John Anthony Cheesewright (born 12 January 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

, Colchester United

Colchester United F.C.

Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

 and Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers F.C.

Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

. He played as a goalkeeper.

Career

Cheesewright was born in Romford

Romford

Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...

, Havering. He began his football career as a trainee

Youth Training Scheme

The Youth Training Scheme was the former name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17, managed by the Manpower Services Commission...

 with Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, but was released in 1981 without playing for the first team. He joined Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

, but again failed to appear for the first team. After a spell in non-league football

Non-league football

Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

 with Kingsbury Town

Kingsbury London Tigers F.C.

London Tigers F.C. is a football club based in Greenford, in the London Borough of Ealing, England. The club was formed in 1986, initially as Marylebone FC before becoming London Tigers in 1997, then merged with Kingsbury Town F.C. in 2006, and now reverted back to London Tigers FC in 2011...

, he signed for Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

, initially on a non-contract basis, in 1991. He made his debut in the Third Division

Football League Third Division

The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

 on 14 December 1991 in a 2–1 defeat at A.F.C. Bournemouth

A.F.C. Bournemouth

A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....

, and played in the Football League Trophy

Football League Trophy

The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

 four days later, but after a few months he was allowed to leave for Cobh Ramblers

Cobh Ramblers F.C.

Cobh Ramblers Football Club . is an Irish football club playing in the A Championship, the third tier of Irish football. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the league in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colman's Park...

.

After a spell with Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham & Redbridge F.C.

Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club , informally known as Daggers, is an English association football club based in Dagenham, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, East London. It was formed in 1992 after a merger between Redbridge Forest and Dagenham...

, Cheesewright joined Braintree Town

Braintree Town F.C.

Braintree Town F.C. is an English football club based in Braintree, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference National and play their home matches at Cressing Road.-History:...

, where he impressed sufficiently to earn a move back to the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 with Colchester United

Colchester United F.C.

Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

. The fee, of £10,000, was Braintree's record transfer fee received, and Cheesewright went on to play 40 league games for Colchester. In June 1995 he appeared on loan for Wimbledon

Wimbledon F.C.

Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...

 in a 4–0 defeat to Bursaspor

Bursaspor

Bursaspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, Bursaspor are nicknamed the Yeşil Timsahlar...

 in a group match of the Intertoto Cup, when English clubs were not taking the competition seriously. A stint with Mansion in the Hong Kong First Division League

Hong Kong First Division League

Hong Kong First Division League is the top division football league in Hong Kong which was established in 1908, the oldest in Asia. It does not affiliate to any football leagues in the People's Republic of China.-Competition format:...

 preceded another return to the Football League, this time with Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers F.C.

Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

, where he played 18 league games.

He then spent brief periods with Romford

Romford F.C.

Romford F.C. is an English football club based in Romford, Greater London. The club are currently members of Division One North of the Isthmian League, and play at Mill Field in Aveley.-History:...

, Aldershot Town

Aldershot Town F.C.

Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

, and Heybridge Swifts

Heybridge Swifts F.C.

Heybridge Swifts are a non-league football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex. They were established in 1880 and were founding members of the Essex Senior League in 1971...

, before attempting a return to the Football League with Barnet

Barnet F.C.

Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....

, where he signed as goalkeeping cover just before the April 1998 transfer deadline. Without playing for Barnet, Cheesewright moved on to play for a number of teams in the Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

 and Essex area, including St Albans City

St Albans City F.C.

St Albans City Football Club is a football club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in 1908 and plays its home matches at Clarence Park, about 800 yards from the city centre. The club is in the Premier Division of the Southern League...

, Leyton Pennant

Waltham Forest F.C.

Waltham Forest F.C. are a football club from Walthamstow, who play in the Isthmian League First Division North. They have played under a number of names and were known as Leyton Pennant up until the end of the 2002–03 season.-History:...

, Braintree Town, Heybridge Swifts, and finally, in 2000, as an outfield

Outfield

The outfield is a sporting term used in cricket and baseball to refer to the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield...

 player for Eton Manor

Eton Manor F.C.

-Early years:The club was formed in 1901 by rich and influential families of the likes of Barings, Villiers and Lord Chelsea for the benefit of bringing sport to the poor and underprivileged youth of the East End of London...

 in the Essex Senior League

Essex Senior Football League

The Essex Senior Football League is an English football league covering Essex, northeast Greater London and the eastern part of Hertfordshire. It is a feeder to Division One North of Isthmian League and has a single division which sits at step 5 of the National League System.There is no automatic...

.

As of 2008, Cheesewright was married with two children and was working as a wealth planning manager for a major bank.

External links