Martin Aldridge

Martin Aldridge

Born 6 December 1974 (Age 25 at debut)

Position: Forward

(Diamonds player #124)

Total appearances 3 – 1 goal

(1 League, 1 FA Trophy, 1 Hillier Senior Cup)

Debut:

15 January 2000 (Away Bath City)

Final game:

25 January 2000 (Away Kettering Town)

Martin had joined Coventry City as schoolboy, but was released before his 16th birthday. He was spotted playing for Ford Sports Daventry and Braunston Rangers and became a trainee at Northampton Town, signing his first contract during the summer of 1993. He went on to score 22 goals in 82 appearances, and had the honour if scoring the first goal at Sixfields during a 1-1 draw with Barnet on 15 October 1994. After being dropped from the squad, he went out on loan to Dagenham & Redbridge in December 1995, before being given a free transfer to Oxford United later that month. He scored another 22 goals, this time in 88 games for Oxford before going on loan to Southend United at the end of the 1997/98 season.

He joined Blackpool in the summer of 1998, scoring 10 goals in 30 appearances. After a loan spell at Port Vale, Martin arrived at Nene Park on a one month loan on 8 January 2000. He made his debut as a substitute in the FA Trophy game at Bath City the following week and held the distinction of scoring within 60 seconds of his debut to take Diamonds through to the next round. He made just two other appearances and was on the bench for Diamonds 6-0 over Northwich Victoria on 29 January 2000. After leaving Nene Park, he was tragically involved in a car crash on the A45 on the outskirts of Wellingborough. He died the following morning from injuries sustained in the crash.

Appearances

1999/2000