Dean George Howell (born 29 November 1980) is an English former 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, rugb ...

, who played at left-back or left-midfield.

Schoolboy and trainee

Howell started as a schoolboy at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

before moving to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

as a trainee. He then signed a professional contract in July 1999. Howell was then loaned out to Spalding United for the 1999–2000 season.

Career

In July 2000, Howell then joined

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, after impressed manager Dario Gradi during his two-week trial. Crewe Alexandra then loaned out Howell, first of all, for two months to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...

and then to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

for a month. His move to Southport was made permanent with a two-year contract, after making an impressive start at

Haig Avenue Haig Avenue is a football stadium in Blowick, Southport, Merseyside, England, that holds 6,008 people (1,660 seated, 4,164 standing) Since its opening in 1905 it has been the home ground of Southport F.C. Everton Reserves also use the stadium f ...

. Howell then moved up the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

coast to Christie Park, when he signed for

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), ...

after Southport were relegated. Howell was then released at the end of the season and signed for

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. ...

. In August 2005, Howell joined

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on a six-month contract. Unfortunately, a double

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin her ...

restricted his appearances before he returned to Halifax Town, where injury again restricted him to just one appearance in four months. Howell's next move was in June 2006, when Howell joined Weymouth following his release by Halifax Town. He made just 17 appearances before 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 the summer of 2007, Howell joined up with his former manager

Garry Hill Garry Hill is an English football manager who was last the manager of National League club Ebbsfleet United. He previously managed Woking, Heybridge Swifts, St Albans City, Dagenham & Redbridge, Hornchurch, Weymouth and Rushden & Diamond ...

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...

. During the 2007–08 season, he made 49 appearances in all competitions, including the

Conference League Cup The Conference League Cup (formerly known as the Setanta Shield for sponsorship reasons, and before that the Bob Lord Trophy) was a football competition open to clubs playing in the Football Conference. History The competition was formed for t ...

final defeat by

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

. In May 2008, Howell left

Nene Park Nene Park was a sports stadium situated at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, along the bank of the River Nene, which could accommodate 6,441 spectators, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing. It formerly hosted football matches but at ...

and became Aldershot Town's first signing of the summer. In November 2008, after limited appearances for Aldershot Town, Howell was loaned out to Bury on a one-month loan. He joined

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

in July 2010 after he was released by Aldershot. He was named in the Conference Team of the Year for the 2010–11 season after Crawley won the title and so

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to League Two. In May 2012, Howell was released by the club after being deemed surplus to requirements. He then joined newly promoted

Football 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 L ...

side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed i ...

on a two-year deal. On 5 November 2013, Dean re-joined League Two side Bury. He signed a loan move to keep him at the club until 5 January 2014.

Personal life

Howell is vegan and has launched his own vegan organic food company.

Career statistics

Honours

;Crawley Town *

Conference National 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-professi ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Dean 1980 births Sportspeople from Burton upon Trent Living people Association football defenders Association football midfielders English footballers Notts County F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Southport F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players