Jamie Longworth

Jamie Longworth (born 8 August 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Alloa Athletic.

Longworth was born in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire and played youth football with Kilbirnie Ladeside. Longworth spent years committing himself to teaching youngsters as a Physical Education teacher before realising his dream and starting his amateur senior career with Queen's Park. After a successful reign over three seasons, Longworth sealed a move to semi-professional League One side Stranraer at the beginning of the 2013–14 Season.

Early life

Longworth was born in Bellshill. He spent most of his time before professional football as a teacher in Secondary Schools in the West of Scotland, becoming a much loved teacher in the Physical Education departments in the schools that he worked in.

Playing career

The foundation of Longworth's football career began in East Kilbride where Longworth escaped senior clubs' attention despite knocking in goals for Calderwood Blue Star. The lack of attention was of no concern to Longworth who said: “I enjoyed it at Calderwood and was playing with my friends and was in no hurry to go anywhere. I spent 10 years there and only left when I became 18. I suppose you could say I slipped under the radar but I was quite happy with that.”

Longworth’s drive to become a teacher saw him move to Edinburgh Universityy and he also moved in footballing terms as he was picked up by Ayrshire Junior side Kilbirnie Ladeside.^[1]

Queen's Park

Jamie was a prolific striker in the Juniors before earning an overdue crack at senior football when Queen’s Park signed him in July 2010 after both Queen of the South and Partick Thistle missed out on signing him. It surprised no-one in the junior game that the former Kilbirnie Ladeside marksman was highly successful and a potent force in front of goal in his 3 seasons at Hampden with 45 goals in 112 games for the Spiders.^[2] Longworth then got an opportunity to play for Scottish League One side, Stranraer F.C..

Stranraer

Longworth sealed his move to Stranraer in July 2014, quickly making an impact and becoming a fan favourite immediately. He was the club's top goalscorer in his opening season, scoring an impressive 22 goals. One of the biggest moments of his reign came in December 2013, ending the win streak of Rangers in the final seconds of a match at Ibrox. His form has continued into the 2013-14 Scottish League One season, scoring an average of a goal, every two appearances.

Alloa Athletic

After three seasons at Stair Park, Longworth opted to move to recently relegated Alloa Athletic.

Career statistics

As of match played 10 January 2015

Honours

Individual

• East Kilbride News Player of the Year: 2014^[3]

References

External links

• Jamie Longworth career statistics at Soccerbase