Tony Naylor

Anthony 'Tony' Naylor (born 29 March 1967 in Manchester, Lancashire) is a former English football player. Best known for his spells at Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra in the 1990s.

Career

Naylor began his career at non-league Droylsden. Having caught the eye of the then Crewe Alexandra boss Dario Gradi, the striker completed a £20,000 switch to the railwaymen in March 1990 [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=5783] . He also holds the record for most goals in a match by a Crewe Alexandra player when he scored 5 in a game vs Colchester United, on the 24th April, 1993.

Tony spent 4 years in South Cheshire, before being snapped up by local rivals Port Vale, in a £150,000 deal. The Valiants splashed the cash after sealing promotion from Division Two on the last day of the 1993/94 season, and Naylor would join the side for the new season in Division One (now the Championship). He was with the Valiants through one of the clubs most successful periods as they finished 8th in the 1996/97 Division One (the clubs highest finish since the 1930s). In total he managed to notch 106 goals in his 7 years at Vale Park, finishing the club's top goalscorer at the end of the 2000/01 season, as Vale finished 10th in Division Two . The club also managed to win the LDV Vans Trophy, defeating Brentford 2-1 in the final, at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

The striker turned down the offer of a new contract for pastures new and at one time looked as though he would end up at local rivals Stoke City. However Cheltenham Town ended up being his next port of call, joining the Gloucestershire club on a two year contract [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cheltenham_town/1435991.stm] . Naylor's goals guided the Robins to promotion to League One, via the play-offs, in his first season. It was the first time Cheltenham had been that high in the football league pyramid. However, he was unable to prevent relegation the following season and was released at the end of the 2002/03 campaign.

The pint-sized forward joined Telford United [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/telford/3144960.stm] , but injuries restricted him to just 16 league starts in his two seasons with the Shropshire club. Naylor was left without a club when United folded, after their finances spiralled out of control. The club did however reform and are now known as AFC Telford and are currently playing in the Conference North.

During the 2005-06 season Tony joined Ashton United as assistant to manager Scott Green, a former team-mate of his from their Telford days. When the club were hit by an injury crisis he donned his boots once more and scored twice in a 2-2 draw at Frickley Athletic before leaving Ashton soon afterwards, following a fall-out with Green.

Honours

Cups

*2000–01: Football League Trophy Winner - Port Vale

Promotions

*2001–02: Division 3 Playoff winners (promotion to Division Two) - Cheltenham Town

References

# Naylor's career stats at Soccerbase [http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=5783]