Sam Aiston

Samuel James "Sam" Aiston (born 21 November 1976) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder He made over 200 appearances in the Premier League and the Football League, particularly for Sunderland, Chester City, Shrewsbury Town, Tranmere Rovers, Northampton Town and Wrexham.

Aiston began his career at Newcastle United in 1994 but made no appearances for the club before joining Sunderland in 1995, where he made over 20 first-team appearances, most as substitute. He was loaned to Chester City, Stoke City and Shrewsbury Town, before joining Shrewsbury for a £50,000 transfer fee in the summer of 2000. Aiston made 165 league appearances for Shrewsbury, scoring seven goals, helping the club to promotion from the Football Conference at the end of the 2003–04 season. Whilst at Shrewsbury Town Aiston endeared himself to the Shrewsbury faithful owing to his style of play.

He was released by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2004–05 season and joined Tranmere Rovers in July 2005, where he made over 40 league and cup appearances in the 2005–06 season. He was released by Tranmere at the end of the season, and joined Northampton Town. Injuries meant he struggled to command a regular first team place and he dropped into the Conference National for a loan spell with Burton Albion.

In November 2007, Aiston joined Wrexham on loan, having previously played for Wrexham manager Brian Little at Tranmere Rovers. Aiston made his debut in a 2–2 draw with Chester City three days later. In January 2008, Aiston's move to Wrexham was made into a permanent signing. He was transfer listed by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the Football Conference.

Aiston went on to play for Stafford Rangers and Hednesford Town before joining Gainsborough Trinity in February 2010. He was released in May 2011.

After retiring from playing football Aiston became a primary school teacher. He got married in August 2012.

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive