Ross Daniel Flitney (born 1 June 1984) is an English footballer who plays for

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Career

Born in Hitchin, Flitney started as a youth player at Arsenal before moving to Fulham in 2003 where he was cover for senior keepers such as

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

and Mark Crossley, but never made a first-team appearance despite making the bench on several occasions in the 2004–05 season. He did however have two loan spells with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and a further loan spell with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. In March 2005 he joined Isthmian League side

Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning "the ...

on loan. He was released by Fulham in May 2005, joining Barnet the following month. On 26 October 2005, he became the recipient of the quickest red card in the history of Old Trafford. In a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match for Barnet against Manchester United, he was sent off for handling the ball outside his penalty area, only 80 seconds into the game. It was his first touch in the match, and Barnet went on to lose 4–1. The red card was later rescinded on appeal. During the 2005–06 season, he lost his place to Lee Harrison who had rejoined Barnet as a player/coach in the summer. He was told he could leave Barnet in November 2006, but was finally released at the end of the season, joining Grays Athletic in June 2007. Flitney signed for Croydon Athletic on loan in December 2008, and just one month later he was transfer listed by Grays, with financial pressures and manager Wayne Burnett's plans being cited as the reason. A fortnight later, Flitney had his contract with the Essex side terminated by mutual consent, and signed a contract to stay with Croydon Athletic until the end of the season. In January 2010, Flitney signed for Conference South club Dover Athletic. Dover manager Andy Hessenthaler said; "He's a keeper I've had my eye on. He brings something different to the table in that he is 6ft 3in and kicks the ball a mile!". Flitney made his debut for Dover in the 2–0 defeat to Woking on 23 January. He was signed by Hessenthaler again, when he joined Gillingham in July 2011, and made his debut for Gillingham in the 1–0 win over Cheltenham Town on 6 August 2011. In October 2012 he joined

on an initial loan period of one month. After his loan at Eastleigh finished in January 2013, and his subsequent release by Gillingham, he rejoined Eastleigh on a permanent basis in February 2013. Flitney played the first nine games of the 2016–17 season for

but then signed for Brighton-based National League South side

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was original ...

, rejoining his former manager Richard Hill and making his debut in a 3–0 away win at Bishop's Stortford on 8 October. Flitney was sent off after the final whistle in the

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 ...

first round against

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

on 14 November for protesting to referee Robert Whitton, who had just blown for full-time with the ball in play, seconds before Javier Favarel scored a 30-yard volley which would have been the winning goal. On 14 January against Dulwich Hamlet in the FA Trophy second round, with his side leading 1–0, Flitney came off the bench to replace Hawks' injured keeper Tom Stewart in the 65th minute and went on to concede four times as well as give away and then save a penalty in the time remaining. Flitney left the Hawks at the end of January 2017, his last game being a 1–3 defeat at Hungerford Town on 23 January, a game in which he conceded a penalty after just four minutes. On 16 February 2017, Flitney joined

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, c ...

on a short-term deal for the remainder of the campaign. Following 14 league appearances, in which he helped the club to a 10th-place finish, Flitney departed Bromley at the end of the season.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flitney, Ross 1984 births Living people English footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Association football goalkeepers Arsenal F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Croydon Athletic F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players Sportspeople from Hitchin