Dean George Howell (born 29 November 1980) 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 lea ...

, who played at left-back or left-midfield.

Schoolboy and trainee

Howell started as a schoolboy at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

before moving to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

as a trainee. He then signed a professional contract in July 1999. Howell was then loaned out to Spalding United for the 1999–2000 season.

Career

In July 2000, Howell then joined

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, after impressed manager

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the Academy, unt ...

during his two-week trial. Crewe Alexandra then loaned out Howell, first of all, for two months to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

and then to

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

for a month. His move to Southport was made permanent with a two-year contract, after making an impressive start at

Haig Avenue Haig Avenue (originally known as Ash Lane) is a football stadium in Blowick, Southport, Merseyside, England, that holds 6,008 people (1,537 seated, 4,471 standing). Since its opening in 1905 it has been the home ground of Southport. Location T ...

. Howell then moved up the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

coast to Christie Park, when he signed for

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

after Southport were relegated. Howell was then released at the end of the season and signed for

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

. In August 2005, Howell joined

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

on a six-month contract. Unfortunately, a double

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

restricted his appearances before he returned to Halifax Town, where injury again restricted him to just one appearance in four months. Howell's next move was in June 2006, when Howell joined Weymouth following his release by Halifax Town. He made just 17 appearances before joining

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 ...

. In the summer of 2007, Howell joined up with his former manager

Garry Hill Garry Hill is an English football manager who was last the manager of National League club Ebbsfleet United. He previously managed Woking, Heybridge Swifts, St Albans City, Dagenham & Redbridge, Hornchurch, Weymouth and Rushden & Diamonds. ...

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

. During the 2007–08 season, he made 49 appearances in all competitions, including the

Conference League Cup The National League Cup is an annual association football competition in England. The National League Cup is open to clubs playing in the National League and, since its revival in 2024, professional under-21 teams playing in the Premier League 2. ...

final defeat by

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 ...

. In May 2008, Howell left

Nene Park Nene Park was a sports stadium situated at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England, along the bank of the River Nene, which could accommodate 6,441 spectators, with 4,641 seated and 1,800 standing. It formerly hosted football matches but ...

and became Aldershot Town's first signing of the summer. In November 2008, after limited appearances for Aldershot Town, Howell was loaned out to Bury on a one-month loan. He joined

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

in July 2010 after he was released by Aldershot. He was named in the Conference Team of the Year for the 2010–11 season after Crawley won the title and so

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to League Two. In May 2012, Howell was released by the club after being deemed surplus to requirements. He then joined newly promoted

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

on a two-year deal. On 5 November 2013, Dean re-joined League Two side Bury. He signed a loan move to keep him at the club until 5 January 2014.

Personal life

Howell is vegan and has launched his own vegan organic food company.

Career statistics

Honours

;Crawley Town *

Conference National 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 League (English football), National Le ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Dean 1980 births Footballers from Burton upon Trent Living people Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Notts County F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Southport F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen