Louis James Almond (born 5 January 1992) is an English 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 plays as a forward for

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. Having been founded as Hurst in 1892, they folded in 1892, before being reformed in 1909. ...

. He has played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

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, ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Career

Blackpool and loans

Almond was born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, Lancashire. He attended Darwen Vale High School and played for the successful team that over the years represented Lancashire in the county cup, and also represented them in Sweden in the year 2000 (aged 8). Almond was at hometown club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Academy before joining

. Whilst still a member of the Blackpool youth team, Almond became a regular in the club's reserve team in the 2008–09 season. In July 2009, he played for the first team in the pre-season South West Challenge Cup held in North Devon, including playing in the 5–0 win over Barnstaple Town. Then, still a second-year scholar, Almond made his first-team debut for Blackpool as a 70th-minute substitute in a 2–1 win over

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' ...

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History C ...

in the first round of the 2009–10 League Cup on 11 August 2009. On 19 March 2010, he joined League Two club

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 ...

, making his debut the following day in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

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 ...

. He went back out on loan on 1 January 2011, to

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 ...

club Barrow, for one month. He scored on his debut, giving him four goals in as many matches. On 31 January 2011, he extended his loan spell at the club until 3 April. Almond returned to Barrow on loan in time for 2011–12, in a deal which allowed him to continue playing in Blackpool reserve matches where possible. The loan deal lasted until January 2012, when he returned to Blackpool, having scored one goal in 26 appearances for Barrow. On 31 January 2012, Almond joined Conference Premier club Lincoln City on loan until the end of 2011–12. He made five appearances, scoring one goal. On 6 June 2012, he signed a new one-year contract with Blackpool, with an option for a further year. On 9 August 2013, Almond rejoined Hyde on a season-long loan. The loan lasted until 31 January 2014 when new caretaker manager

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently caretaker manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells ei ...

recalled Almond to

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

after scoring 4 goals in 29 appearances for bottom placed Hyde. Almond made Blackpool's first-team squad in mid April 2014 and made his Blackpool League debut coming on as substitute for David Goodwillie in a Lancashire derby against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Hyde

After his release from Blackpool, he joined

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 ...

club Hyde in August 2014.

Southport

On 2 February 2015, Almond signed for

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 ...

following his release from Hyde. He made his debut in a 5–3 defeat 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 ...

. He scored his first goal and only goal of 2014–15 Southport five matches after his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. Southport finished 19th that season. In the following season, Almond was a regular for Southport, making 46 appearances scoring 13 goals.

Tranmere Rovers

On 20 September 2016, Almond signed for Southport's

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 ...

rivals

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

for an undisclosed fee. On 23 February 2017, Almond rejoined Southport on loan, with his chances in the Tranmere team limited.

York City

Almond signed for newly relegated

National League 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 League (English footb ...

club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

on 30 June 2017 on a one-year contract.

Chorley

Almond signed for National League North club

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

on 5 June 2018. He left the club by mutual consent after he was restricted to four appearances in the 2019–20 season through injury.

Ashton United

On 10 January 2020, Almond moved to

Career statistics

Honours

Chorley *

play-offs:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almond, Louis 1992 births Living people Footballers from Blackburn English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Blackpool F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Southport F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players York City F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen