Jay Denny

Jay Denny

Personal information
Full name	Jay Denny
Date of birth	6 January 1986 (1986-01-06)
Place of birth	Santa Monica, California, United States
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Hednesford Town
Youth career
1999–2005	Stoke City Hjlbfgy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2006	Shrewsbury Town	18	(2)
2006–2007	Nuneaton Borough	27	(3)
2007–2009	Halesowen Town	98	(15)
2008–2009	Leamington	8	(0)
2009–2010	Halesowen Town	38	(3)
2010–	Hednesford Town	92	(4)
National team‡
	United States U20
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:00, 26 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of April 8, 2006 † Non-league club.

Jay Denny (born 6 January 1986 in Santa Monica, California, United States) is an American-English footballer, currently playing for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Hednesford Town, where he plays as a midfielder.

Playing career

Stoke City

Denny's parents are both English, and he has lived in England since 1994. He began his career as a trainee with Stoke City after being spotted playing for Cannock schools district football team at thirteen years of age. He was awarded an academy scholarship at sixteen and a professional contract at eighteen, scoring the winning goal to secure the reserve league championship and winning young player of the year award, Denny appeared on the Stoke City first team bench on eight occasions without getting any time on the pitch. He spent a total of six years with Stoke City.

Shrewsbury Town

He joined League Two side Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer with a 50% sell on clause.

Denny started for Shrewsbury Town on the opening day of the 2005–06 season, in a 1-0 defeat at home to Rochdale. He made a total of eighteen appearances for Shrewsbury Town.

Denny scored two goals for Shrewsbury Town in the 3-2 Football League Cup victory against Brighton & Hove Albion, an equaliser in the eighty-ninth minute and the winner in extra time, sending Shrewsbury into the third round of the competition for the first time in many years. Disappointed at being dropped after this cup victory with fleeting appearances off the bench, he notified of his intention not to renew a new contract and subsequently the club agreed to a mutual termination of contract on 8 April 2006.

Nuneaton Borough

Denny then joined Conference North club Nuneaton Borough and made his debut in a Birmingham Senior Cup match against Racing Club Warwick in October 2006. Denny spent one season with Nuneaton Borough. He started twenty games for Boro and made a further seven appearances, scoring three goals, one winning goal of the season with a strike against Stalybridge Celtic.

Denny was offered a contract in the United States with the Richmond Kickers but he eventually decided against the move after making a trip to Virginia.

Halesowen Town

On 27 June 2007, Denny signed for Southern League Premier Division side Halesowen Town and made his debut in a friendly in a 2-0 loss to Walsall. He went on to make a total of forty-six appearances for the Yeltz, making more than any other player in that season. He played under managers Martin O'Connor and Morrel Maison.

Denny scored five goals for Halesowen in the 2007–2008 season, one was a late equaliser at Kings Lynn, the eventual champions and another away at TeamBath in a 3-0 league victory. Denny forged a formidable midfield partnership with Darren Caskey.

Halesowen Town were beaten in the play off final by Team Bath, the goal being scored in the final minute of playing time. Halesowen had to play three games in five days after the league refused to delay the final. The manager of Team Bath agreed that this was a decision that gave his team an unfair advantage and eventually led to TeamBath being promoted. The Yeltz suffered major financial problems the following year and just missed out on the playoffs. Denny played 98 games in two seasons at Halesowen, scoring 15 goals.

Denny left Halesowen in the summer of 2009 to join up with Shamrock Rovers on trial, before eventually joining Leamington for a short spell, however, Halesowen Town's off the field problems were now seemingly resolved and the Halesowen Town manager Matty Clarke persuaded Denny to return to The Grove as club captain. He spent the season at the grove narrowly missing out on the play offs before an approach from the Yeltz’s Southern League Premier rivals Hednesford Town Manager Matty Clarke faced a fight to keep Influential Denny. Clarkes suspension for breaking FA betting regulations, admitted the current situation at the club was not helping.

Hednesford Town

Hednesford Town secured the signature of Denny in July 2010, on a 12 month contract for the 2010–11 season. Denny is one of a number of new recruits that manager Bernard McNally bought in to Keys Park for the 2010 campaign, an extremely impressive season winning the Red Insure Cup beating Hemel Hempstead Town over two legs, 5–1 on aggregate. The team followed up the cup success by qualifying for the playoffs after finishing the league season in second position behind champions Truro City. This gave the Pitmen home advantage in the semi-final against Leamington, a game they won 3–1 to progress to the playoff final against third place finishers Salisbury City. However the season was to end with heartbreak for the Pitmen, after a 1–1 draw in the 90 minutes and going back into the lead Salisbury equalised with the last kick of extra time before winning the tie on penalties. Hednesford transferred to the Northern Premier League for season 2011–12

International career

United States

Denny made various appearances for the United States U-17s and U-20s national teams (Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico, South Korea, Argentina, Poland, Honduras, Denmark, Turkey). He captained the U-20 squad on two occasions in a tournament in Ireland (Wales and Northern Ireland). Denny was not selected for the U-20s World Cup squad when he missed the final training camp in Los Angeles because of professional commitments to Stoke City, this coincided with a change of national coaches prior to the competition and subsequently he was not selected for the squad.

External links

• Jay Denny career stats at Soccerbase
• Halesowen Town profile