The Bristol Rovers History Group. |
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Angelo Jasiel Balanta. 2014-15.
Born, 1.7.1990, Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. 5’ 10”; 11 st 8 lbs Début: 25.11.14 v Barnet Career: Hurlingham and Chelsea School; CB Hounslow United; Queen’s Park Rangers (professional, 16.1.08) [9+16,2]; 13.11.08 Wycombe Wanderers (loan) [9+2,3]; 11.6.10 MK Dons (loan); 1.8.11 MK Dons (loan); 1.10.12 MK Dons (loan) [33+17,11]; 26.3.13 Yeovil Town (loan) [4+2,0]; 8.9.14 Bristol Rovers (free); 30.6.15 Carlisle United (free) [4+3,1]; 28.7.16 Boreham Wood (free); 22.10.18 Dagenham and Redbridge (free). In stooping to head a last-gasp winner against table-topping Barnet on his Rovers début, exciting left-winger Ángelo Balanta became the first Colombian-born player to appear for the club. Having suffered at first with injuries, he made his first full appearance for the Gas in the 2-1 Gloucestershire Senior Challenge Cup victory over Cinderford Town in November 2014. That campaign, Rovers pushed hard for an immediate return to the Football League, Balanta appearing in 3(+13) Conference matches, scoring just the once, as the Gas finished one point behind champions Barnet; he played as a substitute in the Wembley play-off final against Grimsby Town in May 2015, scoring in the penalty shoot-out as Rovers dramatically secured promotion back to League football. Brought up in Fulham, he first appeared for QPR as a substitute for Ben Sahar against Crystal Palace in December 2007 and contributed his first League goal two months later against Sheffield United, when he turned home Hogan Ephraim’s cross at the near post. Early form earned him a standby rôle for the England Under-19 squad in September 2008. Loan spells at a number of clubs saw the affable winger sent off at Bournemouth in October 2010 and visit Wembley as an unused substitute, alongside Gavin Williams, as Yeovil won their 2013 League One play-off final to secure an unlikely promotion to the Championship. In leaving Rovers in 2015, he narrowly missed out on overlapping at the club with another Colombian, Cristian Montaño. Balanta was an unused substitute for Keith Curle’s Carlisle side which drew at Anfield in the League Cup in September 2015, the month in which he scored against his future club Dagenham and Redbridge, his solitary Football League goal. He scored for Boreham Wood when they held League Two Notts County to a 2-2 draw in the FA Cup in November 2016, contributing sixteen goals in 64(+10) Conference appearances as well as 92(+11) Conference appearances and thirty-four goals with Dagenham. Against Harrogate in August 2019, he scored three times in the same net, a seventh-minute own goal giving the visitors the lead before a second-half brace secured a 4-2 home Conference victory, but the Daggers, with Balanta playing, were knocked out of the FA Cup that season by Carshalton Athletic. He was in the Dagenham side which defeated Ian Holloway’s Grimsby Town 3-1 in the FA Cup in November 2020 and was named National League Player of the Month for March 2021. In November 2021 he scored a hat-trick in Dagenham’s 4-1 win at Maidenhead United. |
Adam Paul Cunnington. 2014-15.
Born, 7.10.1987, Leighton Buzzard. 6’ 3”; 12 st 11 lbs Début: 23.8.14 v AFC Telford United Career: Barton Rovers; October 2006 Leighton Town; July 2007 Hitchin Town; September 2007 Aylesbury United; November 2007 Barton Rovers; March 2008 Rothwell Town; July 2008 Stamford; March 2009 Barnwell; 23.7.10 Solihull Moors; 1.2.11 Kettering Town; 24.11.11 Dagenham and Redbridge (loan); 4.1.12 Dagenham and Redbridge (free) [2+7,0]; 9.3.12 Alfreton Town (loan); 9.7.12 Tamworth (free); 10.5.13 Cambridge United (free) [26+5,10]; 22.8.14 Bristol Rovers (loan); 15.1.15 Ebbsfleet United (free); 27.10.15 Woking (loan); 9.12.15 Bromley (free); 8.2.17 Billericay Town (free); 15.12.18 Kettering Town (free); 29.3.19 Billericay Town (free); 2.8.19 Dartford (free); 9.10.19 Hemel Hempstead Town (free); 21.11.19 Romford (free); 14.1.20 AFC Hornchurch (free); 2.9.20 Cheshunt (free); 7.12.20 Enfield Town (free). Jayden Stockley’s arrival at Cambridge released tall, prolific goal-scorer Adam Cunnington to spear-head Rovers’ strike-force during the club’s solitary campaign of Conference football. A veteran of the non-league circuit, he had scored six goals in 35 matches in two spells at Barton, three in thirteen games with Leighton and played in three, four and one respectively at Hitchin, Aylesbury and Rothwell, prior to helping Barwell secure the Midland Football Alliance and reach the FA Vase semi-final. Ten goals followed in 22 matches at Solihull and a first Kettering goal, in the 3-1 victory over Southport