Cheye Christian Alexander (born 6 January 1995) is a 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 plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Born in England, he plays for the Saint Lucia national team. A former

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Academy graduate, he spent the 2013–14 season with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, though he only played first-team games during a

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spell at

Ilkeston Ilkeston ( ) is a town located in the Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, England, with a population of 40,953 at the 2021 census. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/textiles, have now all but disappeared. Part of t ...

. He had brief spells with Concord Rangers and

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

before joining

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 ...

, initially on a non-

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

basis, in March 2015. He remained with the club for over three seasons, playing 146 games in league and cup competitions. He was signed by

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

in June 2018 and spent two seasons with the club before he returned to the

English 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 ...

following a six-year absence after signing with

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

. He spent two seasons with Wimbledon and signed with Gillingham in July 2022.

Club career

Early career

Alexander was born in Newham and supported his local team

as a child. He joined their academy in 2003, remaining there for ten years before being released as an 18-year-old in summer 2013. He was diagnosed with

Osgood–Schlatter disease Osgood–Schlatter disease (OSD) is inflammation of the patellar ligament at the tibial tuberosity (apophysitis) usually affecting adolescents during growth spurts. It is characterized by a painful bump just below the knee that is worse with act ...

, which causes knee pain but gave him a growth spurt during his last year as a schoolboy. This meant that he had to play through the pain during the 2011–12 season, and though he managed to join the under-18 team during the 2012–13 season, he was not given a professional

by the club. He instead signed a one-year deal with

but did not make any first-team appearances for the "Valiants". On 13 December 2013, he joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division side

on a one-month

deal. Vale

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 43 ...

confirmed that Alexander would not be offered a new contract in April 2014. On 5 September 2014, he signed with

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side Concord Rangers. He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 win over

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

on 1 November and played a total of three games for the "Beach Boys". On 28 November 2014, he joined fellow Conference South club

. He played two games for the "Blues", one each in the league and

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 ...

Aldershot Town

Alexander joined

on a non-contract basis on 3 March 2015. He made his club debut in a 1–1 draw with

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

on 11 April and played three further

Conference Premier 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 Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

games by the end of the 2014–15 season. He signed a one-year contract with the "Shots" in June 2015. Manager Barry Smith said that "he's got all of the attributes of a full-back and he'll play in the style that I want to play". He scored his first career goal on 22 August 2015, in a 4–0 win at

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

. He scored two goals in 50 appearances across the 2015–16 campaign. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2016, with manager Gary Waddock commenting that he felt he could improve the player further. He made 45 appearances during the 2016–17 season, scoring one goal, as Aldershot qualified for the play-offs with a fifth-place finish. However, they were beaten 5–2 on aggregate by

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

in the play-off semi-finals. On 19 August 2017, he scored from out at Boreham Wood but claimed it meant nothing to him as the team lost the game 2–1. He ended the 2017–18 season with two goals in 45 games, with Aldershot again claiming a play-off spot with a fifth-place finish. However, this time, they lost a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...

after their play-off quarter-final game ended in a 1–1 draw 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 released by his own request in May 2018. Upon his departure from the club he said that "I feel I have improved as a player and I've learned so much at Aldershot.... it's an amazing club that's become a big part of my life".

Barnet

On 26 June 2018, Alexander joined

on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee, with "Bees" manager

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

admitting that he had tried to sign the player on previous occasions. He scored two goals from 53 appearances during the 2018–19 campaign as Barnet posted a 12th-place finish in the National League. He scored two goals in 42 games during the 2019–20 season, which ended early due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

, with Barnet in the play-offs with a seventh-place finish. He turned down a short-term contract extension in June 2020 that would have kept him at

The Hive Stadium The Hive London is a football centre near Edgware, London, offering football pitches for hire, conference and banqueting facilities, an on-site gym, cafe, bar and more. It was built on the former site of the municipal Prince Edward Playing Fiel ...

for the delayed play-off campaign after informing manager

Darren Currie Darren Paul Currie (born 29 November 1974) is an English former footballer who made over 600 appearances in The Football League. He is assistant head coach of Southend United. Club career Currie, who is the nephew of former Sheffield United, ...

that he had found a move to a club in the

AFC Wimbledon

On 23 July 2020, he returned to the Football League by signing for League One club

. Manager Glyn Hodges said that he had impressed the club's scouts and that he hoped to have found a "hidden gem in non league" as they found with left-back

Nesta Guinness-Walker Nesta Pierre Guinness-Walker (born 14 September 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for club Northampton Town. Personal life He is the grandson of actor Matthew Guinness and the great-grandson of actor Sir Ale ...

the previous year. He made his debut on 5 September, when he started an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

tie away at

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 ...

. However, it was only when Mark Robinson succeeded Hodges as manager the following January that Alexander enjoyed a sustained run in the first-team. He made a total of 36 appearances in the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, helping the "Dons" to post a 19th-place finish in League One. He featured 25 times in the 2021–22

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

campaign, but was unable to play for incoming manager Mark Bowen after missing the end of the season with a

groin In human anatomy, the groin, also known as the inguinal region or iliac region, is the junctional area between the torso and the thigh. The groin is at the front of the body on either side of the pubic tubercle, where the lower part of the abdom ...

injury. He was released in June 2022.

Gillingham

Alexander signed for League Two side Gillingham on 15 July 2022 on a one-year deal after impressing manager Neil Harris whilst on trial. He made his debut for the Kent side as a 67th-minute substitute on the opening day of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, in a 2–0 away loss to the team who had just released him, AFC Wimbledon. His first Gillingham goal came in the return fixture at Priestfield in February 2023, with his volley sealing a 2–1 victory over his former employers. He scored three goals in 48 games, making a sufficient number of appearances during the season to trigger an extension clause in his contract. His volleyed goal against

on 25 February won him the club's Goal of the Season award. On 29 January 2024, he departed the club, having had his contract terminated by mutual consent; this followed the signing of wing-back Remeao Hutton and the admission from head coach

Stephen Clemence Stephen Neal Clemence (born 31 March 1978) is an English Association football, football coach and former player, who made nearly 250 appearances in the Premier League and English Football League, Football League playing as a midfielder and was r ...

that he was struggling to keep his squad happy with the amount of game time he was able to offer them.

International career

Alexander played one game for the England C team, coming on as a substitute in an away win against Estonia U23 on 15 November 2016. In October 2023, he was called up to the Saint Lucia national team for a set of

2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League The 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League was the third season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The group stage was held in ...

matches. On 13 October 2023, Alexander made his debut and played the full 90 minutes for Saint Lucia in a 2–1 win over

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

Personal life

In 2016 Alexander set up his own brand, ''Christian Rose'', combining his name with that of his younger sister Rose.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Cheye 1995 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from Forest Gate Saint Lucian men's footballers Saint Lucia men's international footballers English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers English people of Saint Lucian descent Black British sportsmen Men's association football fullbacks West Ham United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Ilkeston F.C. players Concord Rangers F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Gillingham F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen