he became the recipient of the quickest

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

in the history of

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. In a League Cup match for Barnet against

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

, he was sent off for handling the ball outside his penalty area, only 80 seconds into the game. It was his first touch in the match, and Barnet went on to lose 4–1. The red card was later rescinded on appeal. During the 2005–06 season, he lost his place to

Lee Harrison Lee David Harrison (born 12 September 1971) is an English goalkeeping coach, currently working as Head of Goalkeeping at Wycombe Wanderers F.C. Harrison spent most of his career with Barnet, but he has played in over 400 League and Cup games in ...

who had rejoined Barnet as a player/coach in the summer. He was told he could leave Barnet in November 2006, but was finally released at the end of the season, joining

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

in June 2007. Flitney signed for Croydon Athletic on loan in December 2008, and just one month later he was transfer listed by Grays, with financial pressures and manager

Wayne Burnett Wayne Burnett (born 4 September 1971) is an English football coach and former footballer who is manager of Tottenham Hotspur under-23's team. As a player Burnett was a midfielder from 1989 until 2004 notably playing in the Football League for ...

's plans being cited as the reason. A fortnight later, Flitney had his contract with the Essex side terminated by mutual consent, and signed a contract to stay with Croydon Athletic until the end of the season. In January 2010, Flitney signed for

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

. Dover manager

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at ...

said; "He's a keeper I've had my eye on. He brings something different to the table in that he is 6ft 3in and kicks the ball a mile!". Flitney made his debut for Dover in the 2–0 defeat to

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

on 23 January. He was signed by Hessenthaler again, when he joined Gillingham in July 2011, and made his debut for Gillingham in the 1–0 win over

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 ...

on 6 August 2011. In October 2012 he joined

on an initial loan period of one month. After his loan at Eastleigh finished in January 2013, and his subsequent release by Gillingham, he rejoined Eastleigh on a permanent basis in February 2013. Flitney played the first nine games of the 2016–17 season for

but then signed for Brighton-based

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side Whitehawk, rejoining his former manager Richard Hill and making his debut in a 3–0 away win at

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

on 8 October. Flitney was sent off after the final whistle in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

first round against Stourbridge on 14 November for protesting to referee Robert Whitton, who had just blown for full-time with the ball in play, seconds before Javier Favarel scored a 30-yard volley which would have been the winning goal. On 14 January against

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

second round, with his side leading 1–0, Flitney came off the bench to replace Hawks' injured keeper Tom Stewart in the 65th minute and went on to concede four times as well as give away and then save a penalty in the time remaining. Flitney left the Hawks at the end of January 2017, his last game being a 1–3 defeat at

Hungerford Town Hungerford Town Football Club is a semi-professional Football club (association football), football club based in Hungerford, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association, they are currently members of and play at B ...

on 23 January, a game in which he conceded a penalty after just four minutes. On 16 February 2017, Flitney joined

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 ...

on a short-term deal for the remainder of the campaign. Following 14 league appearances, in which he helped the club to a 10th-place finish, Flitney departed Bromley at the end of the season.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flitney, Ross 1984 births Living people English footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Association football goalkeepers Arsenal F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Croydon Athletic F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players Sportspeople from Hitchin