Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | John David Alexander [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 24 September 1985||
Place of birth | Middlesbrough, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [3] | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
– | Darlington | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | ( Gls) |
2002–2004 | Darlington | 4 | (0) |
2002–2003 | → Bishop Auckland (loan) | ||
2004 | → Bishop Auckland (loan) | ||
2004 | Billingham Synthonia | ||
2004 | Stetson Hatters | ||
2005 | Billingham Synthonia | ||
2006–200? | Marske United | ||
200?–2009 | Billingham Town | ||
2009–2011 | Blyth Spartans | ||
2011 | Spennymoor Town | ||
2011 | Blyth Spartans | ||
2011 | → Ashington (loan) | 0 | (0) |
2011–2012 | Norton & Stockton Ancients | ||
2012 | Newcastle Benfield | ||
2012–2014 | Marske United [4] | (22) | |
2014– | Crook Town | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
John David Alexander (born 24 September 1985) is an English footballer who made four appearances in the Football League playing as a forward for Darlington in the 2000s. [2] While still at Darlington, he had loan spells at Northern Premier League club Bishop Auckland, and went on to play non-league football in the north-east of England for a number of clubs, mostly in the Northern League. He also played American college soccer for the Stetson Hatters.
Alexander was born in Middlesbrough, [2] and despite receiving offers of a traineeship from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley, began his football career in the youth system of Darlington in June 2002. [5] He was included among the substitutes for the Division Three match against Carlisle United on 27 August, chosen in preference to the injured Danny Mellanby and the out-of-form Mark Sheeran, but remained unused. [6] The 16-year-old Alexander was given his debut the following Saturday, as a second-half substitute in the visit to Kidderminster Harriers. He entered the game together with Neil Wainwright and Phil Hadland just after the home side had taken a lead, and the energy of the fresh players helped Darlington exert enough pressure to draw the match. [7]
A trial with Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, in which he scored twice for their under-17 team against Tottenham Hotspur under-17s, came to nothing, [8] and Alexander made no more first-team appearances before December, when he joined Northern Premier League club Bishop Auckland on loan. [9] He returned to Darlington's first team in December 2003, when he made three appearances, each time as a late substitute. [10] After another brief loan spell with Bishop Auckland, [11] Alexander was released in April 2004 and signed for Billingham Synthonia.
He scored on his Northern League debut, against Dunston Federation, [12] and finished the season with the club. He then took up a place at Stetson University, in DeLand, Florida, where he played college soccer for the Stetson Hatters. [13] He helped them reach the 2004 Atlantic Sun Conference post-season tournament, [14] but was sent off in the quarter-final match which the Hatters lost after two periods of overtime. [15] He returned to Billingham Synthonia in January 2005, [16] and took his total appearances for the club to 18, with two goals. [17]
Alexander signed for Marske United in January 2006, [18] and was Billingham Town's top Northern League scorer in 2008–09 with 21 goals. [19] He joined Conference North club Blyth Spartans ahead of the next season, and scored six goals from 56 appearances in all competitions for them over two seasons. [20] He then signed for Northern League champions Spennymoor Town, but only four weeks into the season and having scored four times already, he was transfer-listed and returned to Blyth. [21] After four more games for Blyth, and a loan spell with Ashington during which he played once, in the Northern League Cup, Alexander signed for fellow Northern League club Norton & Stockton Ancients. [22] In March, he made a sideways move to Newcastle Benfield, [23] where he finished the season.
In 2012 pre-season, Alexander had a trial with former club Darlington, who had lost most of their players after administrative demotion to the Northern League, but no contract ensued, [24] and he remained with Benfield until rejoining another former club, Marske United, in another sideways move in October. [25] He was their top scorer in 2013–14 with 21 goals in all competitions, 14 in league matches, [4] and started in the Northern League Cup final as Marske beat Whitley Bay 2–1 after extra time. [26] In October 2014, he joined yet another Northern League club, Crook Town. [27]
John Alexander at Soccerbase