David John Hibbert (born 28 January 1986) is an English former
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 le ...
who played as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
; he is now working as a coach at
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
.
Starting his professional career with
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
in 2004, the following year he was signed in controversial fashion by
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 syste ...
– who eventually paid Vale £45,000 for his services. Following loans out to
Rotherham United and
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
, he transferred to
Shrewsbury Town in 2007 for £75,000. He managed to become a key first team player for the "Shrews", before leaving them for
Peterborough United in 2010. He did not play a competitive game after picking up a serious injury in November 2010, and announced his retirement from football in April 2013. He returned to the game with
Nuneaton Town in October 2013 on a part-time basis, before moving on to
Tamworth in June 2014. He joined
AFC Telford United in June 2015, before retiring at the end of the 2016–17 season.
Playing career
Port Vale
Born in
Eccleshall,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, Hibbert started his career at
League One Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
, rising through the ranks from the age nine years old. He made three starts and seven
substitute appearances in
first season with Vale; and his promising maiden season was restricted only by a head injury sustained at
Milton Keynes Dons. His two goals for the club both came in his second starting appearance in a 3–1 win over
Luton Town on 26 February 2005. In June 2005
Championship side
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 syste ...
signed him to a contract. As Hibbert was under the age of 23, the fee was decided by a
tribunal according to
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
regulations. Preston were ordered to pay Port Vale £35,000 up front with add ons of £10,000 for each 10 of his first 50 appearances for Preston (Vale would only receive the first of these due to him only making 13 appearances in total for Preston); a £280,000 bonus if Preston achieved
promotion to the
Premiership; plus a 25% sell-on clause if Hibbert was sold on. Vale chairman
Bill Bratt
William Amos Bratt Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 1945) is an English insurance broker and former football club chairman who was the chair of Port Vale F.C., Port Vale from 2003 to 2011.
After decades working in the insurance industry, Br ...
was highly disappointed with the news and stated: "I believe he has potential, and he is worth a lot more than we have ended up with." Meanwhile, Preston manager
Billy Davies stated that: "We are very fortunate to get this young lad because there were several clubs interested. We think his finishing is very good and – like
David Nugent – he is very quick, but to be honest I think he is quite a way from first-team action."
Preston North End
He started just one game for Preston in
2005–06, playing the full ninety minutes of a 1–1 draw with
Crystal Palace 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 competi ...
. The young striker squandered numerous chances to win the tie. He also made twelve substitute appearances in both league and cup competitions.
In July 2006 he joined
Rotherham United on a six-month loan. He played 22 times for the "Millers", scoring two goals. Returning to
Deepdale in January 2007, he was immediately loaned out to
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
on a one-month deal. He made his City debut in their 1–0 win against his old club Port Vale at
Vale Park on 6 January. The loan was later extended, keeping him at
Valley Parade until April 2007. During his prolonged stay at Valley Parade, however, Hibbert suffered an ankle injury on 28 February and did not feature again for the "Bantams" after tests revealed he had ruptured ligaments. He remained at Bradford for a further month so that
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
David Wetherall
David Wetherall (born 14 March 1971) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is as head of youth development with the Football League.
As a player, he was a central defender, he played most of his career in the Pre ...
could see if the injury improved, before he returned to Preston in April.
Shrewsbury Town
In May 2007, having never started a league game for North End, Hibbert was transfer listed. The next month he was sold to
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
side
Shrewsbury Town for a nominal £75,000 fee.
He hoped Shrewsbury could improve his game. He scored the first goal at Shrewsbury's
New Meadow
New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5 road (Great Britain) ...
stadium, in a pre-season
friendly
Friendly may refer to:
Places
* Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England
* Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States
* ...
, his first match in "Shrews" colours. Along with this, he was also the first ever league goalscorer at New Meadow, scoring a
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
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* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
against former club Bradford on 18 August. His strong performances that month earned him a nomination for the division's Player of the Month award, though he lost out to
Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...
defender
Jim Bentley
James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He is currently manager of EFL League Two club Rochdale.
Career
Bentley, who debuted for Telford United in 1997 ...
