Chris Freestone (born 4 September 1971) is an English former 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 ...

who played as a striker.

Career

Freestone joined

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

from Nottinghamshire club

Arnold Town Arnold Town Football Club is a football club based in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Eagle Valley. History Arnold Town was formed in 1989 by a merger of Arnold F.C. and Arnold Kingswell, adopt ...

of the Northern Counties (East) League midway through the 1994–95 season. Before joining Boro for a small fee he had netted 54 goals for Arnold Town and had trials with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

and Chesterfield. Fast and confident, he had averaged almost a goal a game for Boro reserves in two seasons since joining. Freestone scored on his full first team debut in the 3–1 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

in April 1996. His only other goal for Boro came in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

against Barnet in September 1997. He was also on the pitch as a late substitute as Boro confirmed their spot in the

1997 FA Cup Final The 1997 FA Cup Final was the 116th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by Chelsea and Middlesbrough, the North East club appearing in its first FA Cup Final. Chelsea won 2–0 to win the FA ...

with a semi final replay victory over Chesterfield, however he was left out of the final match day squad altogether as they lost 2–0 to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

. After a loan spell, Freestone joined

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

in December 1997. The highlight of his time at Northampton was scoring two goals against

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

in the 1998–99

. Freestone's brace in the first leg gave Northampton a 2–0 lead going into the second leg, in which West Ham were only able to muster a 1–0 win with a

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfiel ...

goal meaning that Northampton knocked out their illustrious opponents. After leaving Northampton, Freestone had spells at Hartlepool and Cheltenham before signing for

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

. At Shrewsbury he failed to score in the league but did score once in the League Cup against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

and once in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

against former club Cheltenham. He subsequently played for several non-League clubs, including

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, ...

Leek Town Leek Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Leek, Staffordshire, Leek, Staffordshire, currently playing in the . The team, nicknamed "The Blues", play their home games at Harrison Park. The club was found ...

Ilkeston Town Ilkeston Town Football Club is a football club based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England. They currently play in the . History On 30 June 2017, a company, Ilkeston Town F.C. Ltd was registered at Companies House. On 20 July 2017, it was conf ...

Gresley Rovers Gresley Rovers Football Club is an English football club from Church Gresley, South Derbyshire. Gresley is a member of the and plays home games at the Moat Ground. They were known as Gresley Rovers until 2009, when they were reformed under the ...

, Long Eaton United,

and

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

.Player Database - Chris Freestone
Gresley F.C. He was appointed joint manager of Arnold Town alongside

Martin Carruthers Martin George Carruthers (born 7 August 1972) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Hull City, Stoke City, Peterborough United, York City, Darlington, Southend United, Scunthorpe United, Macclesfield Town, Bo ...

two games into the 2009–10 season. They both left the club in June 2012.Management Duo Leave Eagle Valley
Northern Counties East League, 19 June 2012 He was later appointed Assistant Manager of Basford United in 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Freestone, Chris Living people 1971 births Footballers from Nottingham Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Arnold Town F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Rugby Town F.C. players Leek Town F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Gresley Rovers F.C. players Long Eaton United F.C. players Hucknall Town F.C. players Arnold Town F.C. managers Premier League players English football managers Northern Counties East Football League players