Jake Buxton

Jake Buxton
Buxton playing for Derby County in 2009
Personal information
Full name Jake Fred Buxton[1]
Date of birth (1985-03-04) 4 March 1985 (age 38)[1]
Place of birth Sutton-in-Ashfield, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
2000–2002 Mansfield Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2008 Mansfield Town 151 (5)
2003 → Alfreton Town (loan) 5 (0)
2008–2009 Burton Albion 40 (0)
2009–2016 Derby County 139 (11)
2016–2017 Wigan Athletic 39 (1)
2017–2020 Burton Albion 87 (1)
Total 461 (18)
Managerial career
2020 Burton Albion (player-manager)
2022–2023 Derby County U18
2023– Derby County U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:12, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

Jake Fred Buxton (born 4 March 1985) is an English professional footballer and manager who plays as a defender.

His playing career consisted of spells at Mansfield Town from 2002 to 2008, with a loan period at Alfreton Town in 2003. He then moved to Burton Albion for the 2008–09 season, before joining Derby County in 2009 where he stayed until 2016. He then spent the 2016–17 season at Wigan Athletic before moving to Burton Albion in 2017.

He was named player-manager for Burton Albion in May 2020 before being dimissed in December 2020 this also co-inicded with the end of his playing career. He has since worked as a coach in Derby County's academy where he was lead coach for the clubs under-18 team, since July 2023 he has been the clubs under-21 lead coach.

Playing career

Mansfield Town

Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire,[1] Buxton came up through the youth system at Mansfield, winning the Youth Team Player of the Year award in 2002,[2] and made his first-team debut in October 2002 in a EFL Trophy match against Crewe Alexandra.[3] However, it was not until the 2004–05 season that he established himself as a regular member of the first team and his form was rewarded with a new one-year contract in February 2005.[4] In April 2006, Buxton signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract,[5] and was made team captain,[6] one of the youngest in the country, during the 2006–07 season.[2]

By the end of the 2007–08 season, he had played over 160 first-team games for Mansfield, scoring five goals.[7] After Mansfield Town were relegated to the Football Conference at the end of the 2007–08 season, he was out of contract but was offered new terms by the club.[8] Following a takeover of the club and change of manager, Buxton was released by mutual consent after expressing his desire to stay in the Football League.[9]

Burton Albion

After leaving Mansfield, Buxton had a trial spell with Crewe,[10] but Crewe decided not to sign him so he joined Burton Albion in August 2008 on a free transfer.[11] Buxton's performances at Burton earned him rave reviews as he helped the Brewers to the Conference National title, and he was named Player of the Month for November 2008.[12] He won the club's annual player of the year award and attracted much interest from league clubs.

Derby County

At the end of the 2008–09 season, Buxton signed a one-year contract, with an option of a one-year extension, to rejoin former manager Nigel Clough[13] at Championship side Derby County when his contract with Burton expired at the end of June 2009.[14] Buxton made his Derby début on 8 August 2009, playing the full 90 minutes as Derby beat Peterborough United 2–1 at home, Buxton getting an assist for Miles Addison's goal. His first goal for Derby came in their 2–1 victory at home to Plymouth Argyle on 22 August. After playing the first six games of the season, an injury in the sixth, a 3–2 defeat at Nottingham Forest, saw Buxton undergo an operation for a hernia.[15][16] Despite being ruled out for several weeks, Buxton was fit enough to feature on the bench ten days later,[17] and later played 90 minutes for the reserves.[18] However, he then picked up a groin strain[19] and was ruled out for several more weeks.[20] In December, Derby took up the option of a one-year extension to his contract.[21] After being out for three months through injury,[22] Buxton returned to the starting eleven on 26 December in a 2–0 defeat to Blackpool, in what would be his first of six consecutive starts for Derby. He finished the season with 24 starts in all competitions, describing his first full season for the club as "a dream come true."[23]

During the 2011 close season, Buxton underwent groin surgery which ruled him out for four to six weeks and meant he missed the majority of Derby's pre-season campaign.[24] He returned to action as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 win for a Derby County XI against former club Burton Albion in the Bass Charity Vase final on 28 July 2012.[25] He then injured his back, ruling him out of the start of the 2010–11 season before undergoing back surgery to clear up the injuries which had forced him out of the first team picture for seven months.[26] He returned to first team action four months later with an 89th-minute substitute appearance in a 1–0 win at Sheffield United on 27 February 2011, which would prove to be his only first-team appearance of the campaign.

