Gavin Liam Caines (born 20 September 1983) 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 lea ...

Career

Caines began his career as a trainee with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, but without making any first team league appearances he left to sign for

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

in July 2004 after a trial period in pre-season which saw him score on his first appearance against

Bishops Cleeve Bishop's Cleeve is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. The village lies at the foot of Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds. Bishop's Cleeve had a popu ...

. In his time with Walsall he spent an 11-game spell out on loan at

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include ...

. In his first full season at

Whaddon Road Whaddon Road, known as the EV Charger Points Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Cheltenham, England. It is the home ground of Cheltenham Town F.C. It has a total capacity of 7,066, with a mixture of seating and terracing ...

Caines won the Young Player of the Year award, and the next season was involved in the club's promotion to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

. He became a regular squad member during the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons as Cheltenham consolidated their position in League One. Caines played only 8 league games in his final season at Cheltenham, a season which ended in relegation back to League Two. He was released from his contract in May 2009. In August 2009, Caines signed for

Conference Premier 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 Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

side

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

on a one-year contract. He played 33 league games, though later fell out of favour with new Harriers manager

Steve Burr Steve Burr (born 12 January 1960) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the assistant manager at 1874 Northwich. Playing career Steve Burr began his football career as a player with Stafford Rangers but it was with a summer ...

and was loaned to divisional rivals

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 ...

for the rest of the season on 25 March 2010. His loan at Luton finished on 7 May 2010, with Caines not having made a single appearance for the club. On 6 August 2010, he appeared as a trialist for fellow Conference side

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 ...

in their 0–0 friendly draw against Stoke City. On 13 August 2010, he put pen to paper and signed for Conference side

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 ...

after a busy week for the club in the transfer market, he became one of eight new signings. He made his debut the next day, scoring in a 3–1 away loss against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. After making 43 league appearances in his first season with Forest Green, Caines was offered a new contract by

Dave Hockaday David Hockaday (born 9 November 1957) is an English professional footballer who is currently Head of Male Football at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. He has previously worked as a manager at Leeds United, Forest Green Rovers, Kiddermi ...

for the 2011–12 season. Caines rejected the offer however and left the club. Caines then dropped down a level and linked up with

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

in August 2011 who are jointly managed by Caines former playing teammate at Forest Green and Cheltenham, Craig Armstrong. Later on in the 2011–12 season Caines joined

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the Valley Stadium. They are managed by Matt Clarke. History They were originally called Re ...

on a one-month loan deal before later returning to Eastwood. Caines left Eastwood at the end of the season and joined Rushall Olympic.

Honours

Cheltenham Town *

Football League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

Gavin Caines player profile
at forestgreenroversfc.com

at ctfc.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caines, Gavin 1983 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Walsall F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Eastwood Town F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen