Michael Douglas Maidens (7 May 1987 – 19 October 2007) was a British 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 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 ...

. He started his career with

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

in 2004, making his debut in the League Cup against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in September 2004. He joined

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 a one-month

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 2007 and made three appearances in 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 ...

. He joined

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

on loan during the 2007–08 season and made seven appearances and scored one goal for them in

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 ...

Career

Born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, Maidens started his career as a trainee with

and in 2001 was placed on standby for

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

's "Under-15 Schoolboy Development Course", before being given a full call-up. His

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

debut came on 21 September 2004 when he was a late substitute for

Gavin Strachan Gavin David Strachan (born 23 December 1978) is a Scottish professional association football coach, and former player and sports journalist. He is currently a first team coach at Scottish Premiership club Celtic, and he was assistant manager at ...

in the 2–1 League Cup defeat away to

. A month later, on 30 October 2004, he made his league debut in the 1–0 home win against

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 ...

. He scored Hartlepool's goal of the season in the 2005–06 season, a curling effort in a 3–1 victory over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in March 2006. He signed a professional contract with Hartlepool on 4 July 2006. Maidens joined

side

on a one-month

on 19 January 2007. He made three appearances for the club. He joined

on loan in time for the start of the 2007–08 season and scored on his

debut, a 2–0 win at home to

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

. He made seven appearances and scored one goal for the club.

Death

On 20 October 2007,

announced that Maidens had died in a road traffic accident. He was a passenger in a vehicle which lost control and collided with a metal post near a roundabout on the A174 near Lazenby, North Yorkshire at 20.25 hours on 19 October 2007. Both their youth team game and their league game against

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 ...

were postponed as a mark of respect. The postponement was fully backed by Swansea City and

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 ...

. Swansea City and Hartlepool players paid tribute to Maidens on 21 October 2007. Hartlepool retired Maidens' number 25 shirt. Hartlepool United later named their Goal of the Season Award 'The Michael Maidens Goal of the Season Award' in honour of Maidens scoring Hartlepool's Goal of the Season in 2006.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maidens, Michael 1987 births Footballers from Middlesbrough 2007 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Hartlepool United F.C. players York City F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Road incident deaths in England 21st-century English sportsmen 20th-century English sportsmen