Ben Alnwick

Ben Alnwick

The Northumberland born stopper, played his youth football playing for his local team Prudhoe, before being picked up by Sunderland, having already represented England at every schoolboy age group, going onto represent England up to the U21 level, he was highly regarded. 

Alnwick quickly made his mark in the Sunderland first team at the tail end of the 2004/05 season, which ended with a Premier League promotion, due to an injury to first choice keeper Thomas Myhre. He started the next season battling for the number one jersey with former Hatter Kelvin Davis, but with Roy Keane in the Sunderland hot seat, at the beginning of the 2006/07 season, Alnwick was dropped. 

Regardless, his fine previous performances for Sunderland convinced Tottenham to part with a deal in excess of £1 million and Hungarian goalkeeper Marton Fulop. A loan to League 1 Luton Town was the first step on Alnwicks' development tour, with manager Kevin Blackwell, signing him in September 2007, as competition to Dean Brill, with Marlon Beresford dropping down the pecking order. Alnwick made his debut in a 2-0 loss to Huddersfield Town, making a further 3 appearances, before Tottenham recalled him due to an injury to first team keeper Paul Robinson. 

Alnwick was put out back on a variety of loans to aid his development, with moves to Leicester, Carlisle, Norwich, Leeds, Doncaster and Leyton Orient, before a permanent transfer to Barnsley. Due to strong contention to the starting position and Alnwick seen as surplus to requirements, he was signed by Charlton following a mutual contract termination, where he also struggled for game, then moving to Leyton Orient, a club he had previously been on loan to. Unspecified medical reasons prevented Ben from training, so after agreeing a contract termination, he moved to Peterborough, where he made an impact on the first team. After requesting a move, a contract termination was agreed with Posh chairman Darren MacAnthony, with Alnwick signing for Bolton that same day.