Nathan Austin

Nathan Austin (born 15 February 1994) is an English professional footballer, who plays as a striker for East Fife.[2] He has also previously played for East Fife, Falkirk, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Kelty Hearts.

Nathan Austin
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-02-15) 15 February 1994
Place of birth Hertfordshire, England[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 East Fife
Number 14
Youth career
East Wemyss District U15
0000–2013 Leven United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 East Fife 72 (28)
2016–2017 Falkirk 31 (7)
2016 → East Fife (loan) 15 (8)
2018–2019 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 47 (11)
2019–2023 Kelty Hearts 34 (49)
2021 → East Fife (loan) 3 (1)
2023– East Fife
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:18, 16 May 2020 (UTC)

Career

Austin, born in Hertfordshire, England[1] moved to Scotland with his family in 2001 at the age of seven.[3] Whilst playing for youth side East Wemyss District under-15s, Austin came to the attention of the media after being subjected to racist abuse during matches for the side.[3] Initially it was reported that he was to quit football because of the abuse,[3] however he vowed to persevere after receiving support from the public[4] and then-Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith.[5] Eventually Austin signed for amateur side Leven United, before moving on to Scottish League One side East Fife in July 2013.[6][7]

Austin made his debut for the Methil club in the Scottish Challenge Cup against Forfar Athletic, coming on as an 85th minute substitute for Scott McBride[8] and his first goal for the side came in a 1–0 defeat of Arbroath in January 2014.[9] His second season with the club saw him improve on the five goals he scored in his debut season, with the striker netting 14 times in competitive 38 matches, including a hat-trick against Threave Rovers in the Scottish Cup[10] and four in the league against Elgin City in a 3–5 victory.[11] His third season with East Fife started even more brightly, and by January 2016 Austin had scored 16 goals in 25 appearances, adding two further hat-tricks to his score-sheet against both Montrose[12] and Stirling Albion.[13] His performances attracted the attention of a number of top-tier sides, with Motherwell, Aberdeen and Dundee all reported as targeting Austin for a potential move.[7] Austin was eventually signed by Scottish Championship side Falkirk on 15 January 2016, with the player remaining at Bayview Stadium on loan for the remainder of the season as part of the deal.[14]

Austin continued to lead the line prolifically for the Fifers in the second half of the season; he scored one goal and assisted another the day after his transfer to Falkirk in a 4–2 win away to Annan Athletic,[15] and also scored the following week in a 3–1 away victory at East Stirling.[16] East Fife were to go on a great run of form towards the business end of the season, and eventually finished top of League Two, ensuring promotion to League One and giving Austin a league winners medal.[17][18]

Austin spent just under two years with Falkirk, before being released from his contract in December 2017. He then signed for Inverness Caledonian Thistle,[19] and made his debut in a 1–1 draw against Livingston on 2 January 2018. He scored his first hat-trick for the club on 14 April 2018, in 5–1 win against Dumbarton.

In May 2019, Austin signed for Lowland League side Kelty Hearts.[2] He was loaned to East Fife in March 2021.[20]

Personal life

Austin's younger brother Jordan is also a footballer and played alongside him at East Fife in Nathan’s first spell at the club both players went in a different path since.[21]

Career statistics
As of 28 September 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
East Fife 2013–14[22] Scottish League One 22410105[lower-alpha 1]1295
2014–15[23] Scottish League Two 301023105[lower-alpha 2]13814
2015–16[24] 201420221[lower-alpha 3]02516
East Fife Total 722853421129235
Falkirk 2015–16[24] Scottish Championship 0000000000
2016–17[25] 17600412[lower-alpha 4]0237
2017–18[26] 14100433[lower-alpha 3]1215
Falkirk Total 3170084514413
East Fife (loan) 2015–16[24] Scottish League Two 158000000158
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2017–18[26] Scottish Championship 27700433[lower-alpha 3]13411
2018–19 23 4 6 0 4 3 2[lower-alpha 4] 0 35 7
Inverness Total 50 11 6 0 8 6 5 1 69 18
Kelty Hearts 2019–20 Lowland League 25 37 1 0 0 0 0 0 25 37
Career total 178831232012214231103
  1. One appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup; four appearances and one goal in the League One play-offs
  2. Three appearances and one goal in the Scottish Challenge Cup; two appearances in the League One play-offs
  3. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
  4. Appearances in the Premiership play-offs

Honours

Club

East Fife

Kelty Hearts

Individual

References
  1. "Team Squad 2015/18". eastfifefc.info. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  2. "