Derby made a strong start the 2011–12 season, featuring in the play-off spots for the first three months of the campaign. However, a sharp decline in form from November onwards, coupled with a season-ending injury to Shaun Barker, allowed Buxton the opportunity to cement a place in the Derby starting eleven and he appeared in the majority of Derby's fixtures from November onwards. He even earned cult status amongst the Derby support with a stoppage-time winner in the East Midlands derby at home to Nottingham Forest to earn Derby a first league double over their archrivals in 40 years.[27] Buxton was eventually rewarded with a two-year extension to his contract, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2014.[28]

Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Buxton was placed as Derby's most experience available defender following the sale of Jason Shackell to Burnley and the injury to Barker, and Nigel Clough stated his faith in Buxton's ability to become a first team regular at Championship level,[29] Buxton opened the season with three goals in two games, with a brace in a 5–5 League Cup draw with Scunthorpe United[30] and a strike in the opening league game against Sheffield Wednesday.[31] Buxton spent the start of the season in and out of the starting line-up, competing with new signing James O'Connor to start alongside captain Richard Keogh, a battle Buxton was winning until he was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 3–0 loss at Peterborough United on 27 October 2012.[32] After several games on the bench after his suspension, Buxton returned to the starting before being ruled out for two months after picking up a knee injury following his goal in a 3–1 win against Leeds United.[33] Buxton returned to first team action in a 2–2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday[34] and was praised for his courage by Clough after he was forced to start at short notice due to an injury picked up by Mark O'Brien in the pre-match warm-up.[35] Buxton retained his place in the starting line-up alongside Keogh and scored his fifth goal of the season with an 88th-minute winner in a 2–1 win at Leeds United on 1 April.[36] Later on in the month, Buxton signed a new two-year contract.[37]

Despite losing his squad number of 5, Buxton was considered to be the first choice centre back for 2013–14, as Shaun Barker and Mark O'Brien were still recovering from knee injuries.[38]

On 30 June 2014, Jake Buxton signed a new three-year contract with Derby County, which would see him stay at the club until the end of the 2016/17 season.[39] Ahead of the 2014–15 season, Buxton regained his number 5 shirt following the continued absence of Shaun Barker.

Wigan Athletic

On 26 July 2016, Buxton joined newly promoted side Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee and signed a three-year contract.[40] He scored his first goal for Wigan in a 1–0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 14 February 2017. He left Wigan on 20 June 2017 when he agreed to mutually terminate his contract to move back to Nottinghamshire.[41]

Burton Albion

On 28 June 2017, Buxton rejoined Burton Albion.[42] He was offered a new contract by the club at the end of the 2017–18 season, following their relegation.[43]

Coaching career

On 18 May 2020, Buxton was appointed as player-manager of Burton Albion, following the resignation of previous manager Nigel Clough.[44][45]

On 29 December 2020, Buxton was sacked after two wins in 21 games in the league and the Brewers rock bottom, six points off safety in League One.

He works in the Derby County Academy as a Professional Development Phase Coach, in October 2022 he started work as the club's under-18 lead coach. Ahead of the 2023–24 season, Buxton was appointed the clubs under-21 lead coach on 26 July 2023 after a restructuring of the Derby's academy.[46]

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Mansfield Town 2002–03[3] Second Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 4 0
2003–04[47] Third Division 9 1 1 0 0 0 1[a] 0 11 1
2004–05[48] League Two 30 1 2 0 0 0 1[a] 0 33 1
2005–06[49] 39 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 44 0
2006–07[50] 30 1 2 0 2 0 2[a] 0 36 1
2007–08[51] 40 2 4 0 1 0 1[a] 0 46 2
Total 151 5 12 0 5 0 6 0 174 5
Alfreton Town (loan) 2003–04[52] NPL-Premier Division 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Burton Albion 2008–09[53] Conference Premier 40 0 1 0 0 0 2[b] 0 43 0
Derby County 2009–10[54] Championship 19 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 24 1
2010–11[55] 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2011–12[56] 21 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 23 2
2012–13[57] 31 3 0 0 1 2 0 0 32 5
2013–14[58] 45 2 1 0 3 0 3[c] 0 52 2
2014–15[59] 19 3 2 0 2 0 0 0 23 3
2015–16[60] 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 139 13 10 0 7 2 3 0 159 13
Wigan Athletic 2016–17[61] Championship 39 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 42 1
Burton Albion 2017–18[62] Championship 33 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 34 0
2018–19[63] League One 30 0 0 0 4 0 1[a] 0 35 0
2019–20[64] 24 1 4 0 1 0 1[a] 0 30 1
Total 87 1 5 0 5 0 2 0 99 1
Career total 461 18 30 0 18 2 13 0 522 20
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in the Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Appearances in the FA Trophy
  3. ^ Appearances in the Championship play-offs

