Nicky Maynard

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Nicky Maynard
Personal information
Full name Nicholas David Maynard
Date of birth December 11, 1986 (1986-12-11) (age 21)
Place of birth    Winsford, England
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Crewe Alexandra
Number 9
Youth clubs
1994–2005 Crewe Alexandra
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2005– Crewe Alexandra 59 (32)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 2008-04-21.
* Appearances (Goals)

Nicholas David "Nicky" Maynard (born Winsford, Cheshire, 11 December 1986) is an English professional footballer (striker), currently playing for Crewe Alexandra.

Maynard's father, Dave, was also a footballer, famous in non-league circles.

Nicky was on loan at Witton Albion during January 2006 but returned to Crewe to make his début on the last game of the 2005-2006 season at home to Millwall. Maynard came on at half time and scored his first professional goal with his first touch of the ball. Maynard continued his form for Crewe in the 2006/07 season, scoring seven goals in eight league games.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] 2005-: Crewe Alexandra

Main article: Crewe Alexandra F.C.

Maynard began his footballing career as a youth trainee at Crewe Alexandra's academy, famous for producing the attacking talents of David Platt, Rob Hulse and Dean Ashton, at the age of seven.[1] Since then, he has represented Crewe at every age group level and scored 27 goals in one season at Under–18s level.[1] As a reward for his form in the youth team, Maynard was offered his first professional contract of his career in the summer of 2005.[2]

During the 2005-06 season, Maynard was loaned out to Witton Albion in January 2006, Maynard made a big impression at the non-league side, helping them to their most successful run of the season in the UniBond League. After returning to Crewe, Maynard continued to show fine form in the reserves side; by the end of the season, young Maynard made his Crewe début as a substitute for Michael Higdon in the Railwaymen's 4-2 win over Millwall at the end of the 2005-06 season. He scored with his first touch in professional football, in front of Scouts representing 20 different clubs,[3] after Michael O'Connor's shot hit the post. Eddie Johnson; Luke Varney and Steve Jones scored the other three goals for Crewe.

It seemed likely that Maynard would get his full début for Crewe during the 06-07 season, with players such as Steve Jones leaving relegated Crewe for Championship side Burnley.[4] However, some of Crewe's new signings, such as Ryan Lowe and the return of former player Rodney Jack, gave Maynard a bit of competition for a place in the first eleven. Maynard performed very well in his second year of professional football, forming a partnership with Varney where the two proved to be one of the most productive partnerships, in terms of goal scoring, in League One with a total of 33 league goals between them. During his first full season, the Englishman also picked up the "Player of the Month" award for September.[5]

With Luke Varney gone after a £2 million transfer to Charlton Athletic, Maynard was seen as the club's main goalscoring threat. His second full season at the club, however, was brought to a stand still for four months after he suffered a bone fracture of his fibula and also damaged his ankle ligaments during the club's season opener against Brighton and Hove Albion.[6] In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Maynard admitted that he had "broke downa few times" during his four months of rehabilitation,[7] although he would later recover and return to fitness and soon featured as a non-used substitute in an away match against Nottingham Forest before playing the second 45 minutes of the FA cup tie versus Oldham Athletic on December.

The striker struggled to score a goal during his first initial months back in the first team, with only two goals scored in his first two months back from injury. It wasn't until the following months of February and March that the young striker got back into form and soon showed his potential by scoring in seven consecutive games including a hat-trick at senior level, his first for the club, against relegation rivals Cheltenham Town, "I've scored a couple of doubles before" he said in an interview in 2008, "so I thought it was a long time coming. I got all the lads to sign the match ball for me."[8] Crewe managed to avoid relegation for the second time in three seasons at the expense of Bournemouth, despite losing 4-1 to Oldham on the last day of the season. During the summer following the end of the season, Maynard was linked with a number of clubs including Premiership clubs Middlesbrough.[9]

[edit] Club stats

Correct as of April 21, 2008
All-Time Club Performance
Club Season Domestic
League
FA Cup League Cup Other[10] Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Crewe Alexandra 07-08 27 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 28 15
06-07 31 16 0 0 3 2 2 1 36 19
05-06 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Total 06-Present 59 32 1 0 3 2 2 1 65 35
Career Totals 06-Present 59 32 1 0 3 2 2 1 65 35

[edit] References

[edit] Publications

[edit] Internet

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ a b FourFourTwo, 167: "I've been playing for the academy since I was seven; I've been top scorer at every age group. I scored 27 goals in one season at U18 level."
  2. ^ Crewe Alexandra profile, Paragraph 4.
  3. ^ They're watching us.... Crewealex.PremiumTV.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2006
  4. ^ Burnley land Crewe striker Jones news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2006
  5. ^ Maynard receives League One award news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2006
  6. ^ "Crewe vs Brighton", Official Crewe Alexandra Website, 2007-08-11. Retrieved on 2008-06-06. 
  7. ^ FourFourTwo, 167: "I broke down a few times during my rehap, but managed to get back"
  8. ^ FourFourTwo, 167: "I've scored a couple of doubles before, so I thought it was a long time coming. I got all the lads to sign the match ball for me."
  9. ^ "Premier League Transfer Talk", Daily Telegraph Official Website, 2008-05-07. Retrieved on 2008-05-07. 
  10. ^ Includes Football League Trophy