Marley Watkins

Marley Joseph Watkins (born 17 October 1990) is a Wales international footballer who plays for Championship club Bristol City as a midfielder. He previously played for Cheltenham Town, Bath City, Hereford United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Barnsley and Norwich City. He was called up the Wales national team squad for the first time in 2017.

Marley Watkins
Personal information
Full name Marley Joseph Watkins[1]
Date of birth (1990-10-17) 17 October 1990
Place of birth Lewisham, England
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Bristol City
Number 15
Youth career
1999–2007 Swansea City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Cheltenham Town 26 (1)
2010–2011 → Bath City (loan) 22 (3)
2011–2012 Bath City 37 (5)
2012–2013 Hereford United 34 (5)
2013–2015 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 59 (8)
2015–2017 Barnsley 76 (15)
2017–2018 Norwich City 24 (0)
2018– Bristol City 22 (3)
National team‡
2017– Wales 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Personal life

Born in Lewisham in London, Watkins grew up in Swansea in Wales. Through his parents, he qualifies to play for Wales and France.[2] He is the grandson of Welsh poet Vernon Watkins (1906–1967).[3]

Career

Watkins started his career as a youth player at Swansea City but was released and he joined Cheltenham Town in 2008. On 9 August 2008, he made his first senior appearance for the club, playing in the last ten minutes of the 4–2 defeat at Northampton Town. In doing so, he became Cheltenham Town's youngest ever league player. He scored his first professional goal after coming on as a substitute against Northampton in the 2009–10 season.

In September 2010, Watkins joined Conference National side Bath City on loan.[4] He subsequently signed for Bath on a permanent basis in January 2011 after his successful loan spell.

At the start of the 2012–13 season, Watkins signed a one-year deal at Hereford United. Watkins enjoyed a successful start to his Hereford career by winning a 'Player of the Month' award in his first month at the club. He ultimately played 34 league games and scored five goals in his season at Hereford.

In June 2013 it was announced that Watkins would be joining Inverness Caledonian Thistle for the 2013–2014 season. He made his Scottish Premiership debut at Celtic Park on 24 August, coming on as a substitute in a 2–2 draw with Celtic.[5] On 30 May 2015, he opened the scoring for Inverness in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park, as the club secured a 2–1 victory against Falkirk.[6] During Marley's time at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the club finished in the top 3 to qualify for Europe for the first time in their history, got to the final of the Scottish League Cup and won football's oldest cup competition, the Scottish Cup. Marley scored and assisted one other in the final to help Inverness lift the cup.

On 5 June 2015, Watkins signed for League One club Barnsley. In his first season with Barnsley, the club won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy against Oxford, and won promotion via the play offs to gain promotion to the Championship. Marley scored 8 and got 9 assists in 42 games during his debut season with Barnsley. Additionally, Watkins scored in his Championship debut against Ipswich and assisted another with Barnsley losing the game, 4–2.

On 1 June 2017, Watkins signed for Championship club Norwich City on a free transfer. He joined the club on 1 July. He scored his first goal for Norwich in an EFL Cup tie against Charlton Athletic on 22 August 2017.[7]

On 15 June 2018, after one season at Norwich City, Watkins signed for fellow Championship side Bristol City for a fee of £1 million. The move reunited him with Lee Johnson, his manager at Barnsley.[8]

International career

Watkins was born in England, and is of Welsh and French descent.[9] Watkins was called up to the Wales national football team on 25 May 2017 for a match against Serbia on 11 June 2017.[10] He made his debut for the side on 14 November 2017 as a substitute during a 1–1 draw with Panama.[11]

Career statistics
As of match played 11 January 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cheltenham Town 2008–09[12] League One 120100000130
2009–10[13] League Two 13100001[lower-alpha 1]0141
2010–11[14] League Two 1000000010
Cheltenham total 261100010281
Bath City (loan) 2010–11[14] Conference Premier 22300—2[lower-alpha 2]0243
Bath City 2011–12[15] Conference Premier 37530—1[lower-alpha 2]0415
Hereford United 2012–13[16] Conference Premier 34510—1[lower-alpha 2]0365
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2013–14[17] Scottish Premiership 261403000331
2014–15[18] Scottish Premiership 337521000399
Inverness total 5989240007210
Barnsley 2015–16[19] League One 34510215[lower-alpha 3]1427
2016–17[20] Championship 42102010—4510
Barnsley total 76153031518717
Norwich City 2017–18[21] Championship 2400031—271
Bristol City 2018–19[22] Championship 1620010—172
2019–20[23] Championship 611000—71
Bristol City total 2231010—243
Career total 3004018211210133945
  1. Appearance in the Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in the FA Trophy
  3. Four appearances and two goals in the Football League Trophy and an appearance in the League One play-offs

Honours

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Barnsley

References
  1. "Marley Watkins". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. "Marley Watkins signs contract at Robins". Cheltenham Town F.C. 3 March 2009. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  3. "Ethan Ampadu: Exeter City youngster included in Wales squad". BBC Sport. 25 May 2017.
  4. "One in, one out at Bath City". The Bath Chronicle. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  5. Celtic 2–2 Inverness CT. BBC Sport. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013
  6. Lamont, Alasdair (30 May 2015). "Inverness CT 2–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  7. "Norwich 4-1 Charlton". BBC Sport. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  8. "Marley Watkins: Bristol City sign Norwich and Wales forward for £1m". BBC Sport. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  9. "Could Cardiff City sign this wantaway Barnsley star this summer?". insidewelshfootball.co.uk. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  10. "Ethan Ampadu: Exeter City youngster included in Wales squad". BBC Sport. 25 May 2017.
  11. "Wales 1–1 Panama". BBC Sport. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  12. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  13. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  14. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  15. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  16. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  17. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  18. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  19. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  20. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  21. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  22. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  23. "Games played by Marley Watkins in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  24. name = "cup win"
  25. Cartwright, Phil (3 April 2016). "Barnsley 3–2 Oxford United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  26. Stevens, Rob (29 May 2016). "Barnsley 3–1 Millwall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
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