Aaron Splaine (born 13 October 1996) is a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who most recently played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Clyde. He started his career as a youth player for Queen of the South and also played for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

, Annan Athletic, Northern Irish side Derry City and Gibraltarian clubs

Europa Point Europa Point ( Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa) is the southernmost point of Gibraltar. Although not the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula, Europa Point defines the boundary between the Straits of Gibraltar in th ...

and Bruno's Magpies.

Career

Born in Spain, Splaine was brought up in

Newton Stewart Newton Stewart (Scottish Gaelic language, Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to ...

and joined local side Queen of the South at youth level. Splaine spent five years at

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a association football, football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South F.C., Queen of the South, who have played there ...

, before following the Doonhamers manager

Allan Johnston Allan Johnston (born 14 December 1973) is a Scottish football player and coach, who was most recently the manager of Queen of the South. Nicknamed 'Magic', Johnston started his professional playing career with Heart of Midlothian and then fo ...

when he took over as manager in 2013. Splaine made his debut in the penultimate

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

match of the 2014–15 season, against Ross County at

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

. Although Kilmarnock lost the match 1–2, Splaine was praised for the composed way that he operated in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

, with

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

correspondent Kenny Crawford describing him as looking like a "seasoned professional". Splaine went on to make a further eight appearances for the club, before being released on 23 May 2016 along with five other players at the end of their contract. After six months away from football, Splaine subsequently had trials with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, before signing a one-year deal with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

on 15 June 2017, joining up with former Doonhamers and Killie manager Allan Johnston. Splaine started the season in-and-out of the first team, making his full league debut for the club versus Queen of the South in October. Splaine suffered a season ending leg-break in a

Fife Cup The Fife Cup is a Scottish regional football competition for clubs in the historic county of Fife. The competition was founded by the Fifeshire Football Association in 1882. The competition was originally known as the "Fifeshire Cup" from 1882� ...

match against

Burntisland Shipyard Burntisland Shipyard Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Burntisland, Fife. The club competes in the and play their home matches at Recreation Park. They are full members of the Scottish Football Association. Histo ...

in November 2017, and was released by the club in May 2018, following the end of his contract. After leaving Dunfermline, Splaine joined former Pars teammate

Dean Shiels Dean Andrew Shiels (born 1 February 1985) is a Northern Irish former footballer and current manager, who last managed Coleraine. He played for Hibernian, Doncaster Rovers, Kilmarnock, Rangers, Dundalk, FC Edmonton and Dunfermline Athletic, and ...

in signing for side Derry City. Splaine scored on his debut for the club, in a 2–1 victory over

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. He left the club at the end of the 2018 season. In August 2019, Splaine joined

in Gibraltar. He made his debut on 21 August in a 5–0 defeat to

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

. After a spell with Bruno's Magpies, Splaine returned to Scottish football in August 2020 with Annan Athletic. In June 2021, Splaine moved up a division to sign for

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

club Clyde.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Splaine, Aaron 1996 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Scottish Professional Football League players Kilmarnock F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Europa Point F.C. players Annan Athletic F.C. players Clyde F.C. players F.C. Bruno's Magpies players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen