Harry Middleton (footballer, born 1995)

Harry Middleton

Personal information
Full name	Harry Oliver Middleton [1]
Date of birth	(1995-04-12) 12 April 1995 (age 29) [1]
Place of birth	Doncaster, England [2]
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
2009–2012	Doncaster Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2017	Doncaster Rovers	63	(0)
2017–2018	Port Vale	6	(0)
2017	→ Halifax Town (loan)	5	(0)
2018	Alfreton Town	6	(0)
2018–2019	Gainsborough Trinity	19	(0)
2019–2020	Cleethorpes Town	14	(1)
2020	Grantham Town	0	(0)
2020–2022	Cleethorpes Town	31	(3)
2021	→ Barton Town (dual registration)	5	(0)
Total		149	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Harry Oliver Middleton (born 12 April 1995) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He began his career at Doncaster Rovers, making his first-team debut in November 2012. He established himself in the first team in the 2015–16 relegation campaign before helping Rovers to secure promotion out of League Two in 2016–17. He signed with Port Vale in August 2017 and was loaned out to Halifax Town three months later. He signed with Alfreton Town in August 2018 and moved on to Gainsborough Trinity three months later. He joined Cleethorpes Town in December 2019 and also had brief spells with Grantham Town and Barton Town. He became a police officer in 2022.

Career

Doncaster Rovers

Middleton began his career at Doncaster Rovers and was part of the Academy team that won the Youth Alliance Cup with a 4–0 win over Exeter City at St James Park in 2012. ^[4] He made his first-team debut in the Football League Trophy area quarter-final match against Crewe Alexandra at the Alexandra Stadium on 4 November 2012; Rovers drew 1–1 and lost the resulting penalty shoot-out. ^[5] He was one of six youth team players to be given a one-year professional contract by the club in July 2013. ^[6]

He made his second first-team appearance on 7 October 2014, in a 3–0 victory at Burton Albion in the League Trophy, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute. ^{[7] [8]} He made his League One debut on 28 December, coming on for Marc de Val 34 minutes into a 0–0 draw at Peterborough United. ^[9] Speaking after the match, manager Paul Dickov said Middleton was close to starting a first-team game and that "he's been slightly unfortunate with the form of Paul Keegan, Richie Wellens, Marc de Val and Dean Furman being ahead of him". ^[10] He made his first start for "Donny" on 14 April, in a 0–0 draw at Leyton Orient. ^[11] Coach Rob Jones had also appointed him as captain of the youth team for the 2014–15 season, and Middleton helped the squad to a second-place finish in the final Third Development League, before he signed a new two-year contract in June 2015. ^[12]

He worked with the club's new nutritionist in the 2015–16 pre-season and bulked up significantly as a result. ^[13] He established himself as a first-team regular, making 41 appearances across the campaign, however, Doncaster were relegated into League Two. He signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal in December 2015. ^[14] He made six starts and 19 substitute appearances in League Two in the 2016–17 season as Rovers finished in third-place to secure automatic promotion at the first attempt. ^[15] However, he was one of five players transfer listed in May 2017. ^[16] Two months later manager Darren Ferguson said the only enquiries made for Middleton came from Swindon Town, who did not make any formal offer, and he went on to criticise Middleton's agent for failing to find him a move away from the Keepmoat Stadium. ^{[17] [18]}

Port Vale

On 31 August 2017, Middleton signed a one-year contract with newly relegated League Two side Port Vale as manager Michael Brown's 19th summer signing. ^{[19] [20]} On 11 November 2017, he was allowed to join F.C. Halifax Town on loan, a National League club previously coached by new "Valiants" manager Neil Aspin. ^[21] Middleton said "I didn't see coming here as a step back. I saw it as a way to kick-start my career". ^[22] He was released upon the expiry of his contract at Vale Park in May 2018. ^[23]

Non-League

On 1 August 2018, Middleton signed a one-year contract with National League North side Alfreton Town. ^[24] After three months at North Street, during which time he featured just six times from the bench, he left the "Reds" and joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club Gainsborough Trinity. ^[25] Trinity manager Lee Sinnott said that "we wanted to supplement what we already have, and he will keep things fresh in the middle of the park". ^[26] The "Holy Blues" ended the 2018–19 season in sixth-place, one point outside the play-offs; Middleton signed a new contract in the summer. ^[27]

On 13 December 2019, Middleton joined Northern Premier League Division One South East club Cleethorpes Town. ^[28] He scored his first career goal on 22 February, as he opened the scoring for the "Owls" in a 5–0 victory over Spalding United. ^[29] The 2019–20 season was abandoned and all results voided due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. ^[30] He signed with Northern Premier League Premier Division side Grantham Town on 7 July 2020, joining his brother Ben. ^[31] However, he returned to Cleethorpes by September. ^[32] He scored two goals in eight games before the 2020–21 season was curtailed due to the ongoing pandemic. ^{[33] [34]} He joined Northern Counties East League Premier Division side Barton Town on a dual registration deal on 12 November 2021 after "Swans" midfielder Josh Baker underwent surgery on his foot. ^[35] He played five games for Barton under player-manager Nathan Jarman. ^[36] He scored one goal from 29 games for Cleethorpes in the 2021–22 campaign. ^[33] He retired from football in 2022 in order to become an officer with South Yorkshire Police. ^[37]

Style of play

Middleton described himself as a creative deep-lying midfielder. ^[15]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Doncaster Rovers	2012–13 [38]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	1	0
	2013–14 [39]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2014–15 [40]	League One	4	0	1	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	6	0
	2015–16 [41]	League One	34	0	3	0	2	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	41	0
	2016–17 [42]	EFL League Two	25	0	1	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	30	0
	2017–18 [43]	EFL League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	1	0
	Total		63	0	5	0	3	0	8	0	79	0
Port Vale	2017–18 [43]	EFL League Two	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
F.C. Halifax Town (loan)	2017–18 [43]	National League	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Alfreton Town	2018–19 [44]	National League North	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Gainsborough Trinity	2018–19 [45]	Northern Premier League Premier Division	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	2019–20 [46]	Northern Premier League Premier Division	14	0	3	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	19	0
	Total		19	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	26	0
Cleethorpes Town	2019–20 [47]	Northern Premier League Division One South East	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	1
Grantham Town	2020–21 [48]	Northern Premier League Premier Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cleethorpes Town	2020–21 [33]	Northern Premier League Division One South East	7	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	8	2
	2021–22 [33]	Northern Premier League Division One South East	24	1	4	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	29	1
	Total		31	3	5	0	0	0	1	0	37	3
Barton Town (dual registration)	2021–22	Northern Counties East League Premier Division	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Career total			149	4	13	0	3	0	11	0	176	4

1. Appearance/s in the EFL Trophy.
2. Appearance/s in the FA Trophy.

Honours

Doncaster Rovers

• EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2016–17 ^[15]

References

1. "Harry Middleton". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2017/2018". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. "Harry Middleton". 11v11. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
4. "Ball's brace leads Rovers to cup glory". South Yorkshire Times. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
5. "Crewe v Doncaster". BBC Sport. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
6. "Rovers Of The Future". doncasterroversfc.co.uk. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
7. "Burton 0 Doncaster 3". BBC Sport. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
8. "Paul Dickov column: Fast-track system will stand our kids in good stead". Doncaster Free Press. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
9. "Peterborough United 0-0 Doncaster Rovers". BBC Sport. 28 December 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
10. Hoden, Liam (30 December 2014). "Doncaster Rovers: Harry Middleton is close to a start says Paul Dickov". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
11. "Leyton Orient 0-1 Doncaster Rovers". BBC Sport. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
12. "Middleton in for more". doncasterroversfc.co.uk. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
13. Hodwn, Liam (3 August 2015). "Doncaster Rovers bolster backroom team with two new appointments". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
14. "Doncaster Rovers: Harry Middleton signs new contract until 2019". Doncaster Free Press. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
15. Spinks, Martin (1 September 2017). "Port Vale signing wants another promotion after leaving Doncaster". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
16. Hoden, Liam (8 May 2017). "Doncaster Rovers: FIVE transfer listed as Darren Ferguson begins re-shaping squad". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
17. Hoden, Liam (6 July 2017). "Doncaster Rovers: Ferguson updates on Harry Middleton future". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
18. Hoden, Liam (25 July 2017). "Doncaster Rovers: 'I'm not too sure about how proactive his team have been' - Ferguson gives latest on listed Middleton". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
19. "Tom Anderson and Harry Middleton join Port Vale". BBC Sport. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
20. Spinks, Martin (1 September 2017). "Port Vale signing wants another promotion after leaving Doncaster". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
21. Baggaley, Michael (11 November 2017). "Port Vale's Harry Middleton joins FC Halifax Town on loan". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
22. "FC Halifax Town: Shaymen came highly recommended to Harry by ex-boss Aspin". Halifax Courier. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
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27. "Midfielder Harry Middleton Earns Deal - Gainsborough Trinity Football Club". www.gainsboroughtrinity.com. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
28. Gordon, James (13 December 2019). "Owls add midfielder Middleton - The BetVictor Northern Premier". www.betvictornorthernpremier.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
29. "Saturday 22nd February 2020". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
30. "Sixty-six non-league clubs send open letter to FA over expunging season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
31. Taylor, Matthew (7 July 2020). "Grantham Town bring in brother of current defender". Grantham Journal. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
32. "Harry Middleton - Cleethorpes Town FC First Team". www.pitchero.com. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
33. "Cleethorpes Town | Appearances | Harry Middleton | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
34. "FA Update On Steps 3-6". 24 February 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
35. "New Signing - Harry Middleton". Barton Town FC. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
36. "Statistics". www.ncefl.org.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
37. "F ootballer swaps bookings for beat in police job". BBC News. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
38. "Games played by Harry Middleton in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
39. "Games played by Harry Middleton in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
40. "Games played by Harry Middleton in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
41. "Games played by Harry Middleton in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
42. "Games played by Harry Middleton in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
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44. Harry Middleton at Soccerway
45. "Gainsborough Trinity | Appearances | Harry Middleton | 2018-2019 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
46. "Gainsborough Trinity | Appearances | Harry Middleton | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
47. "Cleethorpes Town | Appearances | Harry Middleton | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
48. "Grantham Town | Appearances | 2020-2021 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2022.