Kelland John William James Watts (born 3 November 1999) is an English 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 plays as a

centre-back 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 ...

for side

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 ...

. A product of the Newcastle United

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, Watts signed his first professional contract with the club in the summer of 2018. He joined League Two club

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

in August 2019 and then spent two months on loan at fellow League Two club

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 ...

from January 2020. Watts made his first-team debut for Newcastle in the Premier League in July 2020, before being loaned out to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

for the 2020–21 season. He joined Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan in August 2021.

Early life

Born in

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, Watts grew up in

Seahouses Seahouses is a large village on the North Northumberland coast in England. It is about north of Alnwick, within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Attraction Seahouses attracts many visitors, mainly from the north ea ...

. He has three siblings. When he signed for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

's academy at the age of eight, the family relocated to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. He attended

Ponteland High School Ponteland High School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Ponteland, Northumberland, England. It has had academy status since 2019. History The school opened in purpose-built accommodation in September 1972. It was ...

Club career

Newcastle United

Watts began playing football for Cramlington Juniors before joining Newcastle United's academy in 2008. He progressed through the youth academy at Newcastle, signing his first professional contract with the club in the summer of 2018. Having played in all 41 matches for Newcastle's under-23 team during the 2018–19 season, scoring six times, Watts appeared on the substitutes' bench in Newcastle's final

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 ...

game of the season, a 4–0 away victory at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 12 May 2019, although was an unused substitute in the match.

Loans to Stevenage and Mansfield Town

Having been included in Newcastle's 2019 Premier League Asia Trophy squad ahead of the 2019–20 season, Watts joined League Two club

on a season-long

agreement on 16 August 2019. He made his professional debut the following day, playing the whole match in a 0–0 draw away at

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. ...

. He made 20 appearances for Stevenage during the first half of the season, before Newcastle recalled him from the loan spell earlier than agreed on 10 January 2020. Watts subsequently joined League Two club

on 28 January 2020, on loan for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. He made seven appearances during the loan spell, scoring his first goal in professional football in the club's 2–1 away defeat to Leyton Orient on 11 February 2020.

Return to Newcastle United

The League Two regular season was curtailed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and Watts returned to Newcastle upon the conclusion of his loan contract at Mansfield. Newcastle applied to the Premier League for permission for Watts to be eligible to play in their remaining matches for the 2019–20 season, with Watts having already played for two different teams that season. The application was successful and Watts made his first-team debut for Newcastle in the club's 3–1 defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

on 26 July 2020, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute in the match.

Further loan spells

Watts joined League One club

on loan for the 2020–21 season on 24 August 2020. He debuted for Plymouth in a 3–2 home victory against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

on 5 September 2020. Watts scored his first goal for Plymouth in an away defeat to Leyton Orient on 15 September 2020. He was stretchered off after a collision with Gillingham striker

Vadaine Oliver Vadaine Aston James Oliver (born 21 October 1991) is an English professional Association football, footballer who last played as a Striker (association football), striker for Bradford City A.F.C., Bradford City. He has played in the English Foo ...

on 9 May 2021; he received 12 minutes of treatment on the pitch before being taken to hospital where he was assessed and discharged later that night. Watts made 50 appearances for Plymouth during the season-long loan, scoring three goals. Watts signed for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

of League One on loan for the 2021–22 season on 9 August 2021. He made his Wigan debut a day after joining the club, playing the first 74 minutes in the club's 1–1 draw, and subsequent 8–7

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory, against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in the EFL Cup. On 1 September 2022 Watts joined

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on loan until January 2023. However, he had to wait until he recovered from a knee injury before making his debut in October. At the end of January 2023, the loan deal was extended until the end of the season. However, just days after extending his loan spell, Watts picked up a hamstring injury, which could hold him out for the remainder of the season. At the end of the season, Watts returned to Newcastle. On 29 May 2024, Newcastle announced the player would be released in the summer when his contract expired.

Cambridge United

On 12 June 2024, Watts signed a two-year deal with League One side

International career

Watts was called up to the England under-19 team for the

2018 UEFA European under-19 Championship The 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2018) was the 17th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (67th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth foot ...

. He made his England under-19 debut in a 3–2 victory against Turkey under-19s on 17 July 2018, playing the whole match. He played twice during the tournament as England under-19s finished third in their group.

Style of play

Watts began his career playing as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, before later being deployed in defence. He is left-footed and plays primarily as a left-sided

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 ...

. Watts has been described as having "a strong eye for goal", emphasised by scoring two hat-tricks during the 2017–18 season when he briefly played as a striker, as well as being praised for being "quick, focused and strong in the air".

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Kelland 1999 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Newcastle United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Sportspeople from Alnwick Footballers from Northumberland 21st-century English sportsmen