Samuel James Aiston (born 21 November 1976) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder and made over 200 appearances 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 Fo ...

and the Football League, particularly for Sunderland, Chester City,

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 ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

and

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 ...

. He finished his career in Non-League football and turned out for Stafford Rangers,

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

and

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 ...

Career

Aiston began his career at Newcastle United in 1994 but made no appearances for the club before joining Sunderland in 1995, where he made over 20 first-team appearances, most as substitute. He was loaned to Chester City, Stoke City and

, before joining Shrewsbury for a £50,000 transfer fee in the summer of 2000. Aiston made 165 league appearances for Shrewsbury, scoring seven goals, helping the club to promotion from the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

at the end of the 2003–04 season. Whilst at

Aiston endeared himself to the Shrewsbury faithful owing to his style of play. He was released by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2004–05 season and initially agreed a two-year deal with

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 t ...

, with the official website initially announcing the signing. He then did a u-turn and joined

in July 2005, where he made over 40 league and cup appearances in the 2005–06 season. He was released by Tranmere at the end of the season, and joined

. Injuries meant he struggled to command a regular first team place and he dropped into the Conference National for a loan spell 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 grou ...

. In November 2007, Aiston joined

on loan, having previously played for Wrexham manager Brian Little at

. Aiston made his debut in a 2–2 draw with Chester City three days later. In January 2008, Aiston's move to Wrexham was made into a permanent signing. He was transfer listed by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the

. Aiston went on to play for Stafford Rangers and

before joining

in February 2010. He was released in May 2011.

Personal life

After retiring from playing football Aiston became a primary school teacher, working initially at Bicton primary school near Shrewsbury. He got married in August 2012 to Hollie Adams at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury. At the time he was teacher at Newdale Primary School in

Telford, Shropshire Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an e ...

. In December 2021 Aiston, along with his ex

teammates Dave Edwards and Gavin Cowan, launched the podcast, In The Stiffs. In November 2022, he was head teacher at

Broseley Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first The Iron Bridge, iron bridge in the world was built in 17 ...

C.ofE. Primary School, when he was named to take up his next appointment as first head teacher at Bowbrook Primary School, Shrewsbury, in 2023.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in 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 Le ...

and

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leagu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aiston, Sam 1976 births Living people English footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Schoolteachers from Tyne and Wear Association football midfielders