Reece William Connolly (born 22 January 1992) is an English

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 le ...

who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Crowborough Athletic in the Southern Counties East Premier Division.

Playing career

Early career

Connolly started as a schoolboy at Crystal Palace before joining Aldershot Town. He was a first year scholar with Aldershot Town during the 2008–09 season and he made 14 reserve team appearances and was joint reserve team top scorer with four goals.

Aldershot Town

Connolly was an unused substitute for Aldershot's first team on three occasions near the end of 2008–09 season. On 18 August 2009, Connolly made his

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

and first team debut for Aldershot Town, when he came on as a substitute against

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

at the Dean Court. His home debut was made a month later, when he came on as a substitute against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, at the Recreation Ground on 12 September 2009. On 28 January 2010, it was announced that Connolly was joining

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side

Salisbury City Salisbury City Football Club was an English football club based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. They were formed in 1947 and played at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium. Salisbury had gained back-to-back promotions in recent years, first to the Conference S ...

on a month's loan deal. Connolly spent further time on loan with non-league club such as

Didcot Town Didcot Town Football Club are a football club based in Didcot in Oxfordshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association They won the FA Vase in 2005 and are currently members of Division One Central of the Southe ...

Dorchester Town Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the . The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...

and

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

where he had two loan spells. On 9 February 2012, Connolly signed a new one-year contract with Aldershot which included the possibility of a second year.

Farnborough

In December 2012, Farnborough made Connolly's loan a permanent move as they secured the striker for a club record fee of £12,000, as well as making him the highest paid player at the club. In an effort to reduce their wage bill Farnborough allowed Connolly to join

side Forest Green Rovers on loan in March 2013 until the end of the season. Despite scoring on his debut on in a 2–0 away win against

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 from ...

, Connolly was not offered a full-time contract and returned to his parent club at the end of the season. It was reported that Connolly was struggling to come to terms with part-time football and in November 2013 he was suspended by Farnborough after failing a drugs test. His contract with the club was subsequently cancelled.

Eastleigh

Connolly signed non-contract terms with

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

in January 2014 while waiting for an FA hearing into the issues at Farnborough. He scored three times in Eastleigh's run-in to the Conference South title, including the winner in the 1–0 home win over Chelmsford on 11 March. On 2 April 2014 Connolly was found guilty of drug use and banned from all football by the FA for six months.

Basingstoke Town

Connolly signed for

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side Basingstoke Town in January 2016. He was released from his contract by mutual consent at the end of the season.

Whitehawk

Without a club at the start of the 2016–2017 season, Connolly became his former manager Richard Hill's first signing for Brighton-based

side Whitehawk. Connolly also played for Hill while on loan at

from

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

. Connolly left The Hawks in January 2017, despite nine league and cup goals in 21 games, including a hat-trick at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

in a Sussex Senior Cup tie.

Eastbourne Borough

In March 2017, Connolly agreed to play for Eastbourne until the end of the season.

Crowborough Athletic

In August 2017, Connolly signed for Southern Counties East Premier Division side Crowborough Athletic. He made his debut in a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

extra preliminary round against

Lingfield Lingfield can refer to: * Lingfield, County Durham, England, a village * Lingfield, Surrey, England, a village ** Lingfield Park Racecourse ** Lingfield Cricket Club, prominent in the 18th century ** Lingfield railway station, serving the villag ...

, where he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win at Maidstone United's Gallagher Stadium.

Personal life

Connolly was educated at

Frogmore Community College Frogmore Community College is a state secondary school based in Yateley, Hampshire, England drawing attendees from Yateley, nearby Blackwater, Darby Green, Sandhurst and Eversley. History Formerly Frogmore Comprehensive School, then Frogmore ...

in Yateley, Hampshire.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Reece 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Frimley English men's footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Aldershot Town F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players Didcot Town F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Basingstoke Town F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players Margate F.C. players Eastbourne Borough F.C. players Crowborough Athletic F.C. players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Surrey