David Theobald

David John Theobald (born 15 December 1978) is an English retired semi-professional footballer who played as a defender in the Football League for Brentford, Swansea City and Cambridge United. He played the majority of his career in non-League football, predominantly for Cambridge City, for whom he made over 270 appearances across three spells. He is currently first team coach at Cambridge City.

David Theobald

Personal information
Full name	David John Theobald[1]
Date of birth	(1978-12-15) 15 December 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Cambridge, England
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Cambridge City (first team coach)
Youth career
	Cambridge United
0000–1997	Ipswich Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–1999	Ipswich Town	0	(0)
1999–2002	Brentford	31	(0)
2002–2003	Swansea City	10	(0)
2003	Cambridge United	4	(0)
2003	→ Cambridge City (loan)	1	(0)
2003–2005	Canvey Island	59	(4)
2004	→ Bishop's Stortford (loan)	5	(0)
2005–2006	Kettering Town	31	(5)
2006–2007	St Albans City	22	(3)
2007	Kettering Town	19	(0)
2007–2013	Cambridge City	219	(31)
2013–2015	Royston Town	20	(1)
2015–2016	Soham Town Rangers	16	(2)
2017–2019	Cambridge City	1	(0)
Managerial career
2015–2016	Soham Town Rangers (joint-manager)
2016	Soham Town Rangers
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Early years

Theobald began his career in the youth system at Cambridge United, before joining the youth setup at Ipswich Town.^[3] He progressed to undertake a scholarship, but did not win a call into a first team squad before his release at the end of the 1998–99 season.^[3]

Brentford

On 8 July 1999, Theobald signed a three-year contract with newly promoted Second Division club Brentford on a free transfer.^[3][4] He was utilised as cover for injuries and had a run in the team as a stand-in right back for the injured Danny Boxall during the 1999–00 season and in central defence for Scott Marshall during 2000–01.^[5] Theobald was named in the starting lineup for the 2001 Football League Trophy Final and received a runners-up medal.^[5] He was released after Brentford's defeat in the 2002 Second Division play-off final and made just 37 appearances during three seasons at Griffin Park.^[2][6]

Swansea City

On 26 July 2002, Theobald signed a one-year contract with Third Division club Swansea City on a free transfer.^[7] He made just 12 appearances before leaving the Vetch Field in February 2003.^[8]

Cambridge United

On 7 February 2003, Theobald joined hometown Third Division club Cambridge United on a contract running until the end of the 2002–03 season.^[2] He made just one appearance before his contract expired.^[8]

Non-League football

Between 2003 and 2018, Theobald had a long career in non-League football, predominantly with Cambridge City, for whom he made 274 appearances and scored 39 goals across three spells.^[9] He also played for Canvey Island, Kettering Town, St Albans City, Royston Town, Soham Town Rangers and Bishop's Stortford.^[10]

Managerial and coaching career

Soham Town Rangers

On 8 October 2015, Theobald and fellow senior player Robbie Nightingale took over as joint-managers of Isthmian League First Division North club Soham Town Rangers.^[11] He remained in the role until 4 December 2016, when he followed Nightingale out of the club.^[12][13]

Cambridge City

On 5 December 2016, Theobald returned to Southern League Premier Division club Cambridge City as first team coach.^[9][14]

Personal life

Theobald attended Impington Village College.^[3] He is a Liverpool and Cambridge United supporter.^[3]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brentford	1999–00[15]	Second Division	10	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	11	0
	2000–01[16]	Second Division	15	0	0	0	0	0	4[a]	0	19	0
	2001–02[17]	Second Division	6	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	7	0
	Total		31	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	37	0
Swansea City	2002–03[8]	Third Division	10	0	1	0	0	0	1[a]	0	12	0
Cambridge United	2002–03[8]	Third Division	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
Cambridge City (loan)	2002–03[18]	Southern League Premier Division	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Canvey Island	2003–04[19]	Isthmian League Premier Division	40	3	2	0	—		0	0	42	3
	2004–05[20]	Conference Premier	16	1	0	0	—		0	0	16	1
	2005–06[21]	Conference Premier	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
	Total		59	4	2	0	—		0	0	61	4
Bishop's Stortford (loan)	2004–05[20]	Conference South	5	0	—		—		—		5	0
Kettering Town	2005–06[21]	Conference North	31	5	1	0	—		0	0	32	5
St Albans City	2006–07[22]	Conference Premier	22	3	1	0	—		2[b]	0	25	3
Kettering Town	2006–07[23]	Conference North	19	0	—		—		2[c]	0	21	0
Cambridge City	2007–08[24]	Conference South	29	4	0	0	—		5[d]	0	34	4
	2008–09[25]	Southern League Premier Division	34	6	3	1	—		8[e]	0	45	7
	2009–10[10]	Southern League Premier Division	35	5	2	0	—		9[f]	2	46	7
	2010–11[10]	Southern League Premier Division	37	5	4	1	—		8[g]	0	49	6
	2011–12[10]	Southern League Premier Division	43	9	2	1	—		2[h]	0	47	10
	2012–13[10]	Southern League Premier Division	41	2	7	3	—		3[i]	0	51	5
	Total		219	31	18	6	—		35	2	272	39
Royston Town	2013–14[10]	Southern League First Division Central	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	1	0
	2014–15[10]	Southern League First Division Central	19	1	1	0	—		4[j]	0	24	1
	Total		20	1	1	0	—		4	0	25	1
Soham Town Rangers	2015–16[26]	Isthmian League First Division North	16	2	1	0	—		2[k]	0	19	2
Cambridge City	2017–18[10]	Southern League First Division East	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	1	0
	2018–19[10]	Southern League First Division Central	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	2	0
	Total		3	0	0	0	—		0	0	3	0
Career total			439	46	25	6	0	0	50	2	514	54

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. One appearance in FA Trophy; one appearance in Herts Senior Cup
3. Appearances in Conference North play-offs
4. Three appearances in FA Trophy; two appearances in Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup
5. Four appearances in FA Trophy; two appearances in Southern League Cup; two appearances in Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup
6. Seven appearances, two goals in Southern League Cup; one appearance in FA Trophy; one appearance in Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup
7. Three appearances in FA Trophy; three appearances in Southern League Cup; one appearance in Southern League Premier Division play-offs; one appearance in Southern League Championship
8. Appearances in FA Trophy
9. Two appearances in Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup; one appearance in FA Trophy
10. One appearance in Herts Senior Cup; one appearance in Herts Charity Cup
11. One appearance in FA Trophy; one appearance in Isthmian League Cup

Honours

Brentford

• Football League Trophy runner-up: 2000–01^[27]

Canvey Island

• Isthmian League Premier Division: 2003–04^[19]

Cambridge City

• Southern League Cup: 2009–10^[28]