Roy Clayton

Roy Charles Clayton was born on 18 February 1950 in Dudley, Worcestershire. He played football for West Midlands (Regional) League club Warley County Borough before turning professional with Oxford United of the Football League Second Division in August 1969. He made his Football League debut on 20 December, in a 2–0 defeat away to Watford, and had a run of games in the side towards the end of the season during which he scored his first goal at Football League level, albeit in a 5–1 defeat, at home to Sheffield United. Clayton played about half of Oxford's matches over the next two seasons but scored little. His last goal, on 6 September 1972, gave Oxford a 2–1 lead against Manchester United in the League Cup second round, but Bobby Charlton equalised. Clayton was dropped from the team for the replay and promptly submitted a transfer request. In November 1972, Oxford accepted an £8,000 offer from Kettering Town – a Southern League record fee paid – and Clayton moved into non-League football. On his second appearance, he opened the scoring in the FA Cup tie away to Football League club Walsall, and scored Kettering's third as they came back from 3–1 down to draw 3–3. He continued to play and to score freely for the next eight years, finishing his Kettering career as the club's all-time record goalscorer with 187 in all competitions, a record that still stands, as of 2022, and he remains in the top five of the all-time appearance charts. In 1979, he helped the team reach the…