Tony Naylor
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Tony Naylor
[edit] Background
Tony Naylor (Born 29/03/67) began his career at Non-league Droylsden. Having caught the eye of the then Crewe Alexandra boss Dario Gradi, the striker completed a £20,000 switch to the railwaymen in March 1990[1]. He also holds the record for most goals in a match by a Crewe player (5[2] vs Colchester United, 24th April, 1993).
Tony spent 4 years in South Cheshire, before being snapped up by local rivals Port Vale, in a £150,000 deal. The Valiants splashed the cash after sealing promotion to Division One on the last day of the 1993/94 season, with a 3-1 win at Brighton and Hove Albion. He managed to notch 106 goals in his 7 years at Vale Park, finishing the club's top goalscorer at the end of the 2000/01 season, as Vale finished 10th in Division Two. That season the club managed to win the LDV Vans Trophy, defeating Brentford 2-1 in the final, at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
The striker turned down the offer of a new contract for pastures new and at one time looked asthough he would end up at local rivals Stoke City. Cheltenham Town ended up being his next port of call, joining the Gloucestershire club on a two year contract[3]. Naylor's goals guided the robins to promotion to league one, via the play-offs, in his first season. However, he was unable to prevent relegation the following season and was released at the end of the 2002/03 season.
The pint-sized forward joined Telford United[4], but injuries restricted him to just 16 league starts in his two seasons with the Shropshire club. Naylor was left without a club when United folded, after their finances spiralled out of control. The club did however reform and are now known as AFC Telford and are currently playing in the Conference North.
[edit] References
- Naylor's career stats at Soccerbase [5]
