Josh Heaton

Non-league football After interest from Championship clubs Reading and Wigan Athletic and trials with non-league teams including AFC Fylde and Bamber Bridge, Heaton signed for Droylsden of the Northern Premier League Division One North. He soon moved up two tiers to Stalybridge Celtic of the National League North, but made just two appearances at that level before returning to the NPL Division One with Bamber Bridge. By the end of the season he had been on the winning side in the Challenge Cup final and earned himself a new one-year contract.

In the summer of 2017, he agreed to join National League North club Darlington, but the move collapsed over personal terms, complicated by a collarbone broken while playing in a pre-season fixture for his potential employers. He remained a Bamber Bridge player, and spent a month on loan at Congleton Town to regain match fitness. Released by Bamber Bridge in mid-October, he then played three matches for Northern Premier League Division One team Ramsbottom United on a non-contract basis,

Although happy in his work as a delivery driver, Initially, he was seen as a work in progress: Darlington's management team, Tommy Wright and former centre-back Alan White, told him "You'll not play regularly but you'll get your chance, you'll be involved". By February, he had established himself as a regular in Darlington's starting eleven, and in March, he signed a new two-year contract "to give him the wage improvement that he deserves". He finished the season with 22 league appearances. He attracted attention from a variety of clubs including Everton and Middlesbrough before manager Alan Stubbs signed Heaton and another player from the V9 Academy course, Cody Cooke, for Scottish Premiership club St Mirren. Heaton signed a three-year contract; the fee, officially undisclosed but reported in the media as £75,000, was described on the club's website as the largest paid by St Mirren "in around 25 years".

Heaton was an unused substitute for St Mirren's opening fixture, in the League Cup against Kilmarnock, and made his debut in their second group match, at home to Spartans of the Lowland League on 17 July. He played the whole match as St Mirren won on penalties. He made one more appearance in the League Cup and turned out for St Mirren's under-21 side in the Scottish Challenge Cup, but four selections as an unused substitute were as close as he came to a Premiership debut. but made only eight National League North appearances.

Return to non-league football Heaton rejoined Darlington on a non-contract basis in August 2019. He played seven times in the National League North, mostly as a substitute with Louis Laing and Terry Galbraith preferred at centre back. Standing in for the unfit Galbraith away to King's Lynn Town at the end of August, he made defensive errors that contributed to both goals in a 2–0 defeat, and was allowed to leave after just five weeks with the club. He signed for Bradford (Park Avenue) on 13 September, and made his debut the following day in a 1–1 draw at home to Spennymoor United in the National League North. After two months and six league appearances,

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