Derek Niven is a professional footballer who plays for Northampton Town

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

, on loan from Chesterfield

Chesterfield F.C.

Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...

. He previously played for Stenhousemuir

Stenhousemuir F.C.

Stenhousemuir FC is a Scottish football club located in Stenhousemuir. The club is a member of the Scottish Football League and currently plays in the Scottish Second Division....

, Raith Rovers

Raith Rovers F.C.

Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Kirkcaldy, Fife. They are members of the Scottish Football League, currently playing in the First Division, having secured promotion from the Second Division as champions in 2009. Rovers have won one national trophy, the...

 and Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

.

Playing career

He scored one of the greatest goals in the 2006-07 season Football League Cup

Football League Cup

The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 against Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

.

Niven returned to the Chesterfield setup in March 2009 after recovering from a year long stint suffering with testicular cancer. His return was pronounced with a wonder goal against Grimsby Town on 11 March.

In May 2010, Niven struck the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory against AFC Bournemouth at Saltergate, Chesterfield's final game at the stadium before relocation. As Chesterfield's longest serving player at the time, his dramatic volley

Volley (football)

A volley is an air-borne strike in association football, where a player's feet meets and directs the ball in an angled direction before it has time to reach the ground...

 deep into injury time also ensured that he would be the last player to score at Saltergate after 139 years of football at the ground.

External links