. With four goals in five games in September he was a contender for the award for a second successive month, though this time he lost out to
Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
's
Trevor Benjamin
Trevor Junior Benjamin (born 8 February 1979) is a former professional footballer and manager who played as a forward.
He is famed for being a prime example of a journeyman footballer, having represented 29 teams in his career, and making over ...
. Despite suffering from a hamstring injury in mid-season, Hibbert finished the
2007–08 season as Shrewsbury's top goalscorer with twelve goals in 46 games. His goals were crucial in helping the club to avoid relegation out of the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
.
Following a solid start to the
2008–09 campaign, Hibbert was sidelined with a broken nose picked up in training, before failing to start a game between October and March due to a foot injury. He finished the season having scored just three goals in 25 appearances. He spent the following summer undertaking physiotherapy sessions in an attempt to cure his long-standing foot injury.
Hibbert started the
2009–10 season in fantastic form, building a strong partnership with
Nathan Elder
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
*Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David and ...
. A brief spell on the sidelines through an achilles injury slowed up his impressive flurry of goals, but he then scored five on the trot, against
Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020.
Initially kno ...
, Bradford City,
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
,
Burton Albion and
Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...
; eventually hitting six goals in eight games. Though he suffered a groin injury late in the season and missed out on his target of twenty goals, his fifteen goals made him Shrewsbury's top goalscorer for the second time in three seasons earned him the club's Player of the Year award.
Peterborough United
He turned down a new contract with Shrewsbury,
and instead signed a three-year deal with
Peterborough United in May 2010, becoming
Gary Johnson
Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...
's first signing as manager of Peterborough. Hibbert scored his first goal for the club on 11 September 2010, in a 5–2 win over
Oldham Athletic. This was to be his only goal of the season, as he started just one
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
game, and was limited to eleven substitute appearances in other competitions thanks to injury and the form of other players. The success of
Aaron McLean
Aaron McLean (born 25 May 1983) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At international level he gained five caps for the England C team during his time in the non-league.
McLean began his senior career with Leyt ...
and
Craig Mackail-Smith
Craig Anthony Robert Mackail-Smith (born 25 February 1984) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the English Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion, Luton Town, Peterborough United, Wycombe Wanderers, No ...
's strike partnership restricted to a cameo role in the club's promotion out of League One, before a serious knee injury sustained in November kept him sidelined for eight months and threatened to end his whole career. The injury caused him to miss the entirety of the
2011–12 and
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
seasons, and he announced his retirement from football in April 2013.
Non-league
In October 2013, Hibbert made a return to playing football in the
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
with
Nuneaton Town after joining on non-contract terms. He went on to feature 28 times for
Brian Reid's "Boro" in the
2013–14 season, scoring four goals.
In June 2014, Hibbert signed a contract with
Conference North side
Tamworth, and was joined at the club on the same day by former Nuneaton Town colleagues
Kevin Thornton and
Danny Sleath. On 21 March, Hibbert scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 3–1 win over local rivals
Hednesford Town
Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park.
History
The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top. . He finished the
2014–15 season with eight goals in 35 league games.
Hibbert joined
AFC Telford United in June 2015, and also began coaching the
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
under-21s. However, he admitted that he was hurt by Telford's poor form as they went on to finish just one point above the relegation zone at the end of the
2015–16 season. He hit two goals in 29 games in the
2016–17 campaign as the "Bucks" posted a 17th-place finish.
Coaching career
Hibbert went into coaching after retiring as a player, and by April 2019 was the head coach of the under-15's and under-16's at the
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
Academy.
Personal life
In May 2013 he was studying a sports science degree at
Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...
, taking his UEFA B coaching badge, and playing
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
for Eccleshall.
Career statistics
Honours
Individual
*
Shrewsbury Town Player of the Year:
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hibbert, David
1986 births
Living people
Footballers from Staffordshire
English footballers
Association football forwards
Port Vale F.C. players
Preston North End F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Bradford City A.F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. players
Peterborough United F.C. players
Nuneaton Borough F.C. players
Tamworth F.C. players
AFC Telford United players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Alumni of Loughborough University
Association football coaches
Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff