Hayden Taylor Lindley (born 2 September 2002) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Emley. Lindley is a product of the Aston Villa Academy and was also on the books of Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers as a junior. He appeared in the EFL Cup for Aston Villa and in the Football League for Newport County before moving into non-league football.
Career Early career After impressing for the under-eights team of local side Honley Junior Football Club, Lindley joined the youth setup at Blackburn Rovers in October 2008. Soon after, he also began training with Manchester City's academy at a site in Bradford. Lindley was also approached by Leeds United but did not join them. Lindley remained with City until July 2019, when he departed to join Aston Villa.
Aston Villa On 8 January 2021, Lindley made his first-team debut for Aston Villa as a substitute in a FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool, after Villa had been forced to name a team of inexperienced academy players after a large number of first-team players tested positive for COVID-19. Lindley was ever-present for Aston Villa U18s' run to the final of the 2021 FA Youth Cup, in which they beat Liverpool U18s 2–1. He was one of six members of that squad to sign new contracts with Aston Villa at the end of the season. Lindley again appeared for the first team on 24 August in Villa's away win against Barrow in the EFL Cup; he came on in the second half as a late substitute for Frédéric Guilbert.
On 1 September 2022, Lindley joined Newport County on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season. He made his debut for Newport on 13 September as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 League Two defeat to Stevenage, and made four more league appearances, but he fell out of favour after a change of management and returned to Villa on 1 January 2023.
Towards the end of the 2022–23 season, with the end of his Aston Villa contract approaching, Lindley was allowed to go on trial with League One club Cheltenham Town. He was released by Aston Villa when his contract expired.
Darlington After leaving Aston Villa, Lindley played one match for Northern Counties East League club Golcar United on a non-contract basis, a 1–1 draw against Bottesford Town on 14 October 2023.
Lindley signed for National League North club Darlington on 24 October, and made his debut the same day, as a substitute in a goalless draw against Blyth Spartans. He was a regular starter in 2023, but fell out of contention in 2024, and on 28 March he joined Northern Premier League Division One East club Pontefract Collieries on loan until the end of the season. He was released by Darlington when his contract expired.
FC United of Manchester Lindley joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club FC United of Manchester for the 2024–25 season.
Emley After making 23 appearances in all competitions in the first half of the campaign, Lindley left FC United and signed for Northern Premier League Division One East club Emley.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupEFL CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAston Villa U212020–21————10102021–22————30302022–23————1010Total———5050Aston Villa2020–21Premier League001000—102021–22Premier League000010—102022–23Premier League000000—00Total001010—20Newport County (loan)2022–23League Two5000000050Golcar United2023–24NCEFL Premier Division10———10Darlington2023–24National League North140——00140Pontefract Collieries (loan)2023–24Northern Premier LeagueDivision One East51——0051FC United of Manchester2024–25NPL Premier Division18020—30230Emley2024–25NPL Division One East101——00101Career total532301080652
Honours Aston Villa U18 FA Youth Cup: 2020–21
References
External links Aston Villa F.C. profile