Anthony Malbon

Malbon joined Port Vale as a youngster from Derby County in February 2008.[3] He made his Football League debut as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Barnet on 2 May 2009.[4] This came after picking up the club's Youth Player of the Year award the previous week.[5] During the 2008–09 season, he scored 23 goals in the Youth league,[6] and he was voted Youth Player of the Year by the Port Vale management.[7] In February 2010 Malbon Joined Leek Town of the Northern Premier League Division One South for three games on a work experience deal.[8] He scored a brace on his debut.[9] He was offered his first (one year) professional contract at Vale Park at the end of the season.[10]

In the 2010–11 pre-season, manager Micky Adams was pleased with Malbon's development, having witnessed the youngster score in two successive friendlies.[11] However Malbon purposefully avoided a pre-season trip to Ireland by failing to produce a passport as he did not want to take part in the intense running sessions Adams had planned for the squad; this led to him being dropped form the squad by Adams.[12] The "Valiants" denied Leek the opportunity to sign the youngster permanently.[13] In October 2010, Malbon went on loan to Newcastle Town,[14] and impressed enough to earn an extension to the loan.[15] In November 2010, Malbon left Port Vale by mutual consent.[16] He immediately signed with Leek Town, rather than Newcastle Town.[17] His scoring record at Leek attracted attention from Conference clubs.[18] However a trial at Stockport County was ended after manager Ray Mathias was replaced by Dietmar Hamann.[19] Malbon subsequently signed a one-year deal with Newcastle Town.[19][20]

Boasting a prolific scoring record with Newcastle in 2011–12, Malbon was signed by Conference National side Kidderminster Harriers on an eighteen-month contract in January 2012; Kidderminster paid Newcastle Town an initial £7,000 for his services.[21] Manager Steve Burr thanked the "Castle" for allowing the deal, and stated that "he comes across as a lad who really wants the opportunity to come and succeed here, and who is hungry to do that."[22] He made his debut from the bench on 21 January, netting the first goal of a 2–0 win at Alfreton Town.[23] On 28 April, he had to be airlifted from the pitch at Aggborough after he "suffered a significant blow to his head and neck and was unconscious for a couple of minutes."[24]

He signed a new two-year contract in March 2013, having hit a streak of 11 goals in 12 games to send Harriers to the top of the table.[25] Malbon and strike partner Michael Gash finished the 2012–13 season as the division's joint-third highest scorers with 19 goals, helping Kidderminster to secure a play-off place with a second-place finish.[26] At the end of the season he was voted onto the Conference Team of the Year, alongside teammates Lee Vaughan and Josh Gowling.[27] He found goals more difficult to come by in the 2013–14 season as new manager Andy Thorn switched to a one striker system, leaving Malbon to sometimes feature from the bench or in midfield.[28]

Malbon signed with Conference North club Stalybridge Celtic after having his contract with Kidderminster Harriers mutually terminated in June 2014.[29] He made five appearances, scoring once, before he was released and joined Kidsgrove Athletic in December 2014. The "Grove" finished 20th in the Northern Premier League Division One South in 2014–15, 15th in 2015–16, and 12th in 2016–17. He rejected a move up a division to join Nantwich Town in February 2016.[30] He scored 25 goals in the 2016–17 season.[31] However he missed large parts of the 2017–18 season due to injury, whilst also began to adapt his game to become more of a target-man forward.[32] Kidsgrove finished tenth in the 2018–19 season, with Malbon scoring 32 goals.[33] He agreed a new two-year deal with the club in March 2020, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in England.[33] At that stage he was on 147 goals for Kidsgrove, making him the highest goalscorer in the club's history.[34]