Scott Malcolm Partridge (born 13 October 1974) is an English retired 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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, most notably for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. In a nomadic league career, he also played League football for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, Rushden & Diamonds,

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, Scarborough and Exeter City. He was described as "an immensely skilful little striker with a wonderful first touch", while "rarely getting the goals his contribution deserved".

Career

Early years

, Partridge began his career in the youth system at Grimsby Town, before moving to

and signing his first professional contract in July 1992. He made just five first team substitute appearances for the Bantams, before moving to First Division club

on a free transfer on 18 February 1994. He made something of a breakthrough at Ashton Gate, making 66 appearances and scoring eight goals over the course of three seasons, but was forced to spend time away on loan during the 1995–96 season. Partridge joined

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club

for a £50,000 fee in February 1997, but after 13 months in which he was mainly utilised as a winger, he departed Ninian Park in March 1998, having made 41 appearances and scored just two goals.

Torquay United

On 26 March 1998, Partridge returned to Third Division club

(with whom he had previously had a loan spell during the 1995–96 season) on a free transfer. Despite failing to score in each of his five appearances at the end of the 1997–98 season, Partridge finally found his goalscoring touch during 1998–99, scoring 14 goals in 35 matches before departing

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

in February 1999.

Brentford

Partridge joined high-flying Third Division club

for a £100,000 fee on 19 February 1999. Paired with

Lloyd Owusu Lloyd Magnus Owusu (born 12 December 1976) is a retired professional footballer who last played for Hakoah Sydney City East in the NSW State League Division One, Sydney, Australia. After a move from non-League Slough Town, his career took off at ...

in attack, he showed excellent form in what remained of the 1998–99 season, scoring seven goals in 14 matches to help the Bees to the Third Division title after victory over the eventual runners-up Cambridge United on the final day. Back in the Second Division, Partridge scored four goals in an eight-match spell between late August and early September 1999, but scored just twice more to finish a mid-table season with 47 appearances and six goals. Partridge began the 2000–01 season on the bench, but regained his starting place under

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

Ray Lewington in December 2000. Paired again with Lloyd Owusu, he scored 9 goals between December and the end of the season, to finish with 47 appearances and 10 goals. The 2000–01 season was memorable for Brentford's run to the final of the Football League Trophy, though despite playing the full 90 minutes at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

, the Bees were beaten 2–1 by

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. New manager

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

's signing of forward

Ben Burgess Benjamin Kieron Burgess (born 9 November 1981) is an English-born Irish retired footballer best known for his time playing for Hull City and Blackpool. He was capped by the Republic of Ireland at U18 and U21 level. Club career Early career ...

on loan in August 2001 heralded the beginning of the end of Partridge's time at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

and after two early 2001–02 season appearances, he departed the club in September 2001. During seasons with Brentford, Partridge made 110 appearances and scored 23 goals.

Rushden & Diamonds

Partridge dropped back down to the Third Division to join newly promoted Rushden & Diamonds on a free transfer on 14 September 2001. Aside from a spell of five goals in 12 matches between late October and late December 2001, Partridge failed to recapture any goalscoring form, but did help the team to the 2002 Third Division play-off final, which was lost 3–1 to

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 ...

. Partridge was utilised almost exclusively as a substitute in the early months of the 2002–03 season, before being

transfer-list The transfer market is the arena in which football players are available for transfer to clubs. The transfer market consists of a list of players available for transfer, and also the money moving between clubs as they contest to purchase and sell t ...

ed in December 2002. On 31 December 2002, Partridge joined Third Division club Exeter City on a one-month loan. He scored in each of his first two matches and made four appearances before his loan expired, despite attempts by manager Neil McNab to persuade him to stay. Partridge departed Rushden & Diamonds on 26 March 2003 and made 52 appearances and scored five goals for the club.

Shrewsbury Town

On 27 March 2003, Partridge joined Third Division club Shrewsbury Town on a contract running until the end of the 2002–03 season. He made just four appearances before his contract expired.

Non-League football

Weymouth player-manager Steve Claridge made Partridge his first signing of the 2003–04 season and he signed a three-year contract. He scored 11 goals in 30 appearances before being allowed to join Southern League Premier Division rivals Bath City on a free transfer on 9 January 2004. Partridge went on to have a successful -season spell at

Twerton Park Twerton Park is a football stadium in the Twerton suburb of Bath, England. The stadium is named after the surrounding area, Twerton. The stadium has a physical capacity of 8,884, 1,066 of which are seats. It has been the home of Bath City F.C ...

, with a pinnacle being the title-winning 2006–07 season, which secured promotion to the

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 ...

. After recovering from a neck injury, he played on until March 2008, before departing the club to look after his mother. Partridge 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 ...

First Division South club Sheffield in 2008, but moved back up to the Conference South to join Weston-super-Mare on 31 December 2008 and made 9 appearances before retiring at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Personal life

Partridge's father,

Malcolm Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máel C ...

, was also a professional footballer. As of January 2004, he was living in Bristol.

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford * Football League Third Division: 1998–99 * Football League Trophy runner-up: 2000–01 Rushden & Diamonds * Conference Shield: 2001 Weymouth * Southern League Premier Division second-place promotion: 2003–04 Bath City * Southern League Premier Division: 2006–07 Individual * FA Cup Player of the Round: Third qualifying round, 2004–05 * Team of the FA Cup: 2004–05

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Partridge, Scott Living people 1974 births Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Bradford City A.F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Sheffield F.C. players Southern Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Leicester English men's footballers English Football League players