John Welsh (English footballer)

John Welsh

Welsh with Preston North End in 2016
Personal information
Full name	John Joseph Welsh[1]
Date of birth	(1984-01-10) 10 January 1984 (age 40)[1]
Place of birth	Wavertree, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
0001994–2001	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2006	Liverpool	4	(0)
2005–2006	→ Hull City (loan)	20	(2)
2006–2009	Hull City	30	(1)
2008	→ Chester City (loan)	6	(0)
2008	→ Carlisle United (loan)	4	(0)
2009	→ Bury (loan)	5	(0)
2009–2012	Tranmere Rovers	130	(11)
2012–2018	Preston North End	143	(3)
2018–2019	Grimsby Town	13	(0)
2019–2020	Atherton Collieries	19	(0)
2020–2021	Stafford Rangers	28	(1)
Total		402	(18)
International career^‡
	England U16
	England U20
2004–2007	England U21	8	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:41, 30 January 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 March 2006

John Joseph Welsh Sr (born 10 January 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as midfielder.

Welsh notably played in the Premier League for Liverpool, where he began his career before playing for Hull City, Chester City, Carlisle United, Bury, Tranmere Rovers and Grimsby Town. In 2019 he dropped down to play at semi-professional level with Atherton Collieries before finishing his career with Stafford Rangers.

He was captain of the England under-20 team, and has been capped eight times for the under-21s. He represented England U20 at 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Career

Liverpool

Wavertree born Welsh, joined Liverpool at the age of 10. He progressed through the ranks, becoming captain of the Reserve Team in the process. Welsh trained with the Liverpool first team squad at their Melwood training ground from the middle of the 2001–02 season.

In the 2002–03 season John Welsh played only one game for the first team – his début match against Ipswich Town on 4 December 2002 in a League Cup fourth round tie at home – when he replaced Vladimír Šmicer in the 83rd minute. Also, he was amongst the substitutes for a number of European games.

His first game in Premiership was against Arsenal on 4 October 2003, when he replaced Salif Diao in the 82nd minute, but he couldn't help his team avoid defeat – they lost 2–1, and unfortunately for Welsh, his first act was to be booked for a foul on Ray Parlour. Welsh featured in Liverpool's run to the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, coming on as a substitute in the round of 16 away tie against Bayer Leverkusen.^[3] Liverpool would go on to win the trophy but Welsh was left out of the final match day squad.

Hull City

After three starts and seven substitute appearances in all competitions for Liverpool, in August 2005, John went on a season-long loan to Championship side Hull City. The club were impressed, and in November 2005 agreed a deal which saw Liverpool take promising young winger Paul Anderson in exchange. The swap took place on 4 January 2006.

However, three minutes into a match against Preston North End on 10 March 2007, Welsh dived into a tackle with Preston's Neil Mellor, a former Liverpool teammate. Welsh was carried off on a stretcher, and it later transpired that he had broken both the tibia and fibula in his right leg, ruling him out for many months.

Loans away from Hull

On 31 December 2007, Chester City announced they would be signing Welsh on loan when the transfer window reopened the following day.^[4] He made his Chester debut on 1 January 2008, in a 2–0 home defeat to Grimsby Town, and spent the rest of the month in Chester's starting line-up before returning to Hull.

He joined Carlisle United on 27 October 2008 for an initial one-month loan making his debut against Hartlepool United.

In March 2009, he joined Football League Two side Bury on loan and was released from Hull on 2 June 2009.^[5]

Tranmere Rovers

In July 2009, Welsh signed a deal with League One side Tranmere Rovers. He had a very consistent season for Tranmere, playing the holding midfield role successfully. Welsh also scored four goals in his first season at Prenton Park, including a volley in the 4–2 victory over Gillingham and a 25-yard strike in a 2–1 home victory over Brighton. The club offered him contract terms for the 2012–13 season.^[6]

Preston North End

In May 2012, it was announced that Welsh had signed for Preston North End on a two-year contract.^[7] He was voted Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year of Preston North End for the season 2012/13.^[8] On 17 December 2013, Welsh extended his contract with Preston for a further twelve months, thus keeping him at the club until the summer of 2015.^[9]

Despite Tom Clarke taking over the captaincy for the 2014–15 season, Welsh still played a major part in getting the club promoted via the play-offs. This form was rewarded with a new two-year contract. At the end of the 2018 season he left Preston North End and was given an award for longest serving Preston player.