in April 2011 preceded a run of four in five games through that autumn, ending only with a red card picked up at Newport County. After six goals in 20(+6) matches with Kettering, League football briefly beckoned, although a loan spell at Alfreton also produced goals at Ebbsfleet and Braintree in 7(+4) Conference matches. The second highest scorer in Conference football in 2012-13, his 21 goals in 42(+3) matches with Tamworth included two in both fixtures against Forest Green Rovers. Cunnington’s burgeoning reputation as a prolific scorer in non-league circles grew as he contributed two goals against Halifax on his Cambridge bow, his eight goals in 21(+2) matches easing United towards promotion to the Football League, where they replaced relegated Rovers. He also missed a penalty in the home fixture with Plymouth Argyle. Three games into the new season, though, he arrived at The Mem, where he was soon on the goals trail, scoring in the home fixtures against Halifax, Woking and Dover Athletic, as Rovers enjoyed a long winning run through early autumn; he appeared in 12(+3) Conference matches during Rovers’ promotion campaign. Hastily recalled at Cambridge whilst on the coach to Rovers’ match at Alfreton, he then scored against Northampton Town in his first game after returning to his mother club, before moving to Nationwide South Ebbsfleet United, where he scored in the second minute of his first Conference South match, against Gosport Borough. Doubles against Gosport, Staines Town and Bishop’s Stortford were amongst the nine Nationwide South goals he contributed in 15(+11) appearances. He played in three Conference matches for Woking in the autumn of 2015, without scoring and added eight goals in 33(+7) Conference matches with Bromley, as well as an FA Trophy hat-trick in the December 2016 5-3 win at Leiston, and eight goals in 17(+1) Ryman League matches. Over Easter 2017 he scored twice as Billericay came from behind to defeat Tonbridge Angels 8-3 in an exciting Ryman League Cup Final. In August 2017 he came on as a half-time substitute to score a twenty-two-minute hat-trick as Billericay beat Burgess Hill Town 6-1 in the Isthmian Premier League. After 4(+14) Nationwide South matches and three goals, he left Billericay in December 2018, adding one goal in three games in that division with Dartford and four goalless matches at Hemel Hempstead. After four games with Romford, he played alongside Chris Dickson and Jamie Cureton at Hornchurch, scoring four goals in ten games. One goal in eight matches with Cheshunt preceded joining Cureton’s Enfield side, where he played alongside Lyle Della-Verde, scoring one of their seven first-half goals away to East Thurrock United in October 2021. In the 2021-22 season, he scored seven goals in 34 Isthmian League matches, but his side lost 3-2 to Hornchurch in the play-off semi-final. Living in the Cambridge area, Adam Cunnington is married to Rebecca Johnson with a son, Zach, who was born in 2012. |
Adam Ryan Dawson. 2014-15.
Born, 5.10.1992, Grimsby. 5’ 9”; 12 st 4 lbs Début: 31.1.15 v Dartford Career: Derby High School, Bury; Bury (youth football); 2007 Liverpool (£100,000); July 2009 Bury (free); 30.6.11 Wigan Athletic (free); 10.8.12 Accrington Stanley (loan); 16.11.12 Bacup Borough (free); 19.11.12 FC United of Manchester (free); 25.3.13 Barrow (free); 30.7.13 Nelson (free); 2.9.13 Dundee (trial); 2.10.1 Barrow (trial); 26.10.13 Leicester City (free); 7.8.14 Notts County (loan) [1+1,0]; 3.10.14 Nuneaton Town (loan); 13.1.15 Bristol Rovers (loan); 7.8.15 Barrow (trial); 10.8.15 Central Coast Mariners (free); 11.9.15 Kidderminster Harriers (free); 10.9.15 Tranmere Rovers (loan); 2.3.16 Nuneaton Town (free); 6.6.16 Eastleigh (free); 8.11.16 Tranmere Rovers (free, to 24.11.17); 22.9.17 Darlington (loan); 13.1.18 Southport (free); 5.7.18 AFC Telford United (free); 13.11.18 Chester (free); 11.1.19 Macclesfield Town (free); 2.3.19 AFC Telford United (loan); 26.12.19 Radcliffe (loan); 23.7.20 Achyronas Liopetriou (free) [6,0]; 8.8.21 Radcliffe (free); 16.12.21 Bamber Bridge (free); 14.7.22 Hyde United (free). Billed as “a highly effective force on both flanks”, exciting winger Adam Dawson joined Rovers on loan as the Pirates looked to cement their promotion push. He set up Tom Parkes’ headed winning goal at home to Altrincham and appeared in 8(+4) Conference matches as Rovers returned to the Football League that spring. Having made his Football League bow in Notts County’s 1-1 draw with Preston North End in August 2014, he had previously appeared in Stanley’s League Cup-tie with Carlisle United in August 2012. One North-West Counties League match for Bacup, a 1-0 victory over AFC Liverpool, and four games for FC