Martin Aldridge

Martin James Aldridge (6 December 1974 – 30 January 2000) was an English footballer. A forward, he scored 44 goals in 182 league appearances in a seven-year career in the Football League.

He turned professional at Northampton Town in August 1993. He was loaned out to Dagenham & Redbridge in December 1995, and was transferred to Oxford United later in the month. He helped the club to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1995–96, but later fell out of favour, and was loaned out to Southend United in February 1998. He switched to Blackpool in August 1998, where he enjoyed loan spells out to Port Vale and Rushden & Diamonds. After a game at Nene Park, he was involved in a car accident on the A45, and died of his injuries, aged 25.

Northampton-born Aldridge joined Coventry City as a schoolboy, but was released in 1990. As a sixteen-year-old, he then played for Ford Sports Daventry (UCL first division), and joined Sunday League side Braunston Rangers on to play with his brother Pete. He began his professional career as a trainee with his local side, Northampton Town, joining them from Braunston leaving school in the summer of 1991, and turning professional in August 1993. The "Cobblers" finished bottom of the Football League in 1993–94. On 15 October 1994, he scored the first-ever competitive goal at Northampton's new Sixfields Stadium, in a 1–1 draw with Barnet. Northampton rose to 17th in the Third Division in 1994–95 under Ian Atkins's stewardship. He moved to Dagenham & Redbridge on loan in December 1995, and later that month moved to Oxford United on a free transfer, where he was intended to replace Wayne Biggins. Oxford won promotion as runners-up of the Second Division in 1995–96.

He scored nine goals in 38 appearances in 1996–97, including a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Sheffield United at the Manor Ground on 14 December. Aldridge and Nigel Jemson's partnership helped the "U's" to retain their First Division status with a 17th-place finish. He scored four goals in 29 games in 1997–98, but lost his first team place after manager Denis Smith was replaced by Malcolm Shotton. In February 1998, Aldridge joined Southend United on loan, playing eleven times for Alvin Martin's struggling Second Division side, before returning to Oxford, who released him at the end of the season.

In August 1998 he joined Second Division Blackpool, and was the club's top scorer in 1998–99 with ten goals. However, he then fell out with manager Nigel Worthington, and in September 1999 he joined Port Vale on loan, and made three goalless appearances for Brian Horton's First Division "Valiants" in 1999–2000. In January 2000 he joined Conference club Rushden & Diamonds, also on loan, and scored sixty seconds into his debut in an FA Trophy victory at Bath City.

On 30 January 2000, at the age of 25, Aldridge died as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash after leaving Rushden's 6–0 Conference win against Northwich Victoria at Nene Park, for which he had been an unused substitute. He was travelling home towards Northampton on the westbound A45 after the game when his Peugeot was involved in a collision with a BMW travelling in the opposite direction. After being cut free from his car, he was taken to Northampton General Hospital with serious injuries. He was later transferred to Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, where he died early the following morning. An inquest found that Aldridge had hit traffic cones and lost control of his car; four contractors were charged with failing to comply with highways regulations after it was concluded that roadwork signs had not been properly lit.

• Sourced from Martin Aldridge profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

• Football League Second Division runner-up: 1995–96