Amari'i Bell

Amari'i Bell
Personal information
Full name Amari'i Kyren Bell[1]
Date of birth (1994-05-05) 5 May 1994[2]
Place of birth Burton upon Trent, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current team
Fleetwood Town
Number 3
Youth career
0000–2011 Solihull Moors
2011–2012 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Birmingham City 1 (0)
2013Nuneaton Town (loan) 8 (0)
2013Nuneaton Town (loan) 11 (0)
2014Kidderminster Harriers (loan) 10 (2)
2014Mansfield Town (loan) 0 (0)
2014Swindon Town (loan) 10 (0)
2015Gillingham (loan) 7 (0)
2015– Fleetwood Town 62 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:24, 20 November 2016 (UTC).


Amari'i Kyren Bell (born 5 May 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for League One club Fleetwood Town.

He spent time on loan at Conference Premier club Nuneaton Town in the first half of the 2013–14 season before making his Football League debut for Birmingham in January 2014. Later that season he returned to the Conference Premier with Kidderminster Harriers. After a loan spell at Football League Two club Mansfield Town at the start of the 2014–15 season was cut short, Bell spent three months with League One club Swindon Town before joining another League One club, Gillingham, also on loan, in March 2015. He was released by Birmingham at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Life and career

Bell was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire,[4] and raised in the Quinton district of Birmingham, where he attended Four Dwellings High School.[5] As a youngster he played football for Solihull Moors, and joined Birmingham City's academy in 2011.[4] In June 2012, Bell signed a one-year professional contract.[6] He played regularly for the development squad during the 2012–13 season, and was rewarded with another one-year contract, with the option of a further year.[4]

In July 2013, Bell joined Conference Premier club Nuneaton Town on loan until the following January.[7] He made his debut in the opening match of the season, a 1–0 win at Macclesfield Town, playing at left wing-back. According to the local newspaper, he "shone",[8] though the player himself was more critical, recognising the need to minimise errors such as "a bit at the end where I took a poor touch and they could have scored from it."[9] He kept his place in the starting eleven as Nuneaton went unbeaten for the first nine matches, apart from one match missed with a dead leg,[2][10] but was suddenly recalled by his parent club on 20 September.[11]

Bell was given a squad number, and was considered for a defensive role ahead of Birmingham's third round League Cup match against Swansea City on 25 September, with Kyle Bartley ineligible and David Murphy rested after returning only recently from long-term injury.[12] He played no part in the match, not even as an unused substitute, and returned to Nuneaton a couple of days later.[13] Bell re-established himself at left back, playing a further eleven times in the Conference Premier and once in the FA Cup,[2][14] before Birmingham recalled him again on 9 December after starting left-back Mitch Hancox damaged a knee and with Murphy again unfit.[15]

He was included among the substitutes for Birmingham's next match, a 2–0 win away to Bournemouth, but remained unused.[16] Bell made his first-team debut on 28 January 2014, starting at left back against Championship leaders Leicester City as a late replacement for Hancox who had injured an ankle. He played the whole of the 2–1 defeat.[17]

That was his last first-team appearance before he joined Conference Premier club Kidderminster Harriers on 6 March, on a youth loan until the end of the season.[18] For the second time that season, he made his club debut in a win against Macclesfield, on this occasion as a stoppage-time substitute as Kidderminster held on to a 2–1 lead.[19] On 15 April, he scored his first goal in senior football to open the scoring in a 2–0 win against Cambridge United.[2]

Ahead of the 2014–15 season, Bell signed for Football League Two club Mansfield Town on loan until January 2015,[20] but was recalled after only three matches having failed to get any playing time.[21] On 26 September 2014, he joined Swindon Town of League One on a youth loan until 3 January 2015.[22] He hoped to regain self-belief by playing games as part of a confident team, and went straight into the starting eleven for Swindon's 3–0 win away at Barnsley.[23] Bell started six matches during October, displacing Liverpool loanee Brad Smith,[24] but then lost his place to another loanee, Harry Toffolo,[25] and for the remainder of his time with the club was used mainly as a late substitute or not at all.[26]

In March, Bell joined League One Gillingham on loan until the end of the season.[27] He went straight into the starting eleven in place of the injured Joe Martin for the match against Colchester United, which Gillingham drew 2–2,[28] and started the next five matches, but then lost his place and made only one more appearance, as a very late substitute.[29]

Birmingham decided not to take up their option of a further year on Bell's contract, and confirmed he would be released.[30] Despite reported interest from Gillingham,[31] Bell agreed to join League One club Fleetwood Town on 1 July after the expiry of his Birmingham contract.[32] Bell scored his first goal for Fleetwood in an FA Cup tie against Southport on 15 November 2016.[33]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 September 2016
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 2013–14[2] Championship10000010
2014–15[29] Championship00000000
Total 10000010
Nuneaton Town (loan) 2013–14[2][14] Conference Premier1901000200
Kidderminster Harriers (loan) 2013–14[2] Conference Premier102102
Mansfield Town (loan) 2014–15[29] League Two000000
Swindon Town (loan) 2014–15[29] League One100001[lower-alpha 1]0110
Gillingham (loan) 2014–15[29] League One7070
Fleetwood Town 2015–16[34] League One44010105[lower-alpha 1]0510
2016–17[35] League One6000100070
Total 500102050580
Career total 9722020601072
  1. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy

References

  1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Games played by Amari'i Bell in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  3. "Player Profiles: Amari'i Bell". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Walker, Andy (28 May 2013). "Amari'i extends stay". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  5. Aspinall, Adam (20 November 2011). "The Birmingham school which boasts two England soccer stars". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  6. "Birmingham City: Amari'i Bell signs senior contract". Birmingham Mail. 20 June 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  7. "Amari'i Bell: Nuneaton Town sign Birmingham City defender". BBC Sport. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  8. Davies, Matt (12 August 2013). "Macclesfield Town 0, Nuneaton Town 1". Nuneaton News. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  9. Davies, Matt (12 August 2013). "Amari'i Bell says there is more to come during his Nuneaton Town loan spell". Nuneaton News. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  10. Davies, Matt (9 September 2013). "Nuneaton Town 2, Wrexham 0: Match report". Nuneaton News. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  11. Davies, Matt (20 September 2013). "Nuneaton Town lose Amari'i Bell after he is recalled by Birmingham City". Nuneaton News. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  12. Tattum, Colin (25 September 2013). "Amari'i Bell could be in line for Swansea City clash". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  13. Walker, Andy (27 September 2013). "Bell back at Nuneaton". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Nuneaton Town 0 FC Halifax 2: Winless run goes on as Boro exit cup". Coventry Telegraph. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  15. Evans, Gregg (10 December 2013). "Birmingham City putting their faith in teenage talent". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  16. "Bournemouth 0–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  17. "The Report: Blues 1 Leicester City 2". Birmingham City F.C. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  18. "Whild makes Bell first signing". Kidderminster Harriers F.C. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  19. McKinney, Peter (11 March 2014). "Harriers v Macclesfield". Kidderminster Shuttle. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  20. "Amari'i Bell: Mansfield sign Birmingham defender on loan". BBC Sport. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  21. "Blues recall Bell". Mansfield Town F.C. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  22. Walker, Andy (26 September 2014). "Swindon loan move for Bell". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  23. Bassam, Tom (1 October 2014). "Amari'i's self Bell-ief boost". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  24. Bassam, Tom (25 October 2014). "Loan star Bell savours surprise playing time". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  25. Bassam, Tom (5 November 2014). "Super sub Andy does it again". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
    Edwards, Matthew (13 December 2014). "Are Town's loan stars beginning to feel the physicality?". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  26. "Playing record: Amari'i Bell". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk. Richard Banyard. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  27. "Amari'i Bell: Gillingham sign Birmingham defender on loan". BBC Sport. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  28. Cawdell, Luke (21 March 2015). "Gillingham 2 Colchester United 2 – match report". Kent Online. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 "Games played by Amari'i Bell in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  30. "Amari'i Bell released by Blues". Birmingham City F.C. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  31. Cawdell, Luke (19 May 2015). "Gillingham could make a move for full-back Amari'i Bell after Birmingham City announced he was being released". Kent Online. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  32. "Fleetwood Town swoop for Bell". Fleetwood Town F.C. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  33. "Fleetwood 4-1 Southport". BBC Sport. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  34. "Games played by Amari'i Bell in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  35. "Games played by Amari'i Bell in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 September 2016.

External links

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