Billy Clifford (footballer)
 Clifford warming-up for Chelsea in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Billy Clifford[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 October 1992[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Slough, England | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[3] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1999–2010 | Chelsea | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2010–2014 | Chelsea | 0 | (0) |
| 2013 | → Colchester United (loan) | 18 | (1) |
| 2013 | → Yeovil Town (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2014 | → Royal Antwerp (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Walsall | 13 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:16, 7 February 2015 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Billy Clifford (born 18 October 1992) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder and is currently unattached.
Career
Born in Slough, Clifford came through the Chelsea academy, having been homeless since his pre-teens.[4] After he turned professional in 2010, Clifford started living under a roof. He played in Chelsea's pre-season friendly away to Ajax, and on 18 October he joined the first team for an away Champions League game against Spartak Moscow, where he was an unused substitute.[5] Clifford signed a new four-year contract for Chelsea in September 2011.[2] On 19 March 2012, Clifford made headlines when he, along with Jacob Mellis, setting off a smoke grenade and causing a full-scale evacuation at the club's Cobham training ground. The pair escaped with a fine after admitting he brought the grenade – understood to be from a paintball expedition – into Chelsea's Cobham training headquarters.[6] The pair were suspended after the incident on 2 March, though Mellis was sacked.[7]
On 11 January 2013, he joined Colchester United on a one-month loan deal, before making his debut for the U's the very next day as they fell to a 2–1 home defeat to Scunthorpe; a club-record ninth successive defeat.[8] Having been joined in Essex by his Chelsea team mate Sam Walker, also on loan,[9] Billy started the remaining four games of his initial loan spell as the U's fortunes began to turn.
On 12 February after a 1–0 win at home to Preston North End,[10] the loan deal was extended until the end of the season[11] with U's boss Joe Dunne describing Billy as "tenacious, has great technial ability, his heart is big and it's a chance to get out and play which he has taken."[12]
A fortnight later he bagged his first goal for the U's, from 25 yards in a 2–0 win at home to Yeovil Town,[13] before assisting Jabo Ibehre to open the scoring in another 2–0 win at Stevenage to claw the U's out of the bottom four.[14] He made his final appearance for the club on the final day of the 2012–13 season, helping the club secure a 2–0 away victory at Carlisle United to guarantee League One safety.[15]
On 10 July 2013, Clifford joined Football League Championship side Yeovil Town on a six-month loan deal.[16] He made his debut for Yeovil as in their Football League Cup first round victory over Southend United, on 6 August 2013.[17] On 25 August 2013, Clifford returned to Chelsea after failing to break into the Yeovil first team.[18]
On 30 January 2014, it announced that Clifford was loaned for rest of season to Belgian Club Royal Antwerp, then managed by former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.[19]
On 7 August 2014, it announced that Clifford agreed to cancel his contract with Chelsea by mutual consent to seek regular football.[20] On 8 August 2014, Walsall signed the midfielder on a six-month contract.[21] The next day, Clifford made his debut for the club, where he came on as substitute for James Baxendale in the 70th minute, in a 1–1 draw against Port Vale.[22] Clifford made thirteen league appearances for the Saddlers before leaving the club on 9 January 2015 at the end of his contract.[23]
Career statistics
- As of match played 11 October 2014.
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Chelsea | 2010–11[24] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011–12[25] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2012–13[26] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2013–14[27] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Colchester United (loan) | 2012–13[26] | League One | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| Yeovil Town (loan) | 2013–14[27] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Royal Antwerp (loan) | 2013–14[28] | Belgian Second Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Walsall | 2014–15[29] | League One | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Career total | 35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 1 | ||
Honours
References
- ↑ "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 4 February 2014. p. 9. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "BILLY CLIFFORD". ChelseaFC.com. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ↑ "Billy Clifford". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
- ↑ "It's the real world at Walsall for Billy Clifford". Express and Star. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
- ↑ "Spartak Moscow 0 – 2 Chelsea". BBC Sport. 18 October 2010.
- ↑ "Chelsea part company with Jacob Mellis over smoke grenade incident". The Guardian (London). 20 March 2012.
- ↑ Ashton, Neil (20 March 2012). "Chelsea sack starlet Mellis and fine team-mate Clifford over smoke bomb prank". Daily Mail (London).
- ↑ "Colchester 1–2 Scunthorpe". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ↑ "Chelsea keeper Sam Walker joins Colchester United on loan". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ↑ "Colchester 1–0 Preston". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
- ↑ "CLIFFORD LOAN EXTENDED". chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
- ↑ "U's Loanees Proving A Big Plus". Vital Colchester. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
- ↑ "Colchester 2–0 Yeovil". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- ↑ "Stevenage 0–2 Colchester". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ↑ "Carlisle 0–2 Colchester". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ↑ "Yeovil Town sign Michael Ngoo and Billy Clifford on loan". BBC Sport. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "Southend 0–1 Yeovil". BBC Sport. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
- ↑ "Billy goes back to Chelsea". Yeovil Town F.C. 25 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- ↑ "CLIFFORD LOANED TO BELGIAN CLUB". Chelsea F.C. 20 January 2014. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ↑ "Billy Clifford confirms Chelsea departure". Give Me Sport. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ↑ "Billy Clifford: Walsall sign former Chelsea midfielder". BBC Sport. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ↑ "Port Vale 1 – 1 Walsall". BBC Sport. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- ↑ "BBC WM Sport 95.6 on Twitter: "#walsallfc Billy Clifford leaves Saddlers after his six-month contract ends."". BBC WM Sport (Twitter). 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- ↑ "Games played by Billy Clifford in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ↑ "Games played by Billy Clifford in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Games played by Billy Clifford in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Games played by Billy Clifford in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ↑ "Games played by Billy Clifford in 2013/2014 for Royal Antwerp". R.A.F.C. Museum. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ↑ "Games played by Billy Clifford in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 June 2014.