Dean Stuart Beckwith (born 18 September 1983) is an English former semi-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

central defender 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 ...

. He is assistant manager of

AFC Croydon Athletic Association Football Club Croydon Athletic is a football club based in Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon, England. Founded by supporters of Croydon Athletic after it folded, the club are currently members of the and play at the ...

Career

Early career

Beckwith was born in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, London and came through the youth system at Gillingham. He turned professional in July 2003 but was to make only two first team appearances for the Gills. He went out on loan to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

where he scored his first senior goal against his future club Hereford in a televised 1–1 draw at

Edgar Street Edgar Street, currently known as MandM Edgar Street Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Hereford and was the home of Hereford United Football Club from the club's formation in 1924 until December 2014, when the club was w ...

. He captained Gillingham reserves in the 2004–05 season and made his debut for the first team in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

defeat to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. He also had a loan spell at Margate of the

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 ...

, making five appearances. After making his Football League debut on 5 March 2005 against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

, he was released at the end of the season.

Hereford United

He signed for Hereford on 12 July 2005 and scored on his league debut in the 4–0 win over

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. As the season progressed he became a first team regular at centre-back and scored the equaliser in the 2–2 draw at

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 ...

, preserving Hereford's then unbeaten run in the

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

. Promotion to the Football League followed at the end of the season, and Beckwith signed a new contract shortly after Hereford's playoff triumph. With both Richard Rose and Phil Gulliver competing for places alongside captain

Tamika Mkandawire Tamika Paul Mkandawire (born 28 May 1983) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder or defender (association football), defender. Born in Malawi, he made two appearances for the England C national footb ...

, Beckwith made less appearances than in the previous season. He was also sent off twice in the season, his second red at Walsall was extremely questionable and prompted rare criticism of the referee by

Graham Turner Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is fourth behind only Alex Ferguson, Neil Warnock and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games man ...

. He was the first choice centre back in the 2007–08 season, starting 46 out of a possible 55 first team matches. A broken jaw sustained against Chester City sidelined him for six matches, and he made his 100th league appearance for Hereford in the 2–0 win over

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. Third place and promotion was secured with a match to spare, and Beckwith remained with Hereford during their solitary season in League One. He got the Bulls off to an initial good start, scoring the opening goal of the season against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

, but this was a rare highlight in a season that saw Hereford finish bottom. Beckwith's last match for the Bulls saw him come on as a substitute against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

in a 2–1 defeat. At the end of the season newly appointed Hereford manager

John Trewick John Trewick (born 3 June 1957) is an English football coach and former player. A midfielder, he played for West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United and Oxford United among other clubs. He was first team coach at Hereford United from 2004 to 2009. ...

chose not to offer Beckwith a new contract, stating that Beckwith was in need of a change of club. Beckwith made a total of 153 appearances for Hereford United in the Conference, Football League, FA Cup, League Cup, FA Trophy, Football League Trophy and play-off matches. He scored five goals and was the final player of the 2006 play-off winning team to depart.

Northampton Town

On 29 June 2009, Beckwith joined

and was released in 2011 after he made 75 appearances and 3 goals for the Cobblers.

Luton Town

On 14 June 2011, Beckwith became the second signing of the summer for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

after

Gary Brabin Gary Brabin (born 9 December 1970) is an English former professional footballer, coach and manager who is the assistant manager at club Oldham Athletic and the sporting director at club The New Saints. A midfielder with a 12-year career in t ...

took over as full-time manager of the ''Hatters''. He made his Luton debut on 17 August 2011 against

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 ...

, scoring the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw. On 8 January 2013 Beckwith left Luton by mutual consent after 18 months with the Hatters. In total Beckwith, made 21 appearances in Luton colours, scoring two goals – including one in a 3–2 victory over

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 ...

in September 2012.

Eastleigh

On 8 January 2013, the day of his contract termination with

Beckwith signed for

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

. He made his Eastleigh debut that day against Billericay Town, scoring the opening goal on his debut after just 8 minutes. He made a total of 79 appearances for Eastleigh and was part of the team which won the

in 2013–14.

Sutton United

Beckwith moved to

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

at the start of the 2015–16 season. He made his debut on 8 August 2015 on the opening day defeat to Maidstone United, which Sutton lost 2–0. He scored his first league goal for the U's after heading in a cross from Ross Stearn in a 3–0 away victory against St Albans City on 5 March 2016. He made 36 full and one substitute league appearances and formed an important defensive partnership with fellow centre-back and captain Jamie Collins which helped the U's to only concede 32 league goals across the season, winning the

National League 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 League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

title and ending the season with a goal difference of +51. Beckwith was named in the National League South team of the season. He scored his first goal with the newly promoted side in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

in the opening day 3–1 home defeat to

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

on 6 August 2016. On 25 February 2017, Beckwith scored his second in a 3–2 away victory over

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National Leagu ...

. Beckwith appeared in Sutton's historic run to the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time ever, including a 3–1 victory over League One side and local rivals

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 ...

in the 3rd round on 17 January 2017 and a 0–2 defeat to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

team

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the 5th round on 20 February. He scored his first goal in Sutton's 2017-18 campaign in their opening match, a 2–0 win against

Maidstone United

On Thursday 8 February 2018 it was announced that Beckwith would join Maidstone united on a 1-month loan.

Havant & Waterlooville

In May 2019 it was confirmed, that Beckwith would join Havant & Waterlooville ahead of the 2019/20 season.

Further non-league

In May 2021, Beckwith joined Isthmian Premier Division side

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional association football, football club based in Chislehurst, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St ...

. On 31 December 2021, Beckwith, along with former-Cray Wanderers player-manager

Danny Kedwell Daniel Trevor Kedwell (born 3 August 1983) is an English former footballer who played as a forward. He has spent most of his career playing non-League football, but played in League One and Two during a four-year spell with Gillingham, his hom ...

, joined Southern Counties East Premier Division side Chatham Town.

Coaching career

In May 2024, Beckwith was appointed assistant manager of Ashford United, once again assisting Danny Kedwell. He departed the club alongside Kedwell in January 2025. In February 2025, Beckwith was appointed assistant manager to Kedwell once again, joining

Honours

Eastleigh *

: 2013–14 Sutton United *

: 2015–16 Chatham Town * Isthmian League South East Division:

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 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, Dean 1983 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Southwark People from Southwark English men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Margate F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Hythe Town F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Counties East Football League players Men's association football central defenders 21st-century English sportsmen