William Henry Hatfield (born 10 October 1991) is an English semi-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 a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. He began his career 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 ...

, but never made an appearance for their first team. He went on to play 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 ...

for

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

as well as in

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

FC Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in t ...

and

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

. He returned to Darlington in August 2023.

Early life

Hatfield was born in

Liversedge Liversedge is a town and former parish of Birstall, in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. The Kirklees ward is ...

, West Yorkshire, and attended

Woodhouse Grove School Woodhouse Grove School ('The Grove') is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding public school and Sixth Form. it is located to the north of Apperley Bridge, West Yorkshire, England (Apperley Bridge is located in the City of Bradfor ...

Apperley Bridge Apperley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of Tewkesbury, south of Deerhurst and east of the River Severn. It is the largest settlement in Deerhurst civil parish. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 625. The p ...

Career

Hatfield came through the

youth system, having joined the club as an eight-year-old. His first matchday involvement in the first team came on 3 February 2010 as an unused substitute in a 3–1 home defeat to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

in an

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 ...

fourth-round replay. Hatfield joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

on 28 January 2011 on a one-month

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 ...

, playing four matches. He joined

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 ...

club

on 14 October 2011 on a one-month loan. He made his debut the following day as a half-time substitute in a 2–0 home defeat to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

in League Two. Having made four appearances, his loan was extended until the end of December 2011. After his loan spell at Accrington ended, Hatfield and his Leeds teammate Sanchez Payne joined Conference Premier club Lincoln City on trial. Hatfield left Leeds on 12 January 2012 after agreeing to mutually terminate his contract. He signed for

later that month, making his debut on 24 January 2012 as a 66th-minute substitute in a 2–2 home draw 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 ...

in the

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 ...

. On 10 February 2012, Hatfield re-signed for League Two club Accrington Stanley on a contract until the end of 2011–12 season. He signed a new one-year contract with the club in June 2012. He scored four goals in an FA Cup tie against

on 3 November 2012. Hatfield re-joined Conference Premier club FC Halifax Town on 27 November 2014 on a 28-day loan, and signed for the club permanently on 15 January 2015 after leaving Accrington by mutual consent. Hatfield signed for 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 19 June 2015, and went on to spend four seasons with the club. He left Guiseley in July 2019 and signed for

National League 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

. Hatfield was named as Darlington's Away Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Player of the Year for the 2019–20 season, as well as winning their Goal of the Season award for his strike against

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. On 22 March 2022, Hatfield signed for fellow National League North club

for an undisclosed fee. He was a regular starter for the rest of the season, and although playing less often in 2022–23, he made a major contribution to AFC Fylde's league title and promotion. Unable to guarantee him regular football at the higher level, AFC Fylde cancelled his contract, which had a year still to run, and Hatfield re-signed for Darlington on 14 August 2023 on a two-year deal. After the dismissal of manager

Alun Armstrong Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began ...

and assistant

Darren Holloway Darren Holloway (born 3 October 1977 in Bishop Auckland, England) is a retired professional footballer. His former clubs include Bradford City (scoring once against Hull), Wimbledon, Scunthorpe United (scoring once against Yeovil), Sunderland a ...

on 6 September, Hatfield was one of a group of three senior players tasked with covering managerial duties until an appointment was made.

Career statistics

References

External links

Will Hatfield profile
at the Guiseley A.F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Will 1991 births Living people People from Liversedge Sportspeople from Kirklees Footballers from West Yorkshire English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Leeds United F.C. players York City F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players FC Halifax Town players Guiseley A.F.C. players Darlington F.C. players AFC Fylde players National League (English football) players English Football League players