United were followed by 5(+4) Conference matches in a Barrow side relegated in 2012-13 to the Conference North. Despite alleged interest in 2013 from Macclesfield Town, Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town, Morecambe and Hyde, he played in six matches for Nelson, scoring against Holker Old Boys, before appearing in thirteen Conference matches with Nuneaton and scoring in the home fixtures with Lincoln City, from a thirty-yard shot on his début, Macclesfield Town and Telford. Dawson played in eight Conference matches for Harriers, scoring in the 3-2 defeat at Dover Athletic in August 2015, and in 8(+1) matches without scoring with Tranmere in the same division, before making 0(+2) Nationwide North appearances at Nuneaton. After 6(+5) Conference appearances with Eastleigh, and a goal against Bromley, Dawson terminated his own contract to move back up north, nearer his pregnant partner, Cherrelle Marie Slater (Harlie was born not long afterwards), and played in 2(+2) Conference matches for Tranmere as the Prenton Park outfit reached the Conference play-offs. He later played in 7(+10) Nationwide North matches with Southport, 1(+19) with Telford, scoring in a 2-2 draw at Leamington and 4(+3) with Chester. Unable to play for Macclesfield in 2018-19 after falling foul of the “two-club rule”, which prevents any player turning out for three or more sides in the same season, he was relieved to see Macc pull off an unlikely escape from the jaws of relegation out of the Football League. When the club went bankrupt, Dawson joined a second-tier side in Cyprus. |
Lyle Tristan Della-Verde.
Born, 9.1.1995, Leeds. 5’ 9”; 11 st 7 lbs Début: 11.11.14 v Alfreton Town Career: Tottenham Hotspur (schoolboy); 2007 Southend United (scholarship, 23.12.10); 20.8.11 Fulham; 6.11.14 Bristol Rovers (loan); 22.7.15 Fleetwood Town (free) [6+1,0]; 26.2.16 Crawley Town (free) [10+2,0]; 26.8.16 Welling United (free); 4.12.16 Concord Rangers (free); 26.6.17 Dartford (free); 29.6.18 Braintree Town (free); 7.3.19 Kingstonian (free); 22.3.19 Haringey Borough (free); 9.8.19 Hayes and Yeading United (free); 24.12.19 Enfield Town (free); 6.11.20 Welling United (free); 3.9.21 Enfield Town (free). With Andy Monkhouse facing a three-game absence and Jake Gosling engaged on international duty, Rovers’ manager Darrell Clarke snapped up attack-minded tricky winger Lyle Della-Verde on loan. He made his first appearance as a 57th-minute substitute for Gosling in the FA Cup-tie at Tranmere Rovers and played in the final 21 minutes of the goalless draw at Alfreton before suffering an ankle injury at Wrexham, totalling 4(+2) Conference appearances during Rovers’ promotion campaign, before his loan spell was curtailed by injury. Able to play on either wing, the teenage Yorkshireman had not made his League bow prior to joining Rovers, although his performances in the 2010-11 FA Youth Cup had attracted attention from both Wolves and Fulham. An unused substitute at the age of fifteen for the Shrimpers’ FA Cup-tie with Macclesfield in November 2010, left-footed Della-Verde scored twelve goals in 34 games for Fulham at under-18 level and twice in 24 matches for their Under-21 side, hat-tricks in March 2012 against both Fulham and Bristol City preceding a lengthy lay-off with ligament trouble, prior to eighteen appearances in the 2013-14 campaign, this tally incorporating a brace in the 3-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers that March. Subsequently, he appeared alongside Matt Harrold and Andy Bond in the Crawley side defeated 3-0 at The Mem by promotion-chasing Rovers in April 2016, and scored once, in a 5-0 away victory at his future club Concord Rangers, in 11(+1) Nationwide South matches with Welling United. He played three times in 20(+2) Nationwide South fixtures with Concord Rangers and scored five goals in 18(+10) matches with Dartford, before adding three goals in 17(+12) Conference matches with Braintree and he played twice for Kingstonian. Haringey reached the Bostik Premier League play-offs in May 2019, only to lose 2-1 to Tonbridge Angels. He scored on his Enfield début in an exciting 5-3 victory over Haringey Borough at Donkey Lane, the first of seventeen in 54 Isthmian League matches, and played there alongside Adam Cunnington and Jamie Cureton, appearing in the play-off semi-final which was lost 3-2 to Hornchurch in April 2022. In October 2021, he had scored a first-half hat-trick away to East Thurrock United, as Enfield raced to a 7-0 interval lead, en route to an eight-nil victory at Rookery Hill. He was sent off after scoring the final goal of Enfield Town’s 4-0 victory away to Brightlingsea Regent in September 2022. |
Bradley Jack Goldberg. 2014-15.
