Scott John Garner (born 20 September 1989) is an English former 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 defender. He has previously played for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, Ilkeston Town,

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, Lincoln City,

FC Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League (division), National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replac ...

and

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

Club career

Leicester City

Born in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, West Midlands, Garner began his career at

, signing a professional contract at the end of the 2007–08 season. On 21 October 2008, Garner was loaned, initially for one month and later extended, to non-league side Ilkeston Town, managed by

David Holdsworth David Gary Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional footballer turned manager. As a player, he was a defender who played between 1986 and 2005 for Watford, Sheffield United, Birmingham City, Walsall, Bolton Wanderers ...

Mansfield Town

When Holdsworth was later appointed

manager, he signed Garner on a free transfer from Leicester on 8 January 2009. Within his first few games for ''the Stags'', Garner had won 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 ...

Player of the Month award for January. In the four games he played over the month, Mansfield were unbeaten, conceding just one goal, with Garner scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory over Eastbourne Borough. A day after receiving the award, Garner was sent off for the first time in his career against

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 ...

. He captained the side, at the age of just 19, in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

in April, scoring the opening goal. In the 2009–10 season, in the absence of club captain Gary Mills, Garner regularly took over the captain's armband.

Grimsby Town

Garner signed for newly relegated Conference team

on a two-year contract on 7 July 2010. After struggling to make an impact at Grimsby he was loaned too

on 8 February 2011. On 29 March 2011, Grimsby's new managerial team of

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he was a left back from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, bar a brief loan spell with Burton Albion i ...

and Rob Scott recalled Garner to the Grimsby team following a defensive injury crisis. After playing 31 times in two years, Garner was told on 27 April 2012 that he no longer had a future at the club and was subsequently released.

Cambridge United

Following his release from The Mariners earlier in the close season, Garner was offered deals by several clubs. On 13 June 2012, he chose to sign a two-year contract with

. Having struggled to hold down a first team place at Cambridge, Garner joined Lincoln City on a two-month loan on 6 October 2012.

Non-League

In July 2013, Garner signed for

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

on a long-term loan. He went on to play for

before signing with

on 13 June 2018. Having returned for a second spell with Boston United in 2020, Garner joined

in June 2022. On 2 August 2022, after completing pre-season with Alfreton, Garner announced he was retiring from football.

International career

Garner was named in the England C squad to play Hungary under-23s on 15 September 2009. He captained the side in a 1–1 draw. He was also named in the squad to play Poland under-23's in November 2009, though club commitments at Mansfield prevented him from playing the game. On 12 May 2011 Garner and fellow Grimsby defender Rob Atkinson were called up for England C duty to play against Portugal on the 19th.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Scott 1989 births Living people Footballers from Coventry English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Leicester City F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Mansfield Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Boston United F.C. players FC Halifax Town players Guiseley A.F.C. players National League (English football) players England men's semi-pro international footballers 21st-century English sportsmen