| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hayden Taylor Lindley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 2 September 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Huddersfield, England | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Darlington | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Honley Junior | |||
| 2008–2010 | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| 2010–2019 | Manchester City | ||
| 2019–2021 | Aston Villa | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2023 | Aston Villa | 0 | (0) |
| 2022 | → Newport County (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2023 | Golcar United | 1 | (0) |
| 2023– | Darlington | 14 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:09, 13 March 2024 (UTC) | |||
Hayden Taylor Lindley (born 2 September 2002) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North club Darlington. Lindley is a product of the Aston Villa Academy and was also on the books of Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers as a junior.
After impressing for the under-eights team of local side Honley Junior Football Club, Lindley joined the youth setup at Blackburn Rovers in October 2008. Soon after, he also began training with Manchester City's academy at a site in Bradford. Lindley was also approached by Leeds United but did not join them.[2] Lindley remained with City until July 2019, when he departed to join Aston Villa.[3]
On 8 January 2021, Lindley made his first team debut for Aston Villa as a substitute in a FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool, after Villa had been forced to name a team of inexperienced academy players following a large amount of positive COVID-19 tests affected the first team.[4]
On 24 May 2021, Lindley was part of the Aston Villa U18s team that won the FA Youth Cup, beating Liverpool U18s 2–1 in the final.[5]
On 7 July 2021, he was one of several young players who signed a new contract with Aston Villa.[6] Lindley again appeared for the first team on 24 August 2021 in Villa's away EFL Cup victory at Barrow, coming off the bench in the second half as a substitute for Frédéric Guilbert.[7]
On 1 September 2022, Lindley joined Newport County on loan for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.[8] He made his debut for Newport on the 13 September 2022 as a second half substitute in a 1–0 League Two defeat to Stevenage.[9] On 29 December 2022, it was announced that Lindley would return to Villa on 1 January, after only making 5 league appearances for Newport in the first half of the season.[10][11]
Towards the end of the 2022–23 season, with the end of his Aston Villa contract approaching, Lindley was allowed to go on trial with League One club Cheltenham Town.[12] On 16 June 2023, it was confirmed that Lindley had been released by Aston Villa.[13]
After leaving Aston Villa, Lindley played one match for Northern Counties East Football League club Golcar United on a non-contract basis, a 1–1 draw against Bottesford Town on 14 October 2023.[14]
Lindley signed permanently for National League North club Darlington on 24 October.[15] He made his debut the same day, as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against Blyth Spartans.[16]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Aston Villa | 2020–21 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Newport County (loan) | 2022–23 | League Two | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Golcar United | 2023–24 | NCEFL Premier Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Darlington | 2023–24 | National League North | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| Career total | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
Aston Villa U18s