Carl Alford - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Carl Alford is a former English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

professional footballer who played for Burnley

Burnley F.C.

Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

, Stockport County

Stockport County F.C.

Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...

, Morecambe

Morecambe F.C.

Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...

, Rochdale

Rochdale A.F.C.

Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...

, and Macclesfield Town

Macclesfield Town F.C.

Macclesfield Town Football Club is an English football team. The club was formed in 1874 and is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The team play its home games at the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose stadium...

and Kettering

Kettering Town F.C.

Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08...

. His move from Kettering Town

Kettering Town F.C.

to Rushden & Diamonds

Rushden & Diamonds F.C.

Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Formed by a merger of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds in 1992, the club played in the Conference National following a short spell in the Football League at the start of...

for £85,000 was a record transfer fee between non-League clubs.

While hugely disappointing at Rushden he moved on to Dover Athletic

Dover Athletic F.C.

Dover Athletic Football Club is an association football team based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club was formed in 1983 after the dissolution of the town's previous club, Dover, whose place in the Southern League was taken by the new club...

, Stevenage Borough

Stevenage Borough F.C.

Stevenage Football Club is an English football club based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The club currently participate in League One, the third tier of English football, having won promotion from League Two in the 2010–11 season...

, Doncaster Rovers

Doncaster Rovers F.C.

Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

, Kettering Town

Kettering Town F.C.

and Yeovil Town

Yeovil Town F.C.

Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05...

where he won the FA Trophy

FA Trophy

The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...

in 2002. After being released he journeyed to many clubs including Nuneaton Borough, Gainsborough Trinity

Gainsborough Trinity F.C.

Gainsborough Trinity Football Club are an English football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.Between 1896 and 1912 they were members of the Football League. They are currently in the Conference North, and play their home matches at The Northolme, which has a capacity of 4,304...

, Leigh RMI, Woodley Sports

Woodley Sports F.C.

Woodley Sports F.C. is a football club based in Woodley, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. They were established in 1970 as Woodley Athletic, and play at the Neil Rourke Memorial Stadium. In 1992, they became champions of the Manchester League Division One, and were promoted to the Manchester...

and ending his career at New Mills

New Mills A.F.C.

New Mills Association Football Club are an English football club based in New Mills, Derbyshire. They currently play in Northern Premier League Division One South.-History:...

in 2007.

Career

In 1988 at the age of 16, Carl made his debut as a substitute for Rochdale

Rochdale A.F.C.

but failed to impress and was later released. After periods at both Burnley

Burnley F.C.

and Stockport County

Stockport County F.C.

, plus a loan period at Morecambe

Morecambe F.C.

, he made the decision to drop down to non-league football, joining Witton Albion

Witton Albion F.C.

Witton Albion F.C. are a football club based in Northwich, England. They were founded in 1887. They have won the Cheshire Senior Cup 11 times since 1902. Their most recent success in this competition was in 2006, when they defeated Stalybridge Celtic in the final. They have also reached the FA Cup...

where his knack for goal-scoring flourished. In the summer of 1993, he joined Macclesfield Town

Macclesfield Town F.C.

of the Conference for a fee of £1,700,the goals that he scored for Witton and Macclesfield are not shown in his Conference goals total.He then joined Kettering Town for £25,000 the following summer.

After scoring 54 goals for Kettering Town

Kettering Town F.C.

in 18 months, Rushden & Diamonds

Rushden & Diamonds F.C.

offer of £85,000, a non-league record, was enough to persuade the Poppies to sell their prize asset and he arrived at Nene Park at the end of March 1996. He made his debut in against promotion rivals Halesowen Town on 30 March 1996, scoring Diamonds goal in the 1-2 defeat.

He was dropped after just five games at the start of the 1997/98 season and was loaned to Dover Athletic

Dover Athletic F.C.

in February 1998. He was recalled and sold to Stevenage Borough

Stevenage Borough F.C.

on a free transfer in April. Carl scored more than a goal a game at Stevenage, and was snapped up by Doncaster Rovers

Doncaster Rovers F.C.

in May 2000 for £50,000. After a period on loan back at Kettering Town

Kettering Town F.C.

in January 2001, he joined Yeovil Town

Yeovil Town F.C.

Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05...

in the summer helping them to lift the FA Trophy

FA Trophy

in 2002. The following season, he was on loan at Nuneaton Borough and was released by the Glovers in May 2003. He went on to play for Gainsborough Trinity

Gainsborough Trinity F.C.

, Woodley Sports

Woodley Sports F.C.

, Leigh RMI and Nuneaton Borough (again) and was last noted playing for North West Counties League side New Mills AFC in the 2006/07 season.

His son, Rhys Alford, is a talented left footed striker. He plays for Corby Diamonds as a CF and is a regular goal scorer.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.