David Soames

David Michael Soames (born 10 December 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 2002 to 2006.

He played in the Football League for Grimsby Town from 2002 until 2005, but retired a year later aged just 21, due to a persistent injury problem that hampered most of his playing career. He now works for North East Lincolnshire Council as a community sports coach.

Football career

Grimsby Town

Soames, nicknamed Digger, signed professional football terms with Grimsby Town in October 2002 following an injury crisis at the club, he was part of a decent reserve team strike force that also boasted Darren Mansaram. He made his debut on 23 November when he was drafted into the squad to face Crystal Palace and played in the clubs defeat at Selhurst Park. On Boxing Day 2002, he came off the bench to score his first senior goal in a 3–1 away win over Derby County, this would be his only senior goal in professional football. He continued his good form for The Mariners, but without scoring. A burst of pace and skill could have seen him score against Stoke City but he was upended by defender Sergei Shtanyuk, who was dismissed for his challenge. Grimsby were unable to avoid relegation from the First Division and rumours circulated that linked Soames with Port Vale and Lincoln City but nothing ever came of either.

After suffering an injury early on in the 2003–04 season, Soames found it tough to break back into the first team, and with the club having Michael Boulding, Iffy Onuora, Laurens ten Heuvel, Phil Jevons, Darren Mansaram, Jonathan Rowan and eventually Lee Thorpe and Isaiah Rankin in the squad, his first team appearances throughout the season were numbered. In August 2004, Grimsby found themselves in yet another different league, and with Soames once out injured yet again, He didn't make a showing until the last part of the season. He made his first showing of the new season in March 2005 in a 2–0 defeat against Rochdale. Soames carried on missing the target, which seemed to frustrate himself as well as the supporters.At the end of the season manager Russell Slade did not offer him a contract extension, but invited him back for training for the new season, with the possibility of earning a new deal, but after still struggling with injury, He decided against the idea and left the club.

Armthorpe Welfare

Upon leaving Grimsby, Soames took a few months out of the game before reappearing on trial with York City along with former team-mate Giovanni Carcehdi. After failing to earn himself a short term deal with York, Soames moved into Non-league football by joining South Yorkshire side Armthorpe Welfare just before the start of the 2005–06 season. The move had seen him drop from the fourth tier of English football, to the ninth with Armthorpe playing in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.

Come the end of the season, Soames had finished as Armthorpe's top scorer and had a brief but fruitful partnership with former Grimsby team mate Clint Marcelle. Soames left Armthorpe at the end of the 2005–06 season, and opted to retire from playing the game at a competitive level.

Personal life

Due to his ongoing injury woes that had destroyed his professional football career, Soames retired from the game in the summer of 2006, aged just only 21. He went on to work as a fitness instructor and coach for SportsLincs, who together in a partnership with North East Lincolnshire Council and Humberside Police created football coaching classes to help keep children off the streets of Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Soames also played amateur Sunday League football in the Grimsby area.

In July 2012 Soames was part of the North East Lincolnshire Council 5-aside football team that won the national championships, playing against teams from all over the country.^[1]

In 2012 Soames was still working for North East Lincolnshire Council working for sporting needs for people over the age of 45.^[2][3]

Career statistics

References

External links

• David Soames career statistics at Soccerbase
• David Soames profile at thefishy.co.uk