Eden Bailey
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 Bailey (left) playing for Hanley Town in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eden Mark Bailey[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 4 February 2004[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Stoke-on-Trent, England[3] | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Hanley Town | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2012–2020 | Port Vale | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020–2022 | Port Vale | 1 | (0) |
| 2022 | → Newcastle Town (loan) | 9 | (1) |
| 2022–2023 | Altrincham | 0 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | → Hanley Town (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| 2023 | → Mossley (loan) | 9 | (5) |
| 2023–2024 | Mossley | 17 | (1) |
| 2024 | Clitheroe | 3 | (0) |
| 2024 | Hednesford Town | 10 | (1) |
| 2024 | Atherton Collieries | 7 | (0) |
| 2024 | City of Liverpool | 7 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | 1874 Northwich | 22 | (13) |
| 2025– | Hanley Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 09:47, 7 May 2025 (UTC) | |||
Eden Mark Bailey (born 4 February 2004) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Midland League Premier Division club Hanley Town.
Bailey made his competitive debut at Port Vale in August 2021, though he was released at the end of the 2021–22 season following a short loan spell with Newcastle Town. He signed with Altrincham in November 2022 and was loaned out to Hanley Town and Mossley in the 2022–23 season. He joined Mossley permanently and then played for Clitheroe, Hednesford Town, Atherton Collieries, and City of Liverpool. He spent the 2024–25 season with 1874 Northwich, then moved on to Hanley Town in June 2025. He won the Midland League Premier Division title with Hanley in the 2025–26 campaign.
Port Vale
Bailey began his career at Port Vale at the age of eight and was named as Youth Player of the Year for the 2020–21 season.[4][5] He made his first-team debut on 10 August 2021, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute for James Wilson in a 2–1 defeat to Sunderland in an EFL Cup first round fixture at Vale Park.[6] He made his League Two debut as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat at Newport County on 11 December.[7] On 12 March 2022, he joined Newcastle Town of the Northern Premier League Division One West on an initial one-month loan deal; he made his debut for Castle later that day in a 2–0 home defeat to Bootle.[8] Port Vale youth team manager Billy Paynter said that "he played on the left of a three and was a threat, he had a very good game" and had recovered well from an ankle injury that had kept him out of action for two months earlier in the season.[9] On 19 March, he scored his first career goal with a header 12 minutes into a 2–2 draw at Mossley.[10] He played a total of nine games for Newcastle.[11] He was not offered a professional contract when his youth team contract expired in June 2022.[12]
Non-League
On 17 November 2022, Bailey signed for National League club Altrincham, immediately joining Hanley Town of the Northern Premier League Division One West on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season.[4] Altrincham manager Phil Parkinson said that he had "a real diamond on our hands".[4] He was recalled in March.[13] On 17 March, he joined Mossley on loan for the rest of the season, having scored against Mossley on his debut for Hanley.[14][15] He was released at the end of the 2022–23 season.[16] He signed with Mossley on 10 June 2023.[17] On 15 February 2024, he signed with Clitheroe.[18] Less than one month later, he joined Hednesford Town.[19] He played 12 games in the remainder of the 2023–24 season, scoring two goals, including one in the Walsall Senior Cup semi-final defeat to Chasetown.[20]
On 6 July 2024, Bailey joined Atherton Collieries.[21] In October 2024, he joined City of Liverpool. On 30 November 2024, Bailey joined 1874 Northwich, the successor club to a team both his father and grandfather played for in Northwich Victoria.[22] He made his debut in their 3–2 Midland League Premier Division victory against Tividale, in which he scored the first goal.[23] He scored 15 goals from 25 appearances in the 2024–25 campaign.[24] He played in the play-off final defeat to Shifnal Town.
On 24 June 2025, he joined Hanley Town, who had just been relegated to the Midland League Premier Division.[25] Hanley were promoted as league champions at the end of the 2025–26 campaign.[26] Bailey had scored 20 goals in 37 games before suffering a serious knee injury in early March.[27]
Style of play
Personal life
His grandfather, Terry Bailey, played professionally for Port Vale in the 1970s and his father, Mark Bailey, played professionally for Rochdale, Lincoln City and Macclesfield Town.[28]