Born, 20.10.1993, Bromley, Greater London. 5’ 7½”; 11 st Début: 22.11.14 v Chester Career: 2002 Bromley; 21.4.10 Charlton Athletic; 4.11.11 Bromley (loan); 28.2.12 Hastings United (loan); 30.6.12 Hastings United (free); 21.8.12 Bromley (dual registration); 14.8.13 Dagenham and Redbridge (free) [0+5,0]; 15.8.13 Bromley (loan); 20.11.14 Bristol Rovers (loan); 22.1.15 Bromley (loan); 1.6.15 Bromley (free); 4.6.17 Welling United (free, to 2020); 3.8.22 Beckenham Town (free). Pony-tailed striker Bradley Goldberg, highly rated in lower league circles, joined Rovers on loan during the first season of Conference football. He made 1(+5) appearances for the side during Rovers’ 2014-15 promotion campaign; and he was woken by a burglar in the early hours prior to Rovers’ victory at Torquay United on Boxing Day 2014. The son of Mark Goldberg, formerly Crystal Palace chairman and Bradley’s manager at Bromley, and the nephew of the former Bromley chairman Jerry Dolke, he had been top scorer and Conference South Player of the Year for 2013-14. Previously having made his first appearance for Bromley in a 2-1 defeat against Boreham Wood in November 2011, one highlight of an extended stay with Hastings was his long-range strike which secured United’s goal as they lost 4-1 at Middlesbrough in an FA Cup third round tie in January 2013. His first goal for the club had come against Wingate and Finchley in March 2012 and he tallied nine goals in 33 games, being top scorer as Hastings were relegated form the Isthmian League Premier Division in 2012-13. Dagenham offered a brief taste of League football, the young striker making his bow as a substitute in a 3-0 defeat against Morecambe in August 2014. He scored a hat-trick as Bromley won 6-0 at Staines Town in a Nationwide South fixture in February 2015 and they were champions of that division during 2014-15, whilst a brace of goals against Lincoln City in April 2016 helped take his Bromley tally to 38 goals in 95(+43) Conference matches. He scored 21 goals in 61(+16) Nationwide South matches with Welling United, helping them secure the London Senior Cup in 2019, the year they reached the play-off final, where he hit the post early on as his side lost to Woking. In October 2019 Goldberg’s first-half hat-trick enabled Welling to defeat Tavistock 4-1 in the FA Cup, Theo Widdrington also playing in this match. Bradley Goldberg’s sister Lauren-Rose is a singer-songwriter, who appeared on “The X-Factor” and performed alongside Leona Lewis. |
David John Martin. 2014-15.
