Kyle Blain Perry (born 5 March 1986) 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club Shepshed Dynamo. Failing to make the first team at

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 ...

, Perry dropped into

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

circles with

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United F.C., founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. They are currently members of the and play at ...

, Sutton Coldfield Town,

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. They won the FA Trophy in 2004. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of t ...

, and Willenhall Town, before impressing when non-League

Chasetown Chasetown is a village in the town of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. It is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich. History Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village ...

knocked

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

out of 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 ...

. Failing to score for the Vale, he dropped down into the

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 ...

with Mansfield Town in June 2009. The following year, he moved on to Tamworth before signing with Lincoln in the summer of 2011. He re-joined his former club, AFC Telford United, on

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 January 2012 before signing with Nuneaton Town seven months later. He was loaned 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 'Th ...

in October 2012. He joined Tamworth on loan in February 2013. He joined

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

in May 2013 and helped the club to win

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 ...

out of the

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

via the play-offs in 2014. He later played for

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...

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 ...

Barwell Barwell is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, with a population of 8,750 residents in 2001, increasing to 9,022 at the 2011 census. The name "Barwell" literally translates as "Stream of the Boar" and is said to originate from ...

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

, Coalville Town, Bromsgrove Sporting,

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Bromsgrove (district), Bromsgrove district in northeastern Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow, Worcestershire, River Arrow. The Lickey H ...

, Stratford Town,

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 ...

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Latimer Park. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in 1976, and have ...

, Nuneaton Borough (again), Chasetown (again), Atherstone Town, West Didsbury & Chorlton and Shepshed Dynamo.

Playing career

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, West Midlands, Perry joined the Centre of Excellence at

as an eleven-year-old and developed through the club's

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

structure to be one of seven players, including

Matty Fryatt Matthew Charles Fryatt (born 5 March 1986) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who played as a striker. Fryatt holds the record for fastest goal ever scored by a Leicester City player when he scored after 9 seconds ...

, to sign a three-year scholarship for the club in March 2002; the scholarship commencing at the start to the 2002–03 season. He later said he did not enjoy his time at the

Bescot Stadium Bescot Stadium, currently known as the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the area of Bescot, Walsall, West Midlands, England, and is the current home ground of Walsall Football Club and Aston Vill ...

as the older youth-team players picked on him. In the third and final year of his scholarship, Perry joined up with then

Northern Premier League First Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

side

on a temporary basis, scoring twice on his debut: a 2–0 victory at Gresley Rovers on 14 September 2004 the goals being scored against his cousin

Dale Belford Dale Belford (born 11 July 1967) is an English football manager and former player who is first team coach at Stratford Town. As a player, he spent most of his career playing as a goalkeeper. Playing career Aston Villa and Sutton Coldfield Tow ...

. He continued with Telford for the remainder of the season whilst continuing to play for

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, an issue that concerned Telford's then

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Bernard McNally Bernard Anthony McNally (born 17 February 1963) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played in midfield. During his club career he played for Shrewsbury Town (1980–1989), West Bromwich Albion (1989–1995), Hednesford ...

. Having scored 23 goals for the Bucks as they secured

, Perry agreed to join the club permanently in July 2005. In October 2005, he joined Sutton Coldfield Town on

, debuting in the club's Southern League Western Division 2–0 home victory over Taunton Town on 22 October 2005. A week later he scored his first goal for the club in their 2–2 draw with Ashford Town. His final game for the club saw his score the consolation goal in a 2–1 defeat at Thame United on 5 November 2011 before he returned to

. He later had a brief spell on loan at

Moor Green Moor Green is a historic home located near Brentsville, Prince William County, Virginia. It dates to the early-19th century, and is a two-story, five-bay, Federal style brick residence, with a one-room, two-story ell. It has a standing seam m ...

. Despite his tally of 32 goals in 68 games, he was released in July 2006. This was although the 20-year-old's goal tally had made him the top scorer in the young club's history, his record standing until 1 December 2008 when Lee Moore bagged his 33rd. He joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

newcomers

in the summer of 2006, but only played one game for the "Pitmen" – the opening day defeat against Marine before being released by manager

Phil Starbuck Philip Michael Starbuck (born 24 November 1968) is an English former professional footballer who scored 43 goals from 245 appearances in the Football League playing for a number of different clubs. He started out as a striker then winger befor ...

. He then moved to Southern League Division One Midlands side Willenhall Town on £70-a-week, where he formed a potent partnership with Matthew Barnes-Homer. Perry went on to score 26 goals for the "Reds" and was selected in the Southern Football Division One Midlands Team of the year, but was not selected to play in the play-off final defeat to Bromsgrove Rovers. After a prolific season at Noose Lane, he joined

in the summer of 2007. Another excellent return in front of goal saw him play in Chasetown's 1–0 FA Cup victory over

in December 2007. In doing this he helped Chasetown become the lowest-ever ranked club to reach as far as the third round proper of the

. He signed for

along with Chasetown teammate Chris Slater on 11 January 2008 for a nominal fee and gave up his day job as a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

. He made his debut for Port Vale as a 57th-minute substitute in a 2–0 defeat to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

in January 2008. Perry later thanked Vale boss Lee Sinnott for saving his career. In December 2008, after not appearing for Vale in three months, Perry made it clear he intended to earn a spot in the first team and brushed off rumours that he would follow Chris Slater back into

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

. However, by February 2009, he was informed that he would not be offered a new

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

in the summer. On 6 March 2009, he joined

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

on a one-month loan. This move was extended to a two-month loan as Perry hit two goals in four games for the club. After three further games the popular striker was recalled by Vale manager

Dean Glover Dean Victor Glover (born 29 December 1963) is an English former football player and manager. A cultured and stylish defender, he had the ball control skills of a midfielder. He played 457 league games in a 17-year career in the English Football ...

after the club's strike force were hit with injuries. After speaking to several clubs, Perry signed for

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 ...

on 24 June 2009 on a two-year contract. In his first three appearances for Mansfield he scored twice against

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 ...

and once against Salisbury City, though also scored an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

in the 4–1 defeat to

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 ...

. By the end of the campaign he had netted ten goals in all competitions. In July 2010, whilst in a middle of a two-year deal with the "Stags", Perry left the club by mutual consent to join

rivals Tamworth. There he bagged 17 goals in forty games in his first and only season at the club. In July 2011, he rejected deals with Tamworth, to sign a two-year contract at fellow Conference club Lincoln City, who had lost their Football League status earlier in the year. On 5 January 2012, Perry re-joined his former team AFC Telford on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season. He scored just once in 19 appearances, ironically against Lincoln at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England, which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since t ...

. In the fixture at

New Bucks Head SEAH Stadium, previously known as the New Bucks Head, is a stadium in Wellington, Shropshire, Wellington, Shropshire, England and the home of Southern Football League, Southern League Premier Division Central Association football, football clu ...

, before his loan spell, he scored twice in a 2–1 win for Lincoln. He was told he was free to leave Lincoln, and did so at the end of the season. He signed with

Nuneaton Town Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

in July 2012, having been impressed by manager

Kevin Wilkin Kevin Wilkin (born 1 October 1967) is an English manager and former professional footballer. He is the manager of AFC Telford United. Playing career Born in Cambridge but raised in the Cambridgeshire village of Milton, Wilkin started his caree ...

. He joined

Martin Foyle Martin John Foyle (born 2 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the Head of Recruitment at club Carlisle United. In his 20-year playing career, he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals. As a manager, h ...

on a one-month loan in October 2012. Despite not starting a game for the "Bulls", his loan spell was extended into a second month. He failed to find the net in nine league and cup games 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 ...

, though seven of his appearances were as a substitute. He returned to former club Tamworth on loan until the end of the

2012–13 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 ...

season in February 2013; "Lambs" manager

signed him due to injuries to Peter Till and Scott Barrow. He played 12 games each for both Nuneaton and Tamworth without scoring a goal in the 2012–13 season, as both clubs attained mid-table finishes. Perry signed with

in May 2013, re-joining his former Vale manager Lee Sinnott. He scored 12 goals in 38 league games in the 2013–14 season, helping "Alty" to secure a place in the play-offs, and Perry played in the final as the club secured promotion with a 2–1

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

victory over

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

. He scored eight goals in 47 appearances in the 2014–15 campaign, before being released in the summer. Perry joined

of the Conference North in May 2015. In March 2016, he switched to league rivals

after what he described as an "ugly experience" at relegated Hednesford, and scored one goal and provided two assists during his eight games to keep Worcester out of the relegation zone at the end of the 2015–16 season. He joined

in August 2016, having been released by Worcester earlier in the summer. Perry was the club's top-scorer as Rangers finished 13th in the Northern Premier League Premier Division at the end of the 2016–17 season. However, he found first-team football at

Marston Road Marston Road is a road in the east of Oxford, England. It links London Place, the junction of St Clement's, Oxford, St Clements, the foot of Headington Hill (Headington Road), and Morrell Avenue by South Park, Oxford, South Park to the south wi ...

hard to come by early in the 2017–18 season, and switched to divisional rivals

in August 2017. He moved on to

, also of the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the following month. He returned to Stafford Rangers in February 2018. The club posted a 14th-place finish at the end of the 2017–18 season. On 15 November 2018, Perry signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side Coalville Town. He left the club on 18 March 2019. On 25 June 2019, Perry joined Bromsgrove Sporting. He switched to

in September 2019 as part of manager

Darren Byfield Darren Asherton Byfield (born 29 September 1976) is a former professional footballer. He is currently a first-team coach at Walsall. Byfield won six caps for Jamaica in 2003, and has scored 110 goals in 484 appearances across all domestic compet ...

's revamp of the "Church". He switched to league rivals Stratford Town in February 2020. As a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

, the 2019–20 season was formally abandoned on 26 March, with all results from the season being expunged. On 17 June 2020, Perry signed with

. However, he left the club in September 2020 without ever playing a first-team game for the "Reds". He joined National League North club

two months later. Speaking in December, AFC Telford United manager Gavin Cowan warned Perry's detractors to mock the striker "at their peril" as "he's unorthodox, he has an effect, people like to ridicule unorthodox but he's continuing to play and affect games". Perry ended the

2020–21 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 ...

campaign with one goal in eleven games after the season was ended early due to the ongoing pandemic. He scored one goal in eleven games in the first half of the

campaign, and then joined Nuneaton Borough on dual registration terms on 5 January 2022. He signed with former club Chasetown on 15 March 2022. The "Chase" qualified for the play-offs in fourth-place, but were beaten 1–0 by

Belper Town Belper Town Football Club is a football club based in Belper, Derbyshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Christchurch Meadow. The club are nicknamed the "Nailers" due to the town's nail-making industry. History The club ...

in the final, during which Perry made an appearance as a 75th-minute substitute. He joined

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

Premier Division newcomers Atherstone Town in August 2022. On 13 January 2023, he signed with West Didsbury & Chorlton of the

North West Counties League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...

Premier Division. He played two games later in the month. In September 2024, Perry made his return to football, joining Shepshed Dynamo.

International career

Perry was called up to the

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) are the football teams that represent England at non-League level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

team in November 2009.

Personal life

Perry's cousin is former Tamworth goalkeeper,

. His brother, Todd, also played non-League football and the pair were teammates at some clubs. His grandfather, William Scattergood, also played non-League football for Nuneaton Borough. He has a son. He is separated from the child's mother. He sings in a wedding band called Function Band Live and previously was in a band called StubbleMelt. In March 2021, he announced that with his brother Todd he had formed a workwear clothing firm called KyTo Apparel.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual * Southern League Division One Midlands Team of the Year: 2006–07 * Tamworth Player of the Year:

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 ...

Altrincham *

play-offs: 2013–14

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Kyle 1986 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Walsall F.C. players AFC Telford United players Sutton Coldfield Town F.C. players Moor Green F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Willenhall Town F.C. players Chasetown F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Barwell F.C. players Stourbridge F.C. players Coalville Town F.C. players Bromsgrove Sporting F.C. players Alvechurch F.C. players Stratford Town F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Atherstone Town F.C. players West Didsbury & Chorlton A.F.C. players Shepshed Dynamo F.C. players Northern Premier League players Southern Football League players English Football League players National League (English football) players North West Counties Football League players English graphic designers 21st-century English sportsmen