Phil Picken

Born in Droylsden, England, Picken started his football career at Manchester United as a junior after being spotted playing in a small six-a-side tournament in Radcliffe.^[1] At first, he rejected joining Manchester United, due to having been a boyhood Manchester City supporter, but his mother persuaded him to do so.^[1]

Picken went on to spend ten years at the club's academy and was a member of the club's reserve team that won the quadruple in 2005.^[1] Shortly after, he signed his first professional contract with the club.^[1] After returning from a loan spell at Chesterfield, Picken was among four players to be released by the club at the end of the 2005–06 season.^[2]

Picken played for Chesterfield on a loan basis from 18 August 2005 until the end of December.^[3]

Two days later, on 20 August 2005, Picken made his Chesterfield debut, where he made his first start for the club and played 90 minutes, in a 4–1 loss against Oldham Athletic.^[4] Subsequently, his loan spell with Chesterfield was extended until the end of the season despite playing nine matches.^[5] After extending his loan spell at Chesterfield, Picken then established himself in the first team and scored his first Chesterfield goal on 1 April 2006, in a 3–1 loss against Nottingham Forest.^[6] He later finished the 2005–06 season, making 32 appearances and scoring once.

On 25 May 2006, Picken later joined the club on a permanent basis, signing a two–year contract.^[7] His first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the opening game of the season, where he made his first start, in a 3–0 win over AFC Bournemouth.^[8] He began playing from a left–back position to right–back position, as the season progressed,^[9] and then scored his first Chesterfield goal on 17 February 2007, in a 3–0 win over Port Vale.^[10] Despite suspension^[11][12] and injury,^[13] Picken made 39 appearances and scored once in his first full season at Chesterfield.

In the 2007–08 season saw Picken found himself competing over a right–back position with Jamie Lowry.^[14] However, during the season, Picken suffered an ankle injury and a hand injury that required operation.^[15][16] Despite the injuries, he made 37 appearances for Chesterfield in the 2007–08 season and was offered a new contract by the club.^[17] It was announced on 4 June 2008 that Picken had signed a contract with the club, keeping until 2010.^[18]

However, in the 2008–09 season, Picken soon fell out favour under manager Lee Richardson^[19] and was told by the manager to fight for the first team place.^[20] Picken was frozen out of the first team at the start of the season until being recalled to the first team against Gillingham on 6 December 2008.^[21]

When the January transfer window opened, Picken was consequently loaned out to Notts County on a one-month deal.^[22] He made his Notts County debut two days on 10 January 2009, where he made his first start and playing 90 minutes, in a 2–1 win over Exeter City.^[23] Three weeks later on 31 January 2009, Picken played against his parent club, Chesterfield, having been given permission to play against them,^[24] and lost 1–0.^[25] Shortly after, Picken's loan spell with Notts County was extended until the end of the season.^[26] He established himself in the first team at Notts County and went on to make 22 appearances for the club. At the end of the season, the club^[27] and Picken himself were keen for him to sign for the club on a permanent basis.^[28] However, Picken didn't sign on a permanent basis, as the club signed Brendan Moloney on loan instead.^[29]

However, the Spireites' manager was sacked at the end of the season, and new manager John Sheridan gave the whole squad a clean slate. Picken soon became the first choice right back at Saltergate again.^[29] However, Picken suffered injuries again throughout the 2009–10 season.^[30][31] Despite this, he went on to make 21 appearances for the club.

At the end of the 2009–10 season, Picken was released by the club.^[32]

After leaving the club, Picken went on trial at Bury.^[33] After impressing at the trial, he signed for on a free transfer on 4 August 2010, signing a one–year contract.^[34]

Picken made his Bury debut, making his first start and playing 90 minutes, in a 1–0 loss against Port Vale in the opening game of the season on 7 August 2010.^[35] Three weeks later on 28 August 2010, he then provided an assist for Ryan Lowe to score Bury's only goal in the game, in a 1–1 draw against Barnet.^[36] Though he became a first-team regular at Bury, making 38 appearances for the club, Picken suffered suspension^[37] and injuries,^[38] including a hamstring injury that kept him out for the rest of the season.^[39] Despite this, Picken achieved promotion from League 2 with Bury as runners up in the league in May 2011.^[40] At the end of the 2010–11 season, Picken's contract with Bury was extended for another year.^[41]

The 2011–12 season saw Picken returning to the first team from injury and making his first appearance for the club since April, in a 1–1 draw against Huddersfield Town in the opening game of the season on 6 August 2011.^[42] He managed to regain his first team place and was awarded a contract, which would keep him until 2014.^[43] Picken continued to do so, as the season progressed until being dropped from the first team in mid-March, due to a mistake against Carlisle United that saw Bury lost 4–1.^[44][45] Despite this, Picken made 37 appearances for the club in the 2011–12 season.

In the 2012–13 season, Picken suffered a knee injury in a game against Preston North End in September 2012 and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season, with Bury suffering relegation in his absence.^[46] On 28 May 2013 it was announced that Picken would miss the entire 2013–14 season following further setbacks with his injury.^[47] Because of this, he was not allocated a squad number ahead of the 2013–14 season.^[48] After failing to recover from his injury, Picken announced his retirement from professional football in May 2014.^[49]

• Phil Picken at Soccerbase