Managerial statistics

[65]

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
Burton Albion 19 May 2020 29 December 2020 27 2 10 15 007.41
Total 27 2 10 15 007.41

Honours

Burton Albion

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. ^ a b "Jake Buxton profile". Mansfield Town F.C. official site. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Stags reward Buxton with new deal". BBC Sport. 2 February 2005. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  5. ^ "Buxton could make early comeback". BBC Sport. 28 April 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  6. ^ "Stags skipper ready for Cup test". BBC Sport. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Jake Buxton". Soccerbase. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Seven players to leave Mansfield". BBC Sport. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  9. ^ "Buxton released". Mansfield Town FC. 5 July 2008. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Holland to make Buxton decision". BBC Sport. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  11. ^ "Brewers swoop for defender Buxton". BBC Sport. 28 July 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  12. ^ "Burton's Buxton claims accolade". BBC Sport. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  13. ^ "Clough mulls over move for Buxton". BBC Sport. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  14. ^ "Buxton pens Derby deal". Sky Sports. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  15. ^ "Rams are rocked by double blow". Derby Telegraph. 16 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  16. ^ "Rams defender Buxton set for hernia op this weekend". Derby Telegraph. 19 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  17. ^ "Buxton ready to answer Rams call". Derby Telegraph. 2 October 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  18. ^ "Defender Buxton's joy after return to Rams action". Derby Telegraph. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  19. ^ "Rams defender Buxton hoping injury frustration is over". Derby Telegraph. 12 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  20. ^ "Rams trio set to return after international break". Derby Telegraph. 6 November 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  21. ^ "New Rams deals for Buxton and Pringle". Derby Telegraph. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  22. ^ "Buxton back in contention for Watford trip". Derby Telegraph. 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
  23. ^ "Buxton "A dream come true"". dcfc.co.uk. 7 July 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  24. ^ "Derby County's Jake Buxton to undergo groin surgery". BBC Sport. 29 June 2010.
  25. ^ "Buxton Delighted To Be Back". dcfc.co.uk. 29 July 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  26. ^ "Back op for Buxton". dcfc.co.uk. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  27. ^ "Derby County 1–0 Nottm Forest". dcfc.co.uk. 13 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  28. ^ "Buxton and Roberts sign new Derby County contracts". BBC Sport. 16 April 2012.
  29. ^ "Derby County have sold Jason Shackell to Championship rivals Burnley and are close to new signing". Derby Telegraph. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  30. ^ "Derby 5–5 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. 14 August 2012.
  31. ^ "Derby 2–2 Sheff Wed". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012.
  32. ^ "Peterborough 3–0 Derby". BBC Sport. 27 October 2012.
  33. ^ "Derby County's Jake Buxton out for two months with knee injury". BBC Sport. 13 December 2012.
  34. ^ "Sheff Wed 2–2 Derby". BBC Sport. 9 February 2013.
  35. ^ "Defender Jake Buxton is praised for his 'incredible courage' by Derby County boss Nigel Clough". Derby Telegraph. 11 February 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  36. ^ "Leeds 1–2 Derby". BBC Sport. 1 April 2013.
  37. ^ "Jake Buxton extends Derby County contract". BBC Sport. 11 April 2013.
  38. ^ "Nigel Clough in no rush to land central defender for Derby County". Derby Telegraph. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013.
  39. ^ "Jake Buxton Signs A New Three-Year Contract With Derby County". Derby County F.C. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  40. ^ "Jake Buxton joins Wigan Athletic from Derby County for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 26 July 2016.
  41. ^ "Wolves 0-1 Wigan". BBC. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  42. ^ "BUXTON RETURNS TO BREWERS – News – Burton Albion".
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  44. ^ "Burton Albion: Nigel Clough to be replaced by Jake Buxton as Brewers boss". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  45. ^ "Clough departure saved jobs at Burton". BBC Sport.
  46. ^ "BUXTON APPOINTED AS LEAD UNDER-21 COACH". Derby County. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
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  48. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  49. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
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  54. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  55. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  56. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  57. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  58. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  59. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  60. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  61. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  62. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  63. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  64. ^ "Games played by Jake Buxton in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  65. ^ "Managers: Jake Buxton". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 December 2023.

External links