Nathan Geoffrey Eccleston (born 30 December 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a striker. He started his career as a youth player at Bury, before moving 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 ...

's youth system. Having progressed through the club's youth and reserve system, Eccleston made his debut for the club in a League Cup tie against Arsenal. He made his

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debut a few days later against

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. During his time at Liverpool, Eccleston went on loan to Huddersfield Town, Charlton Athletic and Rochdale. He left Liverpool in August 2012 and signed for Championship side

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 ...

on a one-year deal. The majority of his time at Blackpool was spent on loan at Tranmere Rovers, Carlisle United and Coventry City. In September 2014, Eccleston signed a one-year contract with Partick Thistle, but he left the club in February 2015, then signed for Kilmarnock.

Career

Liverpool

Born in Newton Heath,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Eccleston was originally signed by

from Bury when he was 15 years old. Eccleston played for the Liverpool reserve team, having appeared regularly for the Under-18's team the previous year. On 27 August, in his first competitive game for the reserves squad, he scored 2 goals in a 3–2 defeat away to Blackburn Rovers. On 6 September 2009, Eccleston was called up to the

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squad for the group stage of the competition. Eccleston made his competitive debut for Liverpool on 28 October 2009, in the League Cup match against Arsenal, coming on as a late substitute for Philipp Degen. He made his

debut, again as a late substitute, a few days later against

. In January 2010, Eccleston signed a new contract, keeping him until 2013. On 28 January 2010, he joined Football League One side Huddersfield Town on a month's loan. He made his debut and scored his first goal for the club two days later, in their 1–0 victory over Yeovil Town at Huish Park. On 1 February, the loan was extended until 8 May 2010. On 6 May, he was sent off against Gillingham for a rash tackle in the 26th minute in only his third start for the club, leading to a three-match ban. After Huddersfield lost to Millwall in the play-off semi-finals, Eccleston returned to Liverpool after making 12 appearances for The Terriers, scoring once, starting 4 times, and being sent off once. He made his European debut for Liverpool on 29 July 2010 as a substitute in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round tie against FK Rabotnički. On 22 September 2010, Eccleston missed in a penalty shoot out of the 3rd Round of the League Cup against Northampton Town. It was the last kick from a

player as Abdul Osman scored the deciding spot kick for Northampton. On 15 December, he made his first start for Liverpool, playing 56 minutes in their 0–0 draw with

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

at Anfield. The draw was enough to see Roy Hodgson's men top Group K. Eccleston joined Charlton Athletic on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season on 13 January 2011. He made his debut on 15 January in a 2–2 draw at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. He scored his first goal for Charlton one week later in a 2–0 win against Plymouth Argyle. On 20 October 2011, Eccleston joined League One side Rochdale, initially on a one-month loan. Two days later, he made his Rochdale debut and he scored in a 3–1 loss to Exeter City. After one month, Eccleston's loan spell at Rochdale came to an end.

Blackpool

On 31 August 2012, Eccleston signed for Championship side

for an undisclosed fee on a one-year deal with an option for a further twelve months. Upon his return from Tranmere Rovers, Eccleston scored his first against his former club, Charlton Athletic, in a 2–1 loss on 12 January 2013. At the end of the season, Eccleston made six appearances for the club and despite lack of regular playing time, Blackpool opted to take up their option of a contract extension, keeping Eccleston under contract until summer 2014. In late October 2012, he joined League One team Tranmere Rovers on loan and made his club debut on 27 October in a match against Preston. However, he injured his hamstring in training and returned to Blackpool for treatment, meaning he was unlikely to play again for the club during his loan spell. On 4 October 2013, Eccleston signed an initial one-month loan deal with League One side Carlisle United. He became manager Graham Kavanagh's first signing since becoming permanent boss. He wore squad number 22 for Carlisle. After one month at the club, Eccleston returned to Blackpool. On 26 March 2014, Eccleston was signed for League One Coventry City on an emergency loan until the end of the 2013–14 season; he made his debut against Stevenage. At the end of the season, Eccleston was released by Blackpool after they decided not to offer a new contract.

Partick Thistle

After leaving Blackpool, Eccleston was linked to a move to Indian club East Bengal as the club's marquee player. However the '' Coventry Telegraph'' reported that Eccleston was joining

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-based Scottish Premiership side Partick Thistle. The move was later confirmed on 1 September 2014, on a one-year deal with the club. Eccleston scored his first Thistle goal in a Scottish League Cup game against St Mirren at Firhill on 23 September, and his first league goal for the club in a 5–0 win over Hamilton Academical in January 2015. Eccleston was then released by Partick Thistle in February 2015.

Kilmarnock

On 14 February 2015, Eccleston signed for Kilmarnock and he made his debut the same day, as a substitute in a 3–2 win against Dundee United. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–3 draw away to Inverness CT a week later. After making ten appearances and scoring once, Eccleston was released.

Békéscsaba 1912 Előre

Eccleston signed for Hungarian club Békéscsaba 1912 Előre Eccleston scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win over Paksi.

Nuneaton Borough

Following a spell away from the game, Eccleston signed for the club bottom of the National League North, Nuneaton Borough.

Career statistics

Personal life

Though born in Newton Heath,

, Eccleston is a

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

supporter. On the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks Eccleston posted a tweet saying: "I ain't going to say attack don't let the media make u believe that was terrorist that did it. #OTIS." OTIS being an abbreviation for "Only The Illuminati Succeed"; the tweet implied Eccleston was a member of the 9/11 Truth movement.

vowed to investigate Eccleston's actions.

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website
Nathan Eccleston England stats
at

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 ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eccleston, Nathan 1990 births Living people People from Newton Heath Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Bury F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Blackpool F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Békéscsaba 1912 Előre footballers Nuneaton Town F.C. players National League (English football) players Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Hungary 21st-century English sportsmen