Andrew Procter

Andrew John Procter (born 13 March 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made one appearance for the England C national team.

Club career Early career Procter was born in Blackburn, Lancashire and attended St Gabriel's C of E Primary School in the town before later attending Clitheroe Royal Grammar School. He first started playing as a seven year-old for local side Langho Juniors and later played as a schoolboy at English Football League side Preston North End.

In the following 2002–03 season, Accrington romped to the title with a record-breaking 100 points and 97 goals scored, which earned promotion to the Football Conference. Procter became an integral part of the side, making 39 league appearances as they finished in mid-table but had a record breaking-run in the FA Cup, beating Third Division side Huddersfield Town and Second Division side AFC Bournemouth to make it to the 3rd round. He made a return to first team action in October, but the injury recurred, forcing him to miss big chunks of the season. He was forced to undergo an operation and was on the sidelines for just over seven months before making his return on 17 April 2006 in a 1–0 win over Scarborough. By this stage, Accrington had already secured the league title and promotion to Football League Two for the first time in forty-four years after bankruptcy forced their expulsion from The Football League.

Procter was in demand during the January transfer window from fellow League Two clubs Rochdale and Macclesfield Town, with the latter offering a five-figure fee which was rejected due to being "a long way short" of Accrington's valuation of the player.

In May 2009, Accrington faced severe financial crisis due to an unpaid tax bill of £300,000 to HM Revenue and Customs with the club receiving a notice of winding up proceedings and a High Court hearing set for 10 June. This caused the club to dramatically reduce their playing budget for the 2009–10 season. Procter admitted that he was considering his future having been told he would have to take a pay cut on the two-year deal that he was offered and he was again receiving interest from League Two side Rochdale. Procter stated, "the wages would have been higher but there’s the cost of living in the south, because I’d have been paying London prices. With my personal situation it wasn’t right for me to relocate." After 23 league appearances, 17 of them coming from the bench he decided to cancel his contract via mutual consent with the Lilywhites after 18 months of service.

After a week without a club Procter joined Bury on a free transfer penning a two-year deal with the Shakers. In his first season at Bury he made 28 appearances in all competitions. In his second season at Bury he was put on the transfer list along with Ashley Grimes after being seen as surplus to requirements. On 1 September 2014, he had his contract cancelled because Procter wanted to leave Bury.

Procter rejoined Accrington Stanley on 1 September. He competed against the likes of Luke Joyce and Josh Windass in 2014–15 season.

International career Procter was called-up alongside two other Accrington Stanley players in January 2004 for the England National Game XI for the friendly match against Italy U23 on 11 February 2004 at Gay Meadow. However, he eventually missed out due to injury. He then turned down a second call-up in May 2004 for the Four Nations Tournament in Scotland due to it clashing with his degree finals at Leeds University. NPL Premier Division

2003–04 Football Conference

2004–05 Conference National

2005–06 Conference National

2006–07 League Two

2007–08 League Two

2008–09 League Two

2009–10 League Two

2010–11 League Two

2011–12 League Two

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2011–12 League One

34!!0!!2!!0!!2!!0!!4!!1!!42!!1 Bury 2013–14 League Two

2014–15 League Two

2015–16 League Two

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Honours Accrington Stanley Conference National: 2005–06 Northern Premier League Premier Division: 2002–03 Northern Premier League Challenge Cup: 2001–02 Northern Premier League Challenge Shield: 2001–02, 2002–03 Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy: 2001–02, 2004–05

Individual Accrington Stanley Young Player of the Year: 2003–04