Robert William Howard (born 15 September 1999) 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 lea ...

who plays 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 ...

for club

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

. After playing youth football for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

, Howard started his career at Harlow Town, on loan from Southend United, making his debut in 2019. Loan spells at

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

and

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

followed, before making his senior debut for

in League Two in December 2020. He joined King's Lynn Town on loan in March 2021 and spent the remainder of the season at the club.

Early life

Born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

, Howard grew up in

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...

Career

Early career

Howard started his youth career at

at the age of 11, before joining

as a 14-year-old. He joined

in 2016, signing a two-year scholarship in May of that year, but was released in 2018 at the end his scholarship deal.

Return to Southend United

Howard returned to Southend United on a one-year deal in July 2018. Howard joined Harlow Town on loan for the remainder of the season in March 2019, for whom he made 5 appearances. The club activated an extension clause in his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season. He joined

on a month-long loan in August 2019, and made 7 league appearances. He joined

on loan in January 2020, for whom he made 4 league appearances. He was offered a new one-year contract with the option of a further year in summer 2020. He made his senior debut for the club on 19 December 2020 in a league win over

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 22 March 2021, Howard joined

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 ...

side King's Lynn Town on loan until the end of the season. Having made his debut for the club the following day, starting in a 3–0 league defeat away to

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 ...

, Howard made 16 appearances for King's Lynn Town across his loan spell. On 11 February 2022, Howard joined Southern League Premier Division South side Farnborough on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.

Welling United

On 3 June 2022, Howard signed for

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

. On 9 May 2023, Howard left Welling United.

Bishop's Stortford

In July 2023, Howard signed for

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

following a spell with the club on trial.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Rob 1999 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from Chelmsford Men's association football midfielders Southend United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players King's Lynn Town F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen