| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Benjamin Scowcroft | ||
| Date of birth | (1975-11-15)15 November 1975 (age 50) | ||
| Place of birth | Bury St Edmunds, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1994 | Ipswich Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–2001 | Ipswich Town | 206 | (47) |
| 2001–2005 | Leicester City | 133 | (24) |
| 2005 | →Ipswich Town (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Coventry City | 41 | (3) |
| 2006–2009 | Crystal Palace | 83 | (14) |
| 2009–2010 | Leyton Orient | 26 | (0) |
| 2010–2012 | Bury Town | 26 | (8) |
| Total | 524 | (96) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996–1997 | England U21 | 5 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Benjamin Scowcroft (born 15 November 1975) is an English retiredfootballer who played as astriker. He is a European Scout forCrystal Palace.
Scowcroft began his career atIpswich Town, graduating from the club's academy. He went on to score over 50 goals and make over 200 appearances for Ipswich, helping the club win promotion to thePremier League in 2000. He joinedLeicester City in 2001, spending four seasons at the club, including helping the club return to the Premier League in 2003. He returned to Ipswich on loan during the 2004–05 season before joiningCoventry City in 2005. He spent one season at Coventry before leaving to joinCrystal Palace in 2006. He spent three seasons at Crystal Palace. In 2009 he joinedLeyton Orient, spending one season with the club. After his release from Leyton Orient in 2010, Scowcroft joined hometown clubBury Town.
He won five caps for theEngland U21 national team between 1996 and 1997.
Born inBury St Edmunds,Suffolk, Scowcroft started his career as a youth player at nearbyIpswich Town, joining the club at the age of 11.[2] He progressed to become a regular first team player, gaining fiveEngland Under-21 caps in the process. From 1994 to 2001 he played over 200 games for the club, scoring over 50 goals. He was named player's and fan'sPlayer of the Year in 2000 but missed out on theplay off final with a hamstring injury, which saw Ipswich promoted to the Premier League.[3] At the end of the2000–01 season, he was sold toLeicester City for £3m, where he played over 150 games, scoring fewer than 30 goals. During his period at Leicester Scowcroft was accused of being involved in the alleged sexual assault of three women atLa Manga golf club, Spain, but was cleared of all charges, having been mistakenly identified.[4] He was loaned back to Ipswich in the spring of 2005.
Scowcroft was then signed byCoventry City on a free transfer. He was used primarily on the right sometimes as the right wing for Coventry for the2005–06 season.He left Coventry City to joinCrystal Palace for£500,000 in July 2006. He was released by the club in May 2009[5] having made a total of 86 senior appearances scoring 14 times.[6] He then joinedLeyton Orient but after fitness problems and failing to score a goal in 20 games for Orient, he was released a year later.[7]
In September 2010, Scowcroft joinednon-league hometown club,Bury Town, signing a "pay-as-you-play" deal.[8]He made his debut as a substitute in an away game againstWealdstone later the same month.[9] In January 2012 Bury Town announced Scowcroft's retirement from football, having failed to recover from an injury sustained during a pre-season friendly.[10]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ipswich Town | 1995–96 | First Division | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 2 |
| 1996–97[11] | First Division | 41 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2[a] | 1 | 50 | 11 | |
| 1997–98[12] | First Division | 31 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2[a] | 0 | 41 | 7 | |
| 1998–99[13] | First Division | 32 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2[a] | 0 | 36 | 14 | |
| 1999–00[14] | First Division | 41 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2[a] | 0 | 48 | 15 | |
| 2000–01[15] | Premier League | 34 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | — | 43 | 6 | ||
| Total | 206 | 47 | 10 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 247 | 55 | ||
| Leicester City | 2001–02[16] | Premier League | 24 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 26 | 7 | |
| 2002–03[17] | First Division | 43 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 47 | 11 | ||
| 2003–04[18] | Premier League | 35 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 39 | 5 | ||
| 2004–05[19] | Championship | 31 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 35 | 5 | ||
| Total | 133 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 147 | 28 | ||
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 2004–05[19] | Championship | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Coventry City | 2005–06[20] | Championship | 41 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 45 | 3 | |
| Crystal Palace | 2006–07[21] | Championship | 35 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 36 | 5 | |
| 2007–08[22] | Championship | 38 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 40 | 9 | |
| 2008–09[23] | Championship | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| Total | 83 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 86 | 14 | ||
| Leyton Orient | 2009–10[24] | League One | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| Bury Town | 2010–11 | IL Premier Division | 26 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 26 | 8 | |
| Career totals | 524 | 96 | 25 | 4 | 30 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 590 | 108 | ||
Ipswich Town
Leicester City
Individual
