Ben Wharton is an English semi-professional footballer. He plays as striker.

Ben Wharton
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Wharton
Date of birth (1990-06-17) 17 June 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Stockport, England
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Stockport County
Rochdale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Rochdale 1 (0)
2008 Mossley
2008 Northwich Victoria
2008 Buxton
2008–2009 Atherton Collieries 16 (3)
2009–2013 Radcliffe Borough
2013–2016 Warrington Town
2016 Ashton United
2016 Colne
2016–2017 Bamber Bridge
2017 Brighouse Town
2017 Droylsden
2017 Curzon Ashton
2018–2020 Radcliffe
2020 Runcorn Linnets
2020–2021 Stalybridge Celtic 0 (0)
2021 Widnes 6 (1)
2021–2023 Bury AFC 33 (14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early career and Football League appearance

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He started out at Stockport County's youth academy and came through the ranks. After he was released at the age of 16 by Stockport he signed a YTS for Rochdale. He came off the bench against Accrington Stanley, in the 90th minute, to make his debut. Wharton didn't play another minute for the club that season and was released at the end of the 2007-08 season. After a difficult 23-24 season impacted by a series of injuries the ageing and overweight striker made the move into club coaching, joining West Didsbuy and Chorlton FC. [1].

Fans speculated on social media platforms that the move into coaching was to continue to avoid spending time with his family. [2]

Non-league football career

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Mossley

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He then made two appearances for Mossley, both as substitute.[3]

Northwich Victoria

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He was signed by Northwich Victoria in October 2008.

Buxton

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A move to Buxton followed in November 2008.[4]

Atherton Collieries

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Between September 2008 and February 2009, Ben represented Atherton Collieries, scoring 3 goals in 16 appearances.[5]

Radcliffe Borough

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He joined Radcliffe Borough in March 2009,[6][7] but left in 2013.

Warrington Town

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His next club was Warrington Town.[8] His time at the club included being part of the FA Cup victory against Exeter City in November 2014.[9] He left the club in January 2016.[10]

Ashton United

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In January 2016 he moved to Ashton United.[11]

Colne

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His next move was to Colne

Bamber Bridge

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His next move was to Bamber Bridge[12]

Brighouse Town

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His next move was to Brighouse Town.[13] He left the club in January 2017.[14]

Droylsden

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His next move in July 2017 took him to Droylsden.[15]

Curzon Ashton

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In August 2017 he moved to Curzon Ashton.[16]

Radcliffe

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He returned to his former club in 2018, remaining for two seasons.[17] In his two spells with the club he made 263 appearances scoring 87 goals.[18][19]

Runcorn Linnets

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Wharton joined Runcorn Linnets in January 2020[20][21]

Stalybridge Celtic

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In December 2020 he signed for Stalybridge Celtic[22] but never appeared for the club.[18]

Widnes

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In July 2021 he signed for Widnes.[23]

Bury AFC

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In September he moved to Bury AFC.[24] He was awarded the North West Counties Football League First Division player of the month award for October.[25] On 27 March 2022, Wharton scored the second goal for Bury AFC in a 4–0 victory over St Helens Town that saw Bury AFC crowned champions of the NWCFL Divison 1 North.[26][27]

During the 22/23 season Wharton scored 10 goals in 47 appearances for Bury AFC. [28]

Avro

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In September 2023 he signed for Avro FC [29]

Style of play

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A lower league write up in 'When Saturday Comes' likened Wharton's appearance and playing style to Iain Dowie.[30]

Honours

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Bury

References

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  1. ^ https://wdcfc.co.uk/blog/introducing-ben-wharton
  2. ^ https://x.com/WD_CFC/status/1799532856546353608
  3. ^ "Complete A-Z of Mossley Players". Mossley Web. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Ben Wharton". Buxton F.C. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  5. ^ "Atherton Collieries Match Reports: 2008/09". Atherton Collieries. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Ben Wharton profile". Radcliffe Borough. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  7. ^ Non-League News (9 March 2011). "Wharton Boost for Boro - Pitchero Non-League". Nonleague.pitchero.com. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Hot-shot signed up". Warrington Guardian. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  9. ^ Parsons, Mike (13 November 2014). "Ben Wharton worked the morning of Warrington Town's FA Cup win over Exeter City". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Ben Wharton leaves Warrington Town". Warrington Guardian. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  11. ^ @AshtonUnitedFC (22 January 2016). "We welcome Ben Wharton from Warrington & Ben McKenna (loan) from Stalybridge. #proudtobearobin" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "Brig boss wields the axe as striker Ben departs - Leyland Guardian". Archived from the original on 28 November 2019.
  13. ^ Mclaughlin, Ray (25 January 2017). "Brighouse Town AFC: Welcome To Ben Wharton". Archived from the original on 28 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Brig boss wields the axe as striker Ben departs". Lancashire Post. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  15. ^ Non-League News (25 July 2017). "Busy, Busy Bloods - Pitchero Non-League". Nonleague.pitchero.com. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  16. ^ @CurzonAshton (12 August 2017). "📝NEW SIGNING" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Ben Wharton departs Radcliffe - The BetVictor Northern Premier". Archived from the original on 30 January 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Player profile: Ben Wharton". Stalybridge Celtic. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  19. ^ Harrison, Adam (2 February 2020). "Squad update". Radcliffe FC. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Double transfer is a big deal for Linnets boss". Runcorn Linnets FC. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  21. ^ Gordon, James (31 January 2020). "Michael Ellison Boosts Runcorn Squad". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  22. ^ Dhamrait, Taran (20 December 2020). "Three arrive as several players depart Bower Fold". Stalybridge Celtic. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  23. ^ Chadwick, Callum (13 July 2021). "lNEW SIGNING: WHARTON BECOMES FIRST SUMMER ADDITION". Widnes FC. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  24. ^ Ingram, Adam (11 September 2021). "Incoming… Ben Wharton & Frank Jones". Bury AFC. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  25. ^ Langley, Gary (9 November 2021). "Player of the Month Announcement October 2021". North West Counties Football League. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  26. ^ Tinniswood, Steve (31 March 2022). "Title win is for everyone says emotional Bury AFC boss Andy Welch". Bury Times. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Bury AFC: Champions". buryafc.uk. 27 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  28. ^ "Ben Wharton – Bury AFC".
  29. ^ https://twitter.com/AvroFC/status/1702768089572524068. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. ^ @WSC_magazine (11 November 2021). ""@B6nWharton is tall, with white-blond hair and the sort of upper body that demands the word 'torso'. He's like a n…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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