Gavin Gordon (footballer)

Gavin Kenyatta Gordon (born 24 June 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Gavin Gordon
Personal information
Full name Gavin Kenyatta Gordon[1][2]
Date of birth (1979-06-24) 24 June 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Manchester, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Hull City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Hull City 38 (9)
1997–2000 Lincoln City 99 (29)
2000–2004 Cardiff City 50 (6)
2002Oxford United (loan) 6 (1)
2004–2006 Notts County 33 (5)
2006 Crawley Town 4 (0)
2007–2008 Histon 0 (0)
2012–2013 Sleaford Town 7 (3)
2013–2014 Three Bridges 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gordon played in the Football League between 1995 and 2006, playing for Hull City, Lincoln City, Cardiff City, Oxford United and Notts County. In 2006, he moved into Non-league football and appeared for Crawley Town and Histon before retiring in 2008. In 2012, he joined the coaching staff of Sleaford Town and also shortly afterwards he came out of retirement as well as continuing his role as a coach.

In November 2013, Gordon signed for Three Bridges.[4]

Career

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A youth player at Hull City, Gordon became the second youngest player to ever play for them when he came on as a substitute against Coventry City in the Football League Cup. But he struggled to ever establish himself at Hull and was allowed to leave and join Lincoln City for £30,000 in November 1997 where he formed a very effective strike partnership with Lee Thorpe. His scoring feats at Lincoln lead Cardiff City[5] to pay £550,000 for him in December 2000, with the amount due to rise depending on appearances[6] but he never reached the required amount. He scored his first goal for Cardiff on 1 January 2001 with a header during a 6–1 victory over Exeter City, but the rest of his season was spent on the treatment table with persistent back problems. The same injury ruled him out of a large part of the following year, although one of the matches he did manage to play in was a Football League Trophy match against Rushden & Diamonds which ended in a 7–1 victory for Cardiff with Gordon finding the net five times.[7]

He spent a short time on loan at Oxford United to gain fitness. At Oxford he scored the winning goal on his debut against York City[8] before returning to Ninian Park where he finally broke into the first team but at the end of the year he was released. He was signed by Notts County where he managed to regain some of the form he showed at Lincoln. After a stuttering second year he left[9] to join Crawley Town[10] on a free transfer but suffered a serious injury during the season which has seen him out of action for over a year. He signed for Histon at the start of the 2007–08 season but did not make an appearance for them due to the injury. He then went on to play for Heckington, amateur side.[citation needed]

In October 2012, he was appointed to act as coach to Kris Jones who had taken over the running of Sleaford Town's reserve team in the Lincolnshire Football League.[11] He also made occasional appearances for the team, debuting in the 2–0 home defeat to Grimsby Borough Reserves on 13 October 2012[12] and making 3+4 league appearances in which he netted three times including a brace against Louth Town Reserves.[13] In June 2013, with Kris Jones having been promoted to first team manager, Gordon stepped up to become first team coach at Sleaford Town with his one-time Lincoln City teammate Terry Fleming acting as assistant manager.[14]

Personal life

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Gordon now works as a postman for Royal Mail and lives in Sleaford.[15]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hull City 1995–96 Second Division 13 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 15 3
1996–97 Third Division 20 4 0 0 2 1 1 0 23 5
1997–98 Third Division 5 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 2
Total 38 9 0 0 5 1 1 0 44 10
Lincoln City 1997–98 Third Division 13 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 18 3
1998–99 Second Division 27 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 29 5
1999–2000 Third Division 41 11 3 1 2 1 1 0 47 13
2000–01 Third Division 18 10 2 1 0 0 0 0 20 11
Total 99 29 9 2 2 1 4 0 114 32
Cardiff City 2000–01 Third Division 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 1
2001–02 Second Division 15 2 2 1 1 0 1 5 19 8
2002–03 Second Division 10 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 11 3
2003–04 First Division 15 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 16 1
Total 50 6 2 1 2 0 2 6 56 13
Oxford United (loan) 2002–03 Third Division 6 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 1
Notts County 2004–05 League Two 27 5 4 3 0 0 1 0 32 8
2005–06 League Two 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Total 33 5 5 3 0 0 1 0 39 8
Crawley Town 2005–06 Conference National 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Histon 2007–08 Conference Premier 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 230 50 16 6 10 3 8 6 264 65

References

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  1. ^ Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 75. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
  2. ^ "Cork fails to keep it bottled up". The Guardian. 12 February 2001. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  3. ^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1997). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1997–98 (28th ed.). London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 461. ISBN 9780747277385. OCLC 1194925023.
  4. ^ "Leatherhead too strong for Three Bridges, to the power of four goals". Your Local Guardian. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Gordon signs for Cardiff" BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2008
  6. ^ "Gordon deal depends on Jamaica" BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2008
  7. ^ "Cardiff 7–1 Rushden". BBC. 16 October 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  8. ^ "York 0–1 Oxford". BBC. 28 September 2002. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Gordon confirms Notts County Exit" BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2008
  10. ^ "Crawley bring in striker Gordon" BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2008
  11. ^ "Jones in new reserve manager". Sleaford Town F.C. Official Website. 7 October 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Gavin Gordon's 2012–13 Playing Statistics". Football.mitoo.co.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  13. ^ "Good form goes on for reserves". Sleaford Standard. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  14. ^ "Former professionals join management team". Sleaford Town F.C. Official Website. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  15. ^ "Lincoln fan stunned to find out his postman is former Imps striker". 17 October 2018.
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