Anthony Richard Tonkin (born 17 January 1980) is an English retired 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 played as a defender.

Career

Born in

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, Tonkin began his career at

Mousehole Mousehole () is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is approximately south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay. The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies about offshore fro ...

and

Falmouth Town Falmouth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach the first round proper of the FA ...

, where he finished as runners-up to Truro City in the South Western League in the 1997–98 season. His success with Falmouth attracted

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

, who signed him up in 1998, where he made 95 appearances and scored one goal in three years at the club. In 2002, he moved to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

, where he spent a year before being transferred to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

in August 2003 for a reported fee of £150,000. After more than 90 appearances in under three years, he was released and subsequently returned to Yeovil. On 2 March 2007, he joined

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. He was released by Yeovil upon his return in May 2007. Two months later, he signed for

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

club

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

, reportedly turning down

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

clubs to stay in the Southwest. He made 38 league appearances as the club finished in their highest-ever league placing, but was released at the end of the season. Tonkin joined

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

on 1 July 2008. In January 2010, Tonkin joined

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

for an undisclosed fee. In May 2012, Tonkin was released by the club after being deemed surplus to requirements. On 25 May 2012, Tonkin joined

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

on a one-year deal which sees him join former teammate

Josh Payne Joshua James Payne (born 25 November 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Beaconsfield Town. He has previously played for West Ham United, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Wycombe Wanderers, Doncaster Rovers, Oxford ...

at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

. He was a first team regular at Aldershot Town proving to be a consistent performer in an underperforming side. However, the defender was released by Aldershot in February 2015, but was soon signed by Southern League side Frome Town initially until the end of the 2014–15 season.

Honours

Yeovil Town *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

: 2001–02 Oxford United *

play-offs: 2009–10

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonkin, Anthony 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Penzance Footballers from Cornwall English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Mousehole A.F.C. players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Frome Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen