Martin Aldridge

Martin James Aldridge ( born December 6, 1974 in Northampton, † January 30, 2000 in Oxford) was an English footballer. The striker played in 1993 for a number of English professional clubs unterklassigen 183 games in the Football League, scoring 44 goals. He was killed in January 2000 in a car accident.

Career

Aldridge was active during his school days at Coventry City, but there was dismissed before his 16th birthday. He played in the episode for Ford Sports Daventry in the United Counties League and the recreation team Braunston Rangers before he came as a young player to Northampton Town. In the summer of 1993 he received his first professional contract and scored in his first two seasons, 17 goals in 70 missions in the Football League Third Division, including on 15 October 1994, the first competitive goal at the newly inaugurated Sixfields Stadium.

After he found no more consideration in the first round of the 1995/96 season, he moved in December free transfer to Oxford United in the Second Division. There he was to compensate for the departure of Wayne Biggins. After two hits in his debut match against Brentford FC ( Full 2:1), he put in the following months, seven more goals in 17 games prior to making an injury for the premature end of the season saw. Oxford, meanwhile, succeeded as a table runner promotion to the First Division.

In the second division the following season 1996/97 he was at Oxford with Paul Moody in the competition for the striker position alongside Nigel Jemson. Also in the second English top Aldridge is distinguished as a regular scorer and scored in a 4-1 win against Sheffield United within 20 minutes of a hat-trick. Aldridge, who celebrated most of his goals with a back somersault Wart, developed this season, his long throw-ins on, which were used as an offensive variant. In December 1997, the former coach Denis Smith left the financially hard-hit club, he was succeeded by Malcolm Shotton, under the Aldridge played no role and his expiring contract not extended at the end of the season.

A new club was Aldridge, often lurking in the penalty area to rebound, with the third division FC Blackpool. Although due to injury problems Aldridge missed almost half the season, he was with ten goals in official matches of the season 1998/99 top scorer of the club. The following season, the striker fell out with Blackpool coach Nigel Worthington and spent some time on loan at Port Vale, before he was awarded in January 2000 to the rise of aspirants Rushden & Diamonds in the Conference National. There he had attended on 29 January 2000 as a substitute to a 6-0 victory when he crashed on the way home in Wellingborough with an oncoming car. He died the next day in a hospital in Oxford to his injuries.