Alex Rhodes (footballer born 1982)

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Alex Rhodes
Personal information
Full name Alexander Graham Rhodes
Date of birth 23 January 1982 (1982-01-23) (age 26)
Place of birth    Cambridge, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Striker / Left winger
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2002–2003
2003–2007
2006
2007
2007–2008		 Newmarket Town
Brentford
→ Swindon Town (loan)
→ Grays Athletic (loan)
Bradford City
57 (5)
04 (0)
12 (1)
28 (3)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 12:24, 3 June 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Alexander Graham "Alex" Rhodes (born 23 January 1982) is a professional footballer who is currently unattached. Rhodes can play as a striker or a left winger.

He started his career with non-league Newmarket Town, where he came to prominence after scoring hat-tricks in three successive games. He moved to Brentford in November 2003 and scored the goal that saved them from relegation six months later. He scored five goals during his four seasons at Brentford, which were hampered by injury, and included loan spells at Swindon Town and Grays Athletic. He signed for Bradford City in August 2007 but was released after one season.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Newmarket Town

Alex Rhodes started his career at non-league side Newmarket Town and came to the attention of league scouts, including Norwich City, Cambridge United and Yeovil Town, after three successive hat-tricks in September 2003.[1][2] He scored 21 goals for Newmarket in the Eastern Counties League during the first four months of the 2003–04 season. After trials with Yeovil, Norwich and Ipswich Town he was signed by Brentford in November 2003 for £10,000.[3][4]

[edit] Brentford

Rhodes made his debut on Boxing Day 2003 in a 2–1 defeat to Bristol City but had to wait more than four months for his second game. He scored his first senior goal in his third game to ensure Brentford avoided relegation from the Second Division when they defeated Bournemouth 1–0.[5]

Rhodes returned to Newmarket Town for a pre-season friendly game with Brentford in August 2004, during which he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 win.[6] It helped him to win a place in the first team, and he scored on the first day of the 2004–05 season when Brentford lost 3–1 to Chesterfield.[7] It was not until November 2004 that he scored his second goal in another defeat—2–1 to Bradford City.[8] Five days later, he scored the winning penalty against Bristol City to take Brentford through to the second round of the FA Cup.[9] In December, he scored in successive games, first in the league against Sheffield Wednesday,[10] then another penalty in the FA Cup as Brentford's 2–1 victory against Hinckley United set up a third round tie with Luton Town.[11] He was unable to play in the third round tie after he suffered a serious knee injury against Walsall which kept him out of action for the rest of the season. Although he had been a regular in the Brentford squad, his 22 league games included just four starts.[12]

Injury again hit his 2005–06 season, during which he scored just one goal in a 2–1 victory over Yeovil Town.[13][14] He started just five league games during the season,[14] as Brentford reached the League One play-offs. Rhodes started the second leg of the play-off semi-finals but a 2–0 defeat to Swansea City denied them a place in the final.[15]

He made 11 appearances for Brentford at the start of the 2006–07 season.[16] On 10 October 2006, Rhodes signed for League Two side Swindon Town on a month's loan deal.[16] He played just four games for Swindon all as substitute before returning to Brentford.[17] On returning from his loan spell, he was placed on the transfer list by then Brentford manager Scott Fitzgerald. He played another three games for Brentford and had a trial with Yeovil Town in January 2007.[18] In March 2007, he was loaned out again, to Grays Athletic for seven weeks.[19] His played 12 league games and twice in the FA Trophy during his spell at Grays, scoring once in each competition,[17] before he returned to Brentford in time to play in their final game of the season.[20] Rhodes was offered a new contract by new Brentford manager Terry Butcher, but turned it down and left the club on 25 June 2007.[21] He played 65 games in all competitions for Brentford, but two-thirds of those were as substitute, scoring just six goals.[17]

[edit] Bradford City

After trials with Darlington and Bradford City,[22] Rhodes signed for Bradford on a short-term deal.[23] He made his debut in City's first game of the season when they drew 1–1 with Macclesfield Town in a team featuring six new players.[24] He scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over Chester City on 6 November 2007.[25] He extended his stay at Bradford City until the end of the season in January 2008.[26] Despite signing a new contract, injury kept him out of the side at the start of 2008 until 23 February when he scored his second Bradford goal in a 3–1 victory at Notts County after coming on as substitute.[27][28] His performance in the Notts County victory earned him a place in the starting side three days later when he again scored in a 3–2 win against Rotherham United.[29][30] On 29 April, he was one of 13 players deemed to be released by manager Stuart McCall.[31] He played a total of 30 games for Bradford, but started only 11 of those, scoring three goals.[17]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Norwich give Rhodes trial", BBC Sport, 2003-09-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  2. ^ "Taylor eyes non-league striker", BBC Sport, 2003-10-10. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  3. ^ "Brentford sign Rhodes", BBC Sport, 2003-11-11. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  4. ^ "Brentford sign new forward", Ealing Times, 2003-11-14. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  5. ^ "Brentford 1-0 Bournemouth", BBC Sport, 2004-05-08. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  6. ^ Flood, Tony. "Rhodes' hat-trick claim", This is Local London, 2004-08-06. Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 
  7. ^ "Chesterfield 3-1 Brentford", BBC Sport, 2004-08-07. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  8. ^ "Brentford 1-2 Bradford", BBC Sport, 2004-11-20. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  9. ^ "Brentford 1-1 Bristol City", BBC Sport, 2004-11-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  10. ^ "Sheff Wed 1-2 Brentford", BBC Sport, 2004-12-11. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  11. ^ "Brentford 2-1 Hinckley", BBC Sport, 2004-12-14. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  12. ^ Brentford 2004/2005 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
  13. ^ "Yeovil 1-2 Brentford", BBC Sport, 2006-03-07. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  14. ^ a b Brentford 2005/2006 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
  15. ^ "Brentford 0-2 Swansea (agg 1-3)", BBC Sport, 2006-05-14. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  16. ^ a b "Rhodes hints at permanent Swindon move", Ealing Times, 2006-10-12. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  17. ^ a b c d Alex Rhodes. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
  18. ^ "Rhodes joins Town on trial", Ealing Times, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  19. ^ "Grays recruit Barness and Rhodes", BBC Sport, 2007-03-09. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  20. ^ "Tranmere 3-1 Brentford", BBC Sport, 2007-05-05. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  21. ^ "Brentford sign Hibs keeper Brown", BBC Sport, 2007-06-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  22. ^ Craven, Dave. "City take a look at wing ace", Telegraph & Argus, 2007-07-31. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  23. ^ "Bantams seal double striker deal", BBC Sport, 2007-08-09. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  24. ^ Parker, Simon. "Let's hear it for the fans", Telegraph & Argus, 2007-08-12. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  25. ^ "Bradford 2-1 Chester", BBC Sport, 2007-11-06. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  26. ^ "Heckingbottom seals Bradford move", BBC Sport, 2008-01-08. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. 
  27. ^ Parker, Simon. "Rhodes 'praying for another chance'", Telegraph & Argus, 2008-02-15. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  28. ^ "Notts County 1-3 Bradford", BBC Sport, 2008-02-23. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. 
  29. ^ Parker, Simon. "Rare start for Rhodes", Telegraph & Argus, 2008-02-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  30. ^ "Bradford 3-2 Rotherham", BBC Sport, 2008-02-26. Retrieved on 2008-02-27. 
  31. ^ Parker, Simon. "Johnson one of 13 axed by City", Telegraph & Argus, 2008-04-29. Retrieved on 2008-04-29. 

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Rhodes, Alex
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 23 January 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Cambridge, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH