Player Profile

Of the many players brought in by Technical Director Sandro Di Michele and Manager Scott Lindsey ahead of the 2022/23 season, 21 year-old defender Clayton boasted perhaps the best footballing pedigree, having spent 12 years in the Liverpool academy and captained the club’s U23s side in Premier League 2, as well as appearing for Scotland under 21s. Still under contract at Anfield, Town paid an undisclosed fee to bring Clayton down to SN1.

Clayton is most comfortable as a left sided centre back, but is also able to play in midfield. After sitting on the bench for Town’s opening day embarrassment at Harrogate, he made his debut as a half-time substitute for Ciaran Brennan in the 0-0 home draw with Salford a week later. His first start came alongside club captain Angus MacDonald in the 1-1 draw with league leaders Leyton Orient, and after that he established himself as a regular at the heart of Town’s defence, impressing with maturity that belied his youth.

After a strong early season, Clayton picked up a thigh injury in Town’s 5-2 demolition of Mansfield in late October, and then lasted only 68 minutes on his return at Crawley in early December. After that setback, he wouldn’t be seen again in a Town shirt until February, by which point his early season experienced defensive partners Baudry (career ending injury) and MacDonald (sold to Aberdeen) had both departed the club. His form over the second half of the season took a reasonable period to recover to the level he had shown prior to his injury, not helped by a rotating cast of defensive partners including Ciaran Brennan, Frazer Blake-Tracy and Tom Brewitt.

Clayton’s second season at SN1 was a major disappointment, as he picked up a thigh injury in Town’s pre season friendly against Swansea which kept him out for the first two months of the campaign, and a series of related setbacks restricted him to only one start and four total appearances, the last of which came in Town’s shameful 7-4 loss to Aldershot in the FA Cup at a point where Town were already 6-0 down. Clayton was released at the end of the season, a promising start to his Swindon career rather fizzling out.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Liverpool Liverpool	2010 (academy) July 2017 (youth scholarship) rptd January 25th, 2019 (signed professional contract); transferred out (rptd July 12th, 2022)
Swindon Town Swindon	rptd July 12th, 2022 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); released (rptd May 2nd, 2024)