Christopher Howarth (born 23 May 1986) is an English

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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. After gaining the distinction of England schoolboy honours in 2001, this tall and agile player was signed up by his local club Bolton under the academy scholarship scheme where he would spend three years under the supervision of the youth coaching team. He was given a four-year professional contract in 2005 as the understudy to more senior keepers at Bolton such as

Jussi Jääskeläinen Jussi Albert Jääskeläinen (; born 19 April 1975) is a Finnish football coach and retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his career, Jääskeläinen most notably represented Bolton Wanderers from 1997 until 2012, making 530 app ...

, Ian Walker and

Ali Al Habsi Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi ( ar, علي بن عبد الله بن حارب الحبسي; born 30 December 1981) is an Omani retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Early career Al-Habsi was born in Oman and star ...

. In January 2006, Howarth joined Stockport County on a month-long loan, but returned to Bolton without any first team experience. Howarth was linked with a season-long loan move to

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

in July 2006, but after a trial the Saints dropped their interest in Howarth. In the beginning of the 2006/2007 season Howarth joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

on a month-long loan, making his debut in a game against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, saving a penalty taken by Swansea icon

Lee Trundle Lee Christopher Trundle (born 10 October 1976) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Cymru South side Ammanford. He also works as the club ambassador and youth team coach for Championship side Swansea City. Trundle's career began ...

. He has since returned to The Reebok. On 22 March 2007 Horwarth joined

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

on loan until the end of the 2006–07 season after Tony Williams' loan move to

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

. On 7 May 2007, Howarth signed for

on a two-year contract. Two days before the 2009/10 season he signed for

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

, He was number two behind Craig Mawson but became the club's main Keeper when Mawson was released. He then signed for Welsh club

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the west ...

in the summer of 2010, before moving to Garry Flitcroft's

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came p ...

in March 2011. He joined Salford City in October 2011.

References

External links

BBC profile
*
Rhyl FC Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howarth, Chris 1986 births Living people Footballers from Bolton English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Salford City F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Northern Premier League players