Jamie Forrester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jamie Forrester
Personal information
Date of birth	November 1, 1974 (1974-11-01) (age 33)
Place of birth	Bradford, England
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Lincoln City
Number	8
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991-1992 1992-1995 1994 1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2000 1999-2000 2000 2000-2003 2003-2004 2004-2006 2006 2006-present	AJ Auxerre Leeds United → Southend United (loan) → Grimsby Town (loan) Grimsby Town Scunthorpe United F.C. Utrecht → Walsall (loan) → Northampton Town (loan) Northampton Town Hull City Bristol Rovers → Lincoln City (loan) Lincoln City Career	000 00(0) 009 00(0) 005 00(0) 009 00(1) 041 00(6) 101 0(37) 001 00(0) 005 00(0) 009 00(6) 112 0(39) 032 00(7) 052 00(9) 009 00(5) 075 0(27) 460 (137)
National team
	England (Schoolboy)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 March 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Jamie Forrester (born 1 November 1974 in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a professional footballer currently playing for Lincoln City, where in the 2006/07 finished the season as their top goalscorer with 18 league goals. He has represented the English national team at both Youth and Schoolboy levels. For a player who has spent the majority of his playing career in the lower leagues, Forrester has an astounding pedigree, having played for reputable clubs such as Leeds United (when they were in the Premier League), Dutch Premier outfit F.C. Utrecht and French side AJ Auxerre, but never quite made the required impact on their respective first team squads.

In recent times, Forrester has also set up his own Soccer Academy in Lincolnshire, something relatively unusual for a player with a low profile outside of the county he's playing in.

Contents 1 AJ Auxerre 2 Leeds United 2.1 Honours 3 Grimsby Town 3.1 Honours 4 Scunthorpe United 4.1 Honours 5 F.C. Utrecht 6 Northampton Town 6.1 Honours 7 Hull City 7.1 Honours 8 Bristol Rovers 9 Lincoln City 9.1 Honours 10 External links 11 Notes

[edit] AJ Auxerre

At the age of 16 Forrester moved south of England to France, where he was to ply his trade for AJ Auxerre, a team with unprecedented success for the size of their town. Unfortunately, "after a year of homesickness" ^[1], Forrester returned to Leeds in an attempt to break into their first team, after making precisely 0 first team appearances for AJA.

[edit] Leeds United

Whilst at Leeds, Forrester had two relatively successful loan spells at Southend United and Grimsby Town, however, only managed to bag 9 first team appearances for The Whites, stating he "was not able to consistently perform at the top level."^[2] This eventually lead him to join Grimsby Town on a permanent basis.

His highlight whilst at Elland Road was undoubtedly winning the FA Youth Cup in 1993, helping to defeat a Manchester United squad 4 - 1 on aggregrate over a two-legged final, scoring Leeds' first goals in both their 2 - 0 victory at Old Trafford and their 2 - 1 win at Elland Road.^[3] Forrester scored a total of 11 goals in 1993's FA Youth Cup for the Yorkshire outfit. This Manchester United team contained players who were to become household names, including Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt, Robbie Savage and Keith Gillespie.

[edit] Honours

• FA Youth Cup
  • Winner: 1993

[edit] Grimsby Town

The Mariners had seen enough in Forrester's loan spell to offer him a permanent deal, and in the 1995/96, his contributions to the club were justly recognized as he received the Grimsby Town Supporters Young Player of the Year award. Despite this, his goal:game ratio was somewhat poor, which lead to Forrester joining Grimsby's Lincolnshire rivals, Scunthorpe United.

[edit] Honours

• Supporters Young Player of the Year: 1995/96

[edit] Scunthorpe United

Forrester's spell at The Iron was arguably his most successful spell at a club. He quoted "Joining Scunthorpe was the best football decision I have made because it allowed me to play first team football on a regular basis and this is where I ‘came of age’ as a footballer."^[4] Despite being a firm favourite at Scunthorpe, another opportunity for him to play abroad came along, this time at the reasonably successful F.C. Utrecht of Holland.

[edit] Honours

• League Two
  • Play-Off Winners: 1998/99 (*)

[edit] F.C. Utrecht

Those at the Stadion Galgenwaard obviously saw enough potential in Forrester to take him on under the Bosman ruling, however, once again his spell away from home was shortlived, stating "things never really worked out in Holland."^[5] And after only one first team appearance to his name, and two short loan spells at Wallsall and Northampton Town, Forrester headed back to England to play for Northampton on a permanent basis.

[edit] Northampton Town

In terms of success, Forrester's spell at Northampton was very similar to that of Scunthorpe. Scoring a goal every other game and winning promotion with The Cobblers rivalled his success at The Iron. His impressive displays lead Peter Taylor, manager of the uprising Hull City, to hand him a contract.

[edit] Honours

• League Two
  • Third-Placed: 1999/00 (*)

[edit] Hull City

Hull City were by no means like a club who Forrester had played for before, they were playing in the fourth tier of English football, yet according to Forrester, were a "different animal."^[6] This was perhaps why Forrester's first team appearances were limited for The Tigers. Being surplus to requirements at the KC Stadium, despite being named in the Hull squad for every game of the 2003/04 season, Forrester soon found a new club, this time Bristol Rovers.

[edit] Honours

• League Two
  • Runners-Up: 2003/04 (*)

[edit] Bristol Rovers

Forrester's time at The Pirates was somewhat frustrating, only managing to bag a handful of goals in 52 appearances. He was farmed out on loan to Lincoln City and scored 5 goals in 9 appearances, helping them reach the League Two Play-Off Semi-Finals. His performances whilst on loan at Sincil Bank won him instant respect, and lead him to sign a permanent deal for the Lincolnshire outfit shortly after.

[edit] Lincoln City

Having already played for Scunthorpe United and Grimsby Town, Forrester was no stranger to playing football in Lincolnshire. Despite the fact that he has not gained promotion with The Imps, his goal:game ratio is that of a goal every other game and has been a very influential figure in a side which has pushed for promotion for two seasons whilst he has served at the club. During his first full season at the club, the 2006/07 season, Forrester scored three hat-tricks in the opening stages and went on to be the clubs top scorer. As of May 2008, Forrester secured a year long extension to his current Lincoln contract, although this is still waiting to be drawn up.

[edit] Honours

• FourFourTwo Magazine
  • 50 Best Players in the Football League: 50th in 2006/07

(*) Then known as Division Three

[edit] External links

• Jamie Forrester at Soccerbase
• The Jamie Forrester Soccer Academy Jamie's Soccer Academy

[edit] Notes

v • d • e Lincoln City F.C. – current squad 2 Green • 5 Beevers • 6 Brown • 7 Frecklington • 8 Forrester • 11 Kerr • 13 Duffy • 15 Wright • 17 N'Guessan • 20 Warlow • 21 King • 23 Clarke • 25 Pembleton • 27 Hone • 29 John-Lewis • Acting Manager: Onuora