Born, 3.6.1985, Erith. 5’ 9”; 10 st 10 lbs Début: 16.8.14 v Altrincham Career: 1995 Brighton; 2004 Slade Green; 2005 Dartford; 23.1.07 Crystal Palace (£25,000) [2+12,0]; 31.1.08 Millwall (£50,000) [60+15,9]; 9.2.10 Derby County (loan); 1.6.10 Derby County (free) [2+11,1]; 21.1.11 Notts County (loan) [7+3,0]; 13.9.11 Walsall (loan) [4,0]; 4.1.12 Southend United (free) [21+10,4]; 29.1.13 Luton Town (free); 18.11.13 Dartford (loan); 15.8.14 Bristol Rovers (loan); 14.2.15 Stevenage (free) [9+1,1]; 11.8.15 Whitehawk (free); 28.6.16 Bromley (free); 23.3.17 Margate (loan); 15.5.17 Margate (free); 6.6.18 Eastbourne Borough (free); 14.12.18 Margate (loan); 6.9.19 Whitehawk (free; 2.8.20 player-coach; retired, 22.1.21); 13.8.21 Hastings United (free). Having opened their sole Conference campaign poorly, Rovers accrued experienced winger Dave Martin to offer fresh opportunities on the wing. He appeared in 13(+3) Conference matches for the Gas, without finding the net, during the 2014-15 promotion campaign. After scoring fourteen goals each at Slade Green and Dartford, in 66 and 68 matches respectively, the slim, fast wide man had earlier enjoyed a healthy run in the Football League, following his bow as a substitute in Palace’s 1-0 victory at his future club Southend United in February 2007. During his time at The New Den, Millwall reached two League One play-off finals at Wembley, losing to Scunthorpe United in 2009 before earning a single-goal victory over Swindon Town in 2010. However, Martin did not represent the Lions in the Championship, moving instead for a frustrating season at Derby, where his only goal came against Cardiff City on the final day. Sent off against Preston North End in his final act as a Walsall player, he served under both Paul Buckle and John Still at Luton, where he played alongside Alex Wall and his three goals in 17(+6) Conference matches helped ease the Hatters to promotion back to the Football League in the spring of 2014. Goals at Rovers proved elusive, but he did score in the reserves’ 4-3 home defeat against Exeter City in November 2014 and added one at Hartlepool on his first appearance for his next club, easing Stevenage to the League Two play-offs, where they lost to Southend United, he being one of five former Rovers players who started in the second leg of that tie. In November 2015 he scored the fourth goal as unfashionable Whitehawk defeated Lincoln City 5-3 in a pulsating FA Cup shock at The Enclosed Ground; he scored five goals in 27(+7) Conference South matches that season, including two away to Hemel Hempstead Town on the penultimate Saturday of the campaign, as his side eased into the play-offs, where they lost on penalties to Ebbsfleet United. His 26(+3) Conference appearances for Bromley included one goal, this proving the 42nd-minute winner against Boreham Wood in November 2016 and his six appearances with Margate could not prevent their relegation from Nationwide South. He scored twice in 15(+6) matches with Eastbourne Borough, appeared in eighty matches for Whitehawk and scordfd three times in 25 Isthmian League South East matches with Hastings United. |
Andrew William Monkhouse. 2014-15.
Born, 23.10.1980, Leeds. 6’ 2”; 13 st 10 lbs Début: Début: 9.8.14 v Grimsby Town Career: Rotherham United (trainee; professional, 1.8.98) [68+60,9]; 22.6.06 Swindon Town (free) [9+1,2]; 10.1.07 Hartlepool United (loan); 21.7.07 Hartlepool United (free) [267+31,47]; 21.7.14 Bristol Rovers (free); 24.6.15 Grimsby Town (free); 8.7.16 Alfreton Town (free); 6.7.17 Whitby Town (free); 14.11.18 Ossett United (free); 23.1.20 Tadcaster Albion (free); 20.4.20 Pontefract Collieries (manager); 8.9.21 Tadcaster Albion (assistant manager; 23.9.22 manager). Experience and expertise were seen as critical if Rovers were to extricate themselves at the first attempt from Conference football, so the signing of the veteran Hartlepool winger Andy Monkhouse was a shrewd move from manager Darrell Clarke. Having scored a last-minute goal as an eighteen-year-old débutant, when Rotherham defeated his future club Hartlepool 3-0 in September 1998, he had suffered two long-term injuries before becoming Dennis Wise’s first signing as Swindon manager. Goals were sporadic but included one in the Millers’ dramatic 4-4 draw with Wolves in a League Cup encounter in October 2002 and another as Reading were thumped 5-1 sixteen months later. He experienced both promotion and relegation at both Rotherham and Hartlepool, most notably helping Pools go up alongside Rovers in 2006-07. That campaign, in which Monkhouse was named in the PFA League Two team of the season, saw his side only miss out on the League Two title when they lost their final game at home to Rovers, a match he missed through suspension; incredibly, Monkhouse was first on the losing side that campaign when United lost to Barnet on 7th April 2007. Sent off at Rochdale in April 2007 and at Chesterfield on Boxing Day 2013, he had played in Swindon’s goalless draw at The Mem in April 2008 and in eight League fixtures for Hartlepool against Rovers. Immediately endearing himself at Rovers with goals against Forest Green Rovers and Wrexham, Monkhouse became a popular figure at the club during the 2014-15 campaign. He scored two goals as Rovers demolished Dorchester Town 7-1 in the FA Cup in October 2014 but was sent off at Telford in the following fixture. That campaign, Rovers pushed hard for an immediate return to the Football League, Monkhouse appearing in 36(+3) Conference matches and scoring seven goals as the Gas finished one point behind champions Barnet; he played in the Wembley play-off final in May 2015 as Rovers dramatically secured promotion back to League football after a penalty shoot-out. A brace of goals in home Conference fixture against Barrow and Altrincham were highlights of his 38 matches and six goals for a Grimsby side which again reached the Conference play-offs in the spring of 2016. With Monkhouse missing through injury, the Mariners defeated Forest Green Rovers 3-1 at Wembley to score their long-awaited return to the Football league fold. A week later Monkhouse was back on the Wembley pitch, Grimsby losing 1-0 to Halifax in the FA Trophy Final. In November 2016 he hit a twelve-minute hat-trick as Alfreton twice came from behind to defeat Altrincham 3-2 in the Nationwide North but he was sent off during Whitby’s 2-2 draw at Stafford Rangers in February 2018. Monkhouse played in the West Riding Cup Final in April 2019, as Ossett United defeated Guiseley 2-1, and scored for them against Belper Town on the final day of that campaign; United lost 3-1 to Pontefract Collieries in the Northern Premier League play-offs. The following campaign he played in 9(+3) Northern Premier League matches with Ossett, scoring against Dunston and against Brighouse Town, before making his Tadcaster bow in a goalless draw with City of Liverpool. |
Fabian Spiess. 2014-15.
