Max Clayton

Last updated

Max Clayton
Max Clayton.jpg
Clayton in 2012
Personal information
Full name Max Clayton [1]
Date of birth (1994-08-09) 9 August 1994 (age 29) [2]
Place of birth Crewe, England
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
2001–2011 Crewe Alexandra
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2011–2014 Crewe Alexandra 74 (9)
2014–2017 Bolton Wanderers 27 (2)
2017–2019 Blackpool 2 (0)
2020 Altrincham 1 (0)
Total104(11)
International career
2010 England U16 5 (2)
2010–2011 England U17 21 (4)
2011–2012 England U18 2 (0)
2012–2013 England U19 4 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:20, 26 October 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:43, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

Max Clayton (born 9 August 1994) is a retired English footballer, who last played as a striker for Altrincham. He has also represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels.

Contents

Club career

Crewe Alexandra

Born in Crewe, Cheshire, Clayton started his football career at Crewe Alexandra Academy. In 2009, the club's technical director Dario Gradi revealed a Premier League club had attempted to poach one of their 15-year-old players, with Clayton named by the media. Liverpool had offered the Cheshire club a sum of around £1 million for the player's services. [3] In March 2010, Clayton signed a long-term contract with Crewe. [4]

Clayton made his debut for Crewe Alexandra in a 2–1 league win against Morecambe at the Alexandra Stadium on 22 April 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute for Shaun Miller. [5] He made his second appearance of the season in a 2–0 away loss to Wycombe Wanderers, again coming on as a late substitute for Miller. [6] Having made his debut for the club, Clayton signed his first professional contract with the club, which keep him until 2014. [7]

He made his first appearance of the 2011–12 season on 6 August 2011, again replacing Miller as Crewe lost 3–0 away to Swindon. [8] He began to get a regular run of games for Crewe, and scored his first goal in a 1–0 home win against Macclesfield Town in the JPT Trophy on 5 October 2011. [9] His first league goal came in a 2–1 win on 19 November 2011 as he scored a 94th-minute winner against Morecambe, after England under-17 teammate Nick Powell had equalised for Crewe. He scored his second goal in a 2–0 home win against Accrington on 21 February 2012. [10] On 10 March, he scored another 94th-minute winner as Crewe beat Gillingham 4–3. [11]

On 16 May 2012, Clayton scored a vital goal in a 2–2 draw at Southend United to send Crewe to Wembley for the League 2 play-off final on a 3–2 aggregate score. [12] Then in the 2012–13 season, Clayton scored twice in the first round of Football League Cup, in a 5–0 victory over Hartlepool United [13] and then scored the only goal in the game, in a 1–0 win over Coventry City a few weeks later. [14] His good display in August earned Football League young player of the month for August. [15] Then on 7 April 2013, he scored in the 2013 Football League Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium, as Crewe beat Southend United 2–0. [16] [17]

After a prolonged absence due to a broken ankle sustained in November 2013, [18] Clayton started negotiation for a new contract to stay at Crewe, believed to be a three-year contract. [19] [20] However, Clayton refused to sign a new contract at Crewe and left the club. [21]

Clayton had trials at other clubs, [22] including Wolverhampton Wanderers [23] and Sunderland (he played in Sunderland's 5–1 pre-season victory over Darlington 1883 on 19 July 2014). [24] [25] Though Clayton left Crewe, press reports revealed the club would receive a six-figure compensation fee if he was sold to a foreign club. [26]

Bolton Wanderers

In early September 2014, it was reported that he was expected to join Bolton Wanderers. [27] On 18 September 2014, he officially moved for a fee of £300,000 which had been set at a tribunal due to him being under the age of 24. [28] [29]

He made his debut for the club on 4 October in a 2–1 home defeat to Bournemouth. [30] After making four substitute appearances, he scored on his first start for the club in a 3–1 win at home to local rivals Wigan Athletic. [31] After coming off injured in a 0–0 draw at home against Ipswich [32] in December 2014, Clayton was ruled out for the rest of the season. [33]

Blackpool

On 22 June 2017 it was confirmed that Clayton would join Blackpool on 1 July when his contract at Bolton expired. [34] In May 2019, Clayton was released by Blackpool having only played seven games in his debut season and none in the 2018–2019 season due to continued hamstring problems. [35]

Altrincham

On 20 August 2020, Clayton signed for National League side Altrincham. [36] He was released two months later by mutual consent after making just one league appearance for the club. [37]

International career

He has also represented England at under-16, under-17 and under-18 levels, playing in the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico. On 25 June 2011, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 victory over Uruguay in Torreón. He scored his first goal for the under-19 team on 24 May 2013 against Georgia. [38]

Personal life

His father Paul Clayton was a striker for Crewe Alexandra and his older brother Harry is currently a professional with Nantwich Town. [39] Clayton grew up idolising Michael Owen. [40]

Clayton says he is friends with Nick Powell, having played football together when they both five or six. [15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 October 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague FA Cup League Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Crewe Alexandra 2010–11 [41] League Two 2000000020
2011–12 [42] League Two24300006 [lower-alpha 1] 2305
2012–13 [43] League One 35410224 [lower-alpha 2] 3429
2013–14 [44] League One13220102 [lower-alpha 2] 0182
Total74930321259216
Bolton Wanderers 2014–15 [45] Championship 9100000091
2015–16 [46] Championship 8000000080
2016–17 [47] League One 10120001 [lower-alpha 3] 0131
Total272200010302
Blackpool 2017–18 [48] League One 2000104 [lower-alpha 3] 171
2018–19 [49] League One 0000000000
Total2000104071
Altrincham 2020–21 [50] National League 1000000010
Total1000000010
Career total10411504217612919
  1. Three appearances and one goal in Football League Trophy, three appearances and one goal in League Two play-offs
  2. 1 2 Appearances in Football League Trophy
  3. 1 2 Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours

Crewe Alexandra

Bolton Wanderers

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