Grimsby Town

Welsh signed a two-year contract with League Two club Grimsby Town on 25 June 2018.^[10] He was firmly installed as club captain for the 2018–19 season.^[11] Welsh left the club by mutual consent on 20 March 2019.^[12] This may have been in part due to his participation in a fracas at a bus stop in which he broke a woman's leg.^[13]

Non-League

In October 2019 he joined Atherton Collieries on a short-term contract.^[14] It was announced in August 2020 that he had signed for Stafford Rangers, on step 10 of the English football pyramid.^[15]

On 8 October 2021, Welsh announced he was leaving Stafford and subsequently retired in order to focus on other work commitments.^[16]

Career statistics

As of match played 21 August 2018

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liverpool	2002–03[17]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	2003–04[18]		1	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	2	0
	2004–05[19]		3	0	1	0	2	0	1[b]	0	7	0
	Total		4	0	1	0	3	0	2	0	10	0
Hull City (loan)	2005–06[20]	Championship	20	2	0	0	1	0	—		21	2
Hull City	2005–06[20]	Championship	12	0	0	0	0	0	—		12	0
	2006–07[21]		18	1	0	0	3	0	—		21	1
	Total		30	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	33	1
Chester City (loan)	2007–08[22]	League Two	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Carlisle United (loan)	2008–09[23]	League One	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Bury (loan)	2008–09[23]	League Two	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Tranmere Rovers	2009–10[24]	League One	45	4	4	0	2	0	1[c]	0	52	4
	2010–11[25]		41	4	1	0	2	0	4[c]	0	48	4
	2011–12[26]		44	3	1	0	1	0	3[c]	0	49	3
	Total		130	11	6	0	5	0	8	0	149	11
Preston North End	2012–13[27]	League One	36	1	2	0	2	0	2[c]	0	42	1
	2013–14[28]		36	2	5	0	1	0	3[d]	0	45	2
	2014–15[29]		32	0	4	0	1	0	7[e]	0	44	0
	2015–16[30]	Championship	24	0	1	0	1	0	—		26	0
	2016–17[31]		6	0	0	0	2	0	—		8	0
	2017–18[32]		9	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
	Total		143	3	14	0	7	0	12	0	176	3
Grimsby Town	2018–19[33]	League Two	4	0	0	0	0	0	1[f]	0	5	0
Career total			347	17	23	0	19	0	23	0	412	17

1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
4. One appearance in the Football League Trophy and two in the League One play-offs
5. Four appearances in the Football League Trophy and three in the League One play-offs
6. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Preston North End

• Football League One play-offs: 2015^[34]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
2. "John Welsh: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
3. "B Leverkusen 1–3 Liverpool". BBC. 9 March 2005. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
4. "Midfield Options Boosted". Chester City Official Website. 31 December 2007. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
5. Windass and Bridges among eight released by Hull^{[dead link‍]}
6. "Moore Rebuilding Squad". Tranmere Rovers FC. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
7. "Welsh Agrees to Join". Preston North End FC. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
8. "John Welsh Is 2013 Player of the Year". Preston North End FC. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
9. "PNE Extend Nine Players' Contracts". Preston North End Official Website. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
10. "Introducing Michael Jolley's Seventh Summer Signing". Grimsby Town F.C. Retrieved 25 June 2018.^{[dead link‍]}
11. "Welsh To Be Skipper". Grimsby Town F.C. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
12. Wood, Liam. "John Welsh leaves Grimsby Town by mutual consent after seven months at EFL club". Grimsby Town F.C. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
13. Olsen, Martine. "Ex-Liverpool player kicked woman and asked "don't you know who I am?" After 11 pints". Metro. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
14. "Colls in Welsh coup – The BetVictor Northern Premier". Archived from the original on 7 October 2019.
15. "Rangers continue to strengthen squad". 7 August 2020.
16. "New Signings". 8 October 2021.
17. "Games played by John Welsh in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
18. "Games played by John Welsh in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
19. "Games played by John Welsh in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
20. "Games played by John Welsh in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
21. "Games played by John Welsh in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
22. "Games played by John Welsh in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
23. "Games played by John Welsh in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
24. "Games played by John Welsh in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
25. "Games played by John Welsh in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
26. "Games played by John Welsh in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
27. "Games played by John Welsh in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
28. "Games played by John Welsh in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
29. "Games played by John Welsh in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
30. "Games played by John Welsh in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
31. "Games played by John Welsh in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
32. "Games played by John Welsh in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
33. "Games played by John Welsh in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
34. Middleton, Nathan (24 May 2015). "Preston North End 4–0 Swindon Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 December 2018.

External links

• John Welsh profile at hullcityafc.net
• John Welsh profile at liverpoolfc.tv
• John Welsh at Soccerbase