Born, 22.2.1994, Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. 6’ 3”; 13 st 2 lbs Début: 6.12.14 v Welling United Career: Atlético Benamiel; 2008 Dubai; 2010 Notts County (professional, 5.8.11) [7+2,0]; 25.10.11 Lewes (loan); 1.3.12 Corby Town (loan); 5.12.14 Bristol Rovers (loan); 31.7.15 Torquay United (free); 18.12.15 Alfreton Town (free); 8.1.16 Boston United (loan); 15.8.17 Nantwich Town (free). Steve Mildenhall’s injury at Wrexham in December 2014 forced Rovers to bring in the impressively promising goalkeeper Fabian Spiess for three Conference games on loan. As Rovers cemented their promotion push, the young keeper played well, yet also conceded an own goal at Torquay United on Boxing Day as well as against Bath City in the FA Trophy; Rovers were to secure promotion back to the Football League that May. A Schalke 04 supporter, born in the home town of Peter Minuit (1594-1638), who founded New Amsterdam which was later renamed New York, raised in Dubai and in Arroyo de la Miel in Spain, he was an imposing presence in goal and wore size 46 boots. Spotted in Dubai football by Notts County Academy Director Mick Leonard, Spiess first appeared in the League as a replacement for Stuart Nelson for the final sixteen minutes of the 2011-12 season, in County’s 4-1 home victory over Colchester United, in which Jeff Hughes scored for the Magpies. Two Isthmian League encounters plus a Sussex Senior Challenge Cup-tie at Lewes preceded a loan spell of five Conference North matches at Corby, including a 6-2 defeat at Harrogate Town; he also played in County’s 5-1 defeat at Oldham Athletic in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in November 2013. The young bearded goalkeeper, kept out of County’s side by the form of the veteran Roy Carroll, had only played in Johnstone’s Paint Trophy ties against Mansfield Town and Scunthorpe United during 2014-15, prior to joining Rovers; County were relegated from League One in May 2015. He was sent off at Welling in Torquay’s colours in September 2015, one of seventeen Conference games for the Plainmoor club prior appearing in eighteen Conference North matches for a Boston side which made the play-offs in their division, only to lose on aggregate to North Ferriby United, and in 39 games in the same division with Alfreton Town. Spiess dislocated his shoulder against Altrincham shortly after signing for Nantwich but recovered to play in 28 Evo-Stick League North matches. |
Neal Anthony Trotman. 2014-15.
Born, 11.3.1987, Levenshulme, Manchester. 6’ 2”; 13 st 5 lbs Début: 12.8.14 v Barnet Career: 2004 Burnley; 2006 Oldham Athletic (free); 2007 Halifax Town (loan); 30.1.08 Preston North End (£500,000) [2+1,0]; 19.3.09 Colchester United (loan) [5+1,0]; 20.8.09 Southampton (loan) [17+1,2]; 22.1.10 Huddersfield Town (loan) [21,2]; 25.11.10 Oldham Athletic (loan) [31+5,1]; 14.7.11 Rochdale (free) [12,0]; 3.11.11 Chesterfield (loan); 3.1.12 Chesterfield (free) [54,1]; 29.5.13 Partick Thistle (trial); 23.7.13 Dundee United (trial); 6.8.13 Plymouth Argyle (free) [41,2]; 7.8.14 Bristol Rovers (free) (released, 12.6.15). Duncan Culley and experienced central defender Neal Trotman joined Rovers on the same day, the latter boasting a wealth of Football League experience as an uncompromising yet cultured stopper. He appeared in 17(+2) Conference matches with Rovers, scoring against Torquay United at Plainmoor on Boxing Day 2014, before a knee operation meant he missed the end of the campaign, Rovers sealing their return to the Football League. Burnley was the first club to take the young central defender under its wing, Trotman appearing alongside the future England international Jay Rodriguez for the Clarets’ youth side. At the age of twenty he had sampled the fifth tier, scoring against both Stafford Rangers and Weymouth in eleven Conference matches for Halifax, as well as in two away FA Cup fixtures. However, it was in the lower echelons of the League that Trotman had made his name, appearing against Rovers for the Saints, as Rovers won 3-2 in September 2009, the Oldham side defeated at the Mem in February 2011, for Chesterfield in March 2013 and Plymouth in both matches of the 2013-14 campaign; indeed, one of his goals for the Pilgrims came on the stroke of half-time at The Mem in March 2014. Sent off in Oldham’s FA Cup-tie at Doncaster in February 2011 and in a Rochdale shirt against his former Oldham team-mates six months later, he was also dismissed as Plymouth crashed 4-0 at home to York City in the spring of 2014. A teenage FA Cup goal-scorer for Oldham against Kettering Town, Trotman scored for the Latics at Elland Road in January 2008, and claimed goals for Southampton against Southend and Exeter, and for Huddersfield, whom he helped reach the play-offs, against Hartlepool and Norwich. |
Alexander David Wall. 2014-15.
Born, 22.9.1990, Thatcham, Berkshire. 6’ 3”; 12 st 8 lbs Début: 29.11.14 v Welling United Career: 2007 Thatcham Town; 1.7.09 Maidenhead United; 1.3.13 Luton Town (loan); 20.7.11 Notts County (trial); 24.4.13 Luton Town (free) [1+6,1]; 17.1.14 Dartford (loan); 27.11.14 Bristol Rovers (loan); 1.6.15 Bromley (free; released, 28.1.17); 12.7.16 Sutton United (trial); 14.10.17 Hungerford Town (free); 1.8.18 Concord Rangers (free); 5.6.19 Hemel Hempstead Town (free); 14.1.20 Woking (free); 21.6.20 Concord Rangers (free); 15.5.21 Havant and Waterlooville (free); 16.6.22 Dartford (free). Powerful striker Alex Wall joined Rovers on loan as the club sought to consolidate its Conference play-off position in the autumn of 2014. His long-range free-kick hit the crossbar towards the end of the eventful goalless draw at Wrexham in December 2014, but he was not to score in 2(+3) Conference matches with the Gas; Rovers secured their return to the Football League at the end of that campaign. A goal on his sole appearance for Thatcham, as a substitute in the 6-1 victory over Andover in the Southern League in April 2009, having helped Thatcham’s youth side beat Ebbsfleet United 4-2 in the 2008 Football Conference Youth Alliance Final, preceded a successful spell with Maidenhead. Forty-three goals in 113(+27) matches, the first being a last-minute winner against local rivals Basingstoke Town in the Conference South in November 2009, drew the attention of larger sides. Having scored ten goals in a twelve-game burst for the 2010 Berks and Bucks Senior Cup winners, he was signed by John Still for Luton, where he played alongside Dave Martin and Scott Rendell. He had received red cards for Maidenhead against Havant and Waterlooville in March 2011 and Welling United twelve months later; sent off as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat at Wrexham in September 2013, Wall returned to the Luton side to score a powerful, curling long-range winner as Halifax were defeated 4-3. His five goals in 6(+16) Conference games included their final strike, in a1-0 victory over Hyde, as The Hatters secured the 2013-14 Conference title and returned to the Football League. In addition, he contributed six goals in eleven Conference matches on loan at Dartford, including two each against Hyde and Woking. Alongside Ricky Shakes and Adam Cunnington at Bromley, Wall scored against the top two sides, Forest Green Rovers and Cheltenham Town in 2015-16, contributing three goals in 9(+9) Conference matches. He was sent off in Hungerford’s FA Trophy match against Billericay in November 2017 and his solitary goal in 9(+5) matches came against Chippenham Town on Boxing Day 2017; twelve months later, almost to the day, he was sent off as Concord drew 1-1 with Chippenham. He was also sent off, after scoring, in the 2-2 draw at home to Billericay Town in January 2019 but scored 21 goals in his 30(+3) Nationwide South matches that campaign, including braces against Bath City, Gloucester City and Wealdstone as Concord reached the play-offs. Dramatically, Wall made an immediate impact on his return to Concord in 2020, scoring a late winning goal against Halesowen Town in the FA Trophy semi-final on his first appearance, to secure that club’s first ever appearance at Wembley. He scored in the FA Cup-tie in November 2020 in which his Concord side lost to League Two Stevenage on penalties and was sent off after scoring, as Rangers lost at home to Dorking Wanderers later that month. After seven goals in 9(+3) matches with Concord Rangers, he played for his club at Wembley in the final eleven minutes of the delayed 2020 FA Trophy Final in May 2021, which was lost 1-0 to Harrogate Town. He scored twice in seven National League South matches with Havant and Waterlooville. The son of David Wall and Penny Shawyer, his mother is the youngest of three children to David Shawyer (the son of Charles Shawyer and Daisy Robinson and grandson of Henry Shawyer, 1859-1914) and Jane Broughall; Jane’s parents were Herbert Broughall (1897-1955) and a Canadian, Phyllis Stuart Starthy (1899-1954), he re-marrying the delightfully-named Margaret Digues de la Touche (1896-1971) and she re-marrying Deric William Valentin (1907-2001). |
James Andrew White. 2014-15.
Born, 17.11.1989, Southampton. 5’ 8”; 11 st 7 lbs Début: 9.8.14 v Grimsby Town Career: Woodlands Community College; 1997 Southampton; 2004 Chelsea; 2005 Southampton (professional, 1.7.08) [2+1,0]; 14.11.08 Shrewsbury Town (loan) [3+6,1]; 9.10.09 Eastleigh (loan); 21.12.10 Eastleigh (free); 1.7.10 Stockport County (trial); 30.1.11 Totton and Eling (free); 14.6.11 Whitsunday Miners, Australia; 13.10.11 Winchester City (free); 1.7.12 Salisbury City (free); 6.6.14 Bristol Rovers (free) [5+6,0]; 17.11.14 Sutton United (free); 25.3.15 Farnborough (loan); 31.5.15 Farnborough (free); 23.6.15 Gosport Borough (free); 16.10.15 Poole Town (loan); 4.2.16 Salisbury (free); 3.8.16 Blackfield and Langley (free); 26.11.17 Moneyfields (free); July 2018 Infinity (free). Talented striker Jamie White from Harefield followed his manager Darrell Clarke from Salisbury City to Rovers in time for the Pirates’ solitary campaign in the Conference. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2-1 victory over Gloucester City in the Gloucestershire FA Challenge Cup in October 2014. However, his 5(+6) Conference games ended goalless, and he had left before Rovers secured an immediate return to the Football League in May 2015. Following the success of reaching the FA Youth Cup semi-finals with the Saints, his brief Football League career, starting against Derby County in August 2008, was temporarily halted by a broken leg accrued against Aldershot Town reserves in 2009. One goal followed, against Dagenham and Redbridge, in a Shrewsbury shirt, fired home five minutes after half-time in a 2-1 win in November 2008. However, he managed just twenty-two minutes in his two outings with Eastleigh, snapped a cruciate ligament in his right knee on trial at Stockport and scored twice in just three games with Totton. His career revitalised by nine goals in 36 Queensland State League matches, White enjoyed an extraordinary 2011-12 campaign with Winchester, tallying 51 goals in only 32 matches as City were Wessex Premier League champions and his form attracted Salisbury City. Despite hernia trouble, he added 37 goals in 73 matches at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, which included a spectacular volley in the play-off against Dover Athletic, as City were promoted to the Conference. His eleven goals in fifth-tier football in 2013-14 came in just 14(+14) appearances, including a brace against Welling in April 2014, and prompted Clarke to return to Salisbury for the prolific striker. Although he scored in a reserve fixture against Exeter City in November 2014, White did not score in the Conference and left mid-season to play alongside Jo Kuffour and Charlie Clough at Sutton United, where it took him just fourteen minutes to open his account against Bromley on his club début. After 8(+6) games and two goals, his strikes against Chelmsford City and Wealdstone in six matches proved insufficient to prevent Farnborough’s relegation from Nationwide South in April 2015. He played in 4(+2) goalless Nationwide South fixtures with Gosport Borough and his two goals in four Southern League matches with Poole Town came in a 5-1 demolition of Dorchester Town. White scored three goals in 7(+3) Wessex Premier League matches as Salisbury secured the 2015-16 title and played in the side which lost 2-0 to Melksham Town in the Wiltshire Senior Cup Final. He scored a hat-trick as Blackfield and Langley defeated Cowes Sports 3-1 in January 2017 and a first-half hat-trick against Bournemouth Poppies in August 2017; after nineteen goals for the season, he joined Moneyfields in November of that year. The intervention of the COVID-19 virus deprived White of consecutive fifty-goal seasons with Infinity, for whom he scored 91 goals in 79 matches over two seasons; fifty goals in 2018-19 were followed by five hat-tricks the following campaign, including five goals in one match against Petersfield. |