Simon Daniel Roy King (born 11 April 1983) is an English retired

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 ...

. He primarily played as a defender.

Career

Oxford United

King started his career with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

and made his debut on 1 May 2001 against

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 ...

in the last competitive match to be played at the Manor Ground. He would leave the club having made just four appearances.

Barnet

King signed for Conference side

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 ...

in 2003. While with the club he would win the league title in 2004–05. King was transfer listed by

at the end of the 2006–07 season, for which he was named player of the year, to avoid him leaving on a free transfer a year later.

Gillingham

He was signed by

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Gillingham for £200,000 on a three-year deal in June 2007. This fee could however rise to £250,000, depending on appearances and whether Gillingham were to achieve promotion to the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

. King made his debut as a 62nd minute substitute for Aaron Brown on the first day of the 2007–08 season against

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 ...

, but was on the wrong end of a 1–0 defeat. The following season King would achieve promotion with the Kent side, playing the full 90 minutes as they defeated

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 ...

1–0 in the 2009 League Two play-off final, a game in which he was named Man of the Match. He was named Gillingham's Player of the Year for the season as well as being voted into the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

League Two team of the year. On 3 July 2009, King signed a new three-year contract, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2012. However, during a pre-season friendly against

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 ...

, King suffered an ankle injury which kept him out of the entire 2009–10 season. The injury also carried over to the beginning of the 2010–11 season. King finally returned to training in November 2010 after 18 months out, with the last professional game he played in having been the 2009 League Two play-off final. The return from injury for King was short lived however, after suffering a setback during training which caused the length on the sidelines to be extended for a few weeks. On 8 February 2011, King finally made his return to football after 18 months without playing after replacing Matt Lawrence in the 25th minute in the 3–1 home win 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 ...

Loan to Plymouth Argyle

He joined

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, ...

on loan for one month on 31 August 2011, and made his debut in a 2–1 defeat at

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 ...

on 3 September. He made two further appearances before the loan was extended until 7 November.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Following his release by Gillingham in May 2012, King agreed to sign for

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

in July 2012. He made his debut for the side on the opening day of the 2012–13 Premier League season in 2–2 draw against St Mirren. King was forced to retire from professional football after failing to recover from an injury sustained playing for Inverness.

Thurrock

King signed for

Isthmian League Division One North 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 teams ...

club

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

on 23 August 2013, reuniting with

Mark Stimson Mark Nicholas Stimson (born 27 December 1967) is an English former footballer and is currently manager of Hornchurch. He signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur in 1985, but was unable to gain a regular place in the team. I ...

, his former manager at Gillingham.

International career

King won three caps for the England non-league team, scoring the winning goal on his debut against Italy on 11 November 2004.

Honours

Barnet

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 ...

: 2004–05

Gillingham

* League Two play-offs:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Individual

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2006–07 Football League One,

2008–09 Football League Two The Football League 2008–09, known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season under its current league division format. It began in August 2008 and concluded in May 2009, with the promotion play-off final ...

* Barnet Player of the Season: 2006–07 * Gillingham Player of the Season: 2008–09

References

External links

Simon King player profile
at gillinghamfootballclub.com

at barnetfc.com

at oufc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Simon 1983 births Living people English men's footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Oxford United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football defenders Footballers from Oxford