Ben Hedley (born 18 October 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North club Darlington. He previously played in the Football League for Morecambe, as well as in non-league football for Witton Albion and Bradford (Park Avenue).
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ben Hedley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-10-18) 18 October 1998 (age 24) | ||
| Place of birth | Gateshead, England | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Darlington | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000–2017 | Morecambe | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2019 | Morecambe | 2 | (0) |
| 2017 | → Witton Albion (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 2019 | Bradford (Park Avenue) | 7 | (0) |
| 2019– | Darlington | 80 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:44, 13 November 2022 (UTC) | |||
Hedley came through the Morecambe Academy to make his first-team debut on 6 May 2017, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Aaron Wildig in a 3–1 defeat at Luton Town.[2] He signed his first professional contract with the club the following month.[3]
On 15 August 2017, he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club Witton Albion on an initial one-month loan; "Shrimps" manager Jim Bentley said that "he'll be in good hands at Witton with the management (Carl MacCauley and Gary Martindale) who are both good football people that I trust to do right by Ben".[4] His loan spell was extended into a second month after he impressed in his first eight starts for the club,[5] and was extended a second time. He scored his first senior goal on 14 October in a 5–2 victory over Coalville Town at Wincham Park, and finished the loan spell with 19 appearances in all competitions.[6][7]
Hedley was named Morecambe's Reserve Team Player of the Year for 2017–18.[8] In 2018–19, he featured twice in the EFL Trophy,[9] and made his first Football League start on 23 October 2018 in a 1–0 defeat at home to Mansfield Town; the Lancashire Post described it as a "solid debut".[10] Despite being named as a substitute on 38 occasions, he made no more league appearances and was released at the end of the season.[9][11]
On 7 June 2019, Hedley joined National League North club Bradford (Park Avenue), managed by Garry Thompson with whom he had played at Morecambe.[12] Thompson was dismissed just two matches into the season,[13] and Hedley played in seven before leaving for another National League North club, Darlington, in early September.[9][14]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League cup[lower-alpha 1] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Morecambe | 2016–17[15] | League Two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017–18[16] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[17] | League Two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Witton Albion (loan) | 2017–18[6] | NPL Premier Division | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| Bradford (Park Avenue) | 2019–20[9] | National League North | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Darlington | 2019–20[9][18] | National League North | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[9][19] | National League North | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22[9][20] | National League North | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 36 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23[9][21] | National League North | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Total | 80 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 98 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 106 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 128 | 1 | ||
Darlington F.C. – current squad | |
|---|---|