Ben Mackey (born 27 October 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays for Racing Club Warwick.

Ben Mackey
Personal information
Full name Ben Mackey
Date of birth (1986-10-27) 27 October 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Leamington Spa, England
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Racing Club Warwick
Youth career
Coventry City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 Coventry City 3 (0)
2005 Linfield 4 (1)
2005–2006 Racing Club Warwick
2006–2008 Leamington 76 (40)
2008–2010 Brackley Town 80 (44)
2010–2011 Corby Town
2011 Brackley Town
2011 Leamington 2 (0)
2011 Stratford Town
2011 Evesham United
2011–2012 St Neots Town 48 (42)
2012–2013 Stourbridge 12 (8)
2013–2014 Hemel Hempstead Town 49 (34)
2014–2015 St Neots Town
2015–2016 Leamington
2016–2018 Coventry United
2018–2019 Racing Club Warwick 36 (37)
2019–2020 Coventry United
2020– Racing Club Warwick
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Playing career

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Mackey started his career at Coventry City where he made three appearances.[1] The first on 12 April 2003 against Ipswich Town meant that he was (and still is) the youngest player ever to take the pitch for the club's first team, aged 16 years and 167 days. At the start of the 2005–06 season Mackey had a trial with Linfield of the Irish Premier League. He made four appearances for them and scored one goal.

At the start of the 2006–07 season Mackey joined Leamington where he has had the chance to get more first team experience. That season he was Leamington's highest scorer and repeated the feat in 2007–08. 2007–08 saw him become the first player to sign a contract with the club since they reformed in 2000. This showed both the club's high regard for Mackey and his loyalty to the club after rumours that Nuneaton Borough of the Conference North were interested in signing him.[2]

After 92 games and 57 goals Mackey moved to Brackley Town at the end of May 2008 (he was third top scorer in the league for 2007–08 with 24 goals),[3] signing a two-year contract with the Southern League Premier Division outfit. He then signed for Conference North side Corby Town in June 2010 where he scored 10 league goals in the first half of the 2010/11 season before breaking his leg.

In November 2011, Mackey signed for Evesham United,[4] who at the time played in the Southern Football League.

In 2011–12 he moved to St Neots Town and helped them win the Southern League Central Division title in 2011–12. The following season, he moved to Stourbridge and finished second highest scorer in the league with 29 goals.[5] He then signed for Hemel Hempstead Town where he set the club record for number of goals scored in one season whilst helping them win the league title.[6]

On 13 May 2015, it was announced that Mackey was returning to Leamington, initially for pre-season training but with the aim to play for them during the 2015–16 Southern Football League season.[7] He finished the season as the club's top goal scorer with 15 in the league and six in cup matches.

Mackey started the 2016–17 season playing for Coventry United.

Racing Club Warwick

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Mackey signed for Racing Club Warwick prior to the 2018–19 season.

The striker adapted to his new surroundings quickly and had an excellent start the season scoring 5 goals in his first 3 three games before picking up a minor injury against Coleshill Town which would keep him out until September. He then went on to score 14 goals in his next 10 games before going on a 4-game goal drought he ended the drought against Paget Rangers on 26 December 2018, Mackey went on to score another 18 goals from then until the end of the season which included 6 braces and a hat trick, Mackey finished the seasons the club's top goalscorer with 37 goals in all competitions and was instrumental in the club finishing 2nd in the Midland Football League Division One securing automatic promotion to the premier division it was the club's first promotion in over 30 years.

Following a spell with Coventry United, Mackey returned to Racing Club Warwick on 31 January 2020.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Ben Mackey at Soccerbase
  2. ^ Local Leamington newspaper report including Nuneaton's interest in Mackey
  3. ^ "Official Southern League website top scorers list 2007/08". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  4. ^ Leamington FC official site news report on the signing Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Official Southern League website top scorers list 2012/13
  6. ^ Pitchero non-league article
  7. ^ News item on the Leamington F.C. website Archived 27 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Ben Mackey back at Racing". RCWFC.co.uk. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
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