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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | William Samuel Forrester [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 29 June 2001||
Place of birth | Alsager, England [3] | ||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) [2] | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Port Vale | ||
Number | 15 | ||
Youth career | |||
2007–2021 | Stoke City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2021–2022 | Stoke City | 4 | (1) |
2021 | → Mansfield Town (loan) | 4 | (0) |
2022– | Port Vale | 3 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:39, 16 August 2022 (UTC) |
William Samuel Forrester (born 29 June 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League One club Port Vale. He made his professional debut at Stoke City in May 2021, and spent time on loan at Mansfield Town, before signing with Port Vale in July 2022.
Forrester was born in Alsager and joined at the Stoke City academy age of six. [3] He progressed through the youth teams at Stoke, [4] and made his senior debut on 9 October 2018, playing for the U21s in the EFL Trophy against Morecambe. [5] [6] Forrester made his professional debut on 8 May 2021, scoring the opening goal on the final day of the 2020–21 season in a 2–0 away win against AFC Bournemouth in the Championship. [7] [8] On 31 August 2021, Forrester joined League Two side Mansfield Town on loan until January 2022. [9] [10] [11] Forrester's time at Field Mill was hampered by an ankle injury which restricted him to seven appearances. [12] Despite this, manager Nigel Clough still asked Stoke to extend the loan until the end of the campaign. [13] After returning to Stoke, Forrester made three first-team appearances at the end of the 2021–22 season. [14] Manager Michael O'Neill praised his composure on the ball and patience for waiting for game time in April 2022. [14] However Forrester was sold just three months later, and O'Neill explained that it was because he refused to sign a long-term contract and the club already had 20-year old centre-back Connor Taylor who also needed game time to develop. [15]
On 26 July 2022, Forrester joined League One side Port Vale for an undisclosed fee. [16] [17] [18] It was the first transfer between Stoke and Vale since 1978. [19]
Forrester is a versatile defender equally adept at playing as a centre-back, left-back or right-back. [20] [18]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Stoke City U21 | 2018–19 [21] | — | — | — | 1 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
Stoke City | 2020–21 [7] | Championship | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | |
2021–22 [22] | Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
Total | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | ||
Mansfield Town (loan) | 2021–22 [22] | League Two | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 [lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 7 | 1 |
Port Vale | 2022–23 [23] | League One | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Career total | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 2 |
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