JOSH SIMPSON

Full Name: Joshua Richard Simpson

Born: 06 March 1987

Came from: Crawley Town   Went to: Released

First game: 11 August 2015   Last game: 12 March 2016

Appearances: 28 (16/12)   Goals: 1

Born in Harlow, Simpson became Derek Adams' fifth summer signing in early July 2015, arriving on a one-year deal. The central midfielder began his career with non-league Cambridge City, where he played 50 times in two years from 2004, before moving to Cambridge United, also a non-league club at that time. In the 2006-07 season he made 18 appearances for the The U's before returning to City the following summer, playing 46 times and scoring six goals in the 2007-08 season.

In 2008 he left Cambridge City for a second time and signed for neighbouring non-league side Histon, for whom he scored 12 times in 49 games between 2008-10. During this time he also won four England C caps (the national team at non-league level), scoring once. In December 2009 his fine form for Histon earned him a loan move (with a view to a permanent contract) to then-Championship side Peterborough United, scoring twice in three substitute appearances. In the January he duly signed for the Posh on a three-and-a-half year deal. However, despite initially being part of Gary Johnson's plans, he then fell out of favour and made only another 18 appearances.

After a successful trial, Simpson was loaned to Southend United on a six-month loan deal at the start of the 2010-11 season. He had made 24 appearances by the December, at which point his loan was cut short to enable him to move to Crawley Town for one of the most successful spells of his career. In a four-year stay he made 165 appearances (scoring 14) for the West Sussex side, helping the club into the Football League and then League One.

Following Crawley's relegation from League One, Simpson rejected the offer of a new deal to reunite in July 2015 with new Argyle assistant-manager, Craig Brewster, having played under Brewster when he was part of the coaching staff at the Broadfield Stadium. However, hampered by injuries, Simpson struggled to maintain a regular place in Argyle's midfield, and in May 2016 was released at the end of his only season at Home Park.

Simpson spent some time out of the game and took an Exercise & Sport Science degree at Manchester Metropolitan University with help from the Professional Football Association's "TakeControl / DesignALife" programme, whilst also studying for his coaching badges with the Cambridgeshire FA. He made a return to playing in November 2017 when he signed for Bishops Stortford, through a fans-led initiative to cover the cost of signing him and beat off competition from Braintree Town for his signature.

After 11 appearances for the Blues, he made one final move, back to Cambridge City for a third spell with the club in the 2018-19 season before retiring from the game to focus on coaching.