Sam Aiston

Sam Aiston

Personal information
Full name	Samuel James Aiston
Date of birth	(1976-11-21) 21 November 1976 (age 46)
Place of birth	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1994–1995	Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–2000	Sunderland	20	(0)
1997–1999	→ Chester City (loan)	23	(0)
1999	→ Stoke City (loan)	6	(0)
2000	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	10	(0)
2000–2005	Shrewsbury Town	167	(7)
2005–2006	Tranmere Rovers	36	(3)
2006–2008	Northampton Town	22	(0)
2007	→ Burton Albion (loan)	5	(0)
2007–2008	→ Wrexham (loan)	8	(0)
2008–2009	Wrexham	30	(0)
2009	Stafford Rangers	18	(0)
2009–2010	Hednesford Town	18	(0)
2010–2011	Gainsborough Trinity	53	(5)
Total		416	(15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Samuel James Aiston (born 21 November 1976) is an English former professional footballer.

He played as a midfielder and made over 200 appearances in the Premier League and the Football League, particularly for Sunderland, Chester City, Shrewsbury Town, Tranmere Rovers, Northampton Town and Wrexham. He finished his career in Non-League football and turned out for Stafford Rangers, Hednesford Town and Gainsborough Trinity.

Career

Aiston began his career at Newcastle United in 1994 but made no appearances for the club before joining Sunderland in 1995, where he made over 20 first-team appearances, most as substitute. ^[2] He was loaned to Chester City, Stoke City and Shrewsbury Town, ^[2] before joining Shrewsbury for a £50,000 transfer fee in the summer of 2000. ^[2] Aiston made 165 league appearances for Shrewsbury, scoring seven goals, ^[2] helping the club to promotion from the Football Conference at the end of the 2003–04 season. ^[3] Whilst at Shrewsbury Town Aiston endeared himself to the Shrewsbury faithful owing to his style of play. ^[4]

He was released by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2004–05 season and initially agreed a two-year deal with Grimsby Town, with the official website initially announcing the signing. ^[5] He then did a u-turn and joined Tranmere Rovers in July 2005, ^[6] where he made over 40 league and cup appearances in the 2005–06 season. ^[2] He was released by Tranmere at the end of the season, and joined Northampton Town. ^[7] Injuries meant he struggled to command a regular first team place and he dropped into the Conference National for a loan spell with Burton Albion. ^[8]

In November 2007, Aiston joined Wrexham on loan, having previously played for Wrexham manager Brian Little at Tranmere Rovers. ^[9] Aiston made his debut in a 2–2 draw with Chester City three days later. In January 2008, Aiston's move to Wrexham was made into a permanent signing. ^[10] He was transfer listed by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the Football Conference.

Aiston went on to play for Stafford Rangers and Hednesford Town before joining Gainsborough Trinity in February 2010. He was released in May 2011.

Personal life

After retiring from playing football Aiston became a primary school teacher, working initially at Bicton primary school near Shrewsbury. ^[11]

He got married in August 2012 to Hollie Adams at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury. At the time he was teacher at Newdale Primary School in Telford, Shropshire. ^[12]

In December 2021 Aiston, along with his ex Shrewsbury Town teammates Dave Edwards and Gavin Cowan, launched the podcast, In The Stiffs. ^[13]

In November 2022, he was head teacher at Broseley C.ofE. Primary School, when he was named to take up his next appointment as first head teacher at Bowbrook Primary School, Shrewsbury, in 2023. ^[14]

Career statistics

Source: ^[15]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other [A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sunderland	1995–96	First Division	14	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	15	0
	1996–97	Premier League	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	1997–98	First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	1998–99	First Division	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	1999–2000	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		20	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	24	0
Chester City (loan)	1996–97	Third Division	14	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	16	0
	1998–99	Third Division	11	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	12	0
	Total		25	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	28	0
Stoke City (loan)	1999–2000	Second Division	6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
Shrewsbury Town	1999–2000	Third Division	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
	2000–01	Third Division	42	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	45	2
	2001–02	Third Division	35	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	36	2
	2002–03	Third Division	21	2	1	0	0	0	3	0	25	2
	2003–04	Conference National	34	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	37	0
	2004–05	League Two	35	1	1	0	1	0	1	0	38	1
	Total		177	7	6	0	3	0	5	0	191	7
Tranmere Rovers	2005–06	League One	36	3	1	0	1	0	1	0	39	3
Northampton Town	2006–07	League One	21	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	22	0
	2007–08	League One	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		22	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	25	0
Burton Albion (loan)	2007–08	Conference National	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Wrexham	2007–08	League Two	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
	2008–09	Conference National	19	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	20	0
	Total		38	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	39	0
Career Total			329	10	11	0	9	0	9	0	358	10

A.  ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy and Football League play-offs.

References

1. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2008). Sky Sports Football Yearbook: 2008–2009. London: Headline. p. 555. ISBN   978-0-7553-1819-3.
2. "Sam Aiston". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
3. "Shrews secure promotion". BBC Sport. 16 May 2004. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
4. "Shrewsbury Town dressing room was spilt – Aiston". BBC Sport. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
5. "Aiston stuns Mariners".
6. "Tranmere complete double signing". BBC Sport. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
7. "Aiston and Holt join Northampton". BBC Sport. 27 June 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
8. "Burton pair's loan deals extended". BBC Sport. 28 September 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
9. "Wrexham get winger Aiston on loan". BBC Sport. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
10. "Aiston completes permanent switch". BBC Sport. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
11. Pinnington, Sam (8 July 2010). "Ex-Shrews player Sam Aiston to become a 'sir'". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
12. "Former Shrewsbury Town winger Sam Aiston nets stunning Hollie". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
13. Cox, Lewis. "Shrewsbury Town old boys have tales aplenty with new podcast". shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
14. "Ex-Shrews player in transfer to new town school as head". Shropshire Star. 15 November 2022. p. 3.Report by David Tooley.
15. Sam Aiston at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

External links

• Sam Aiston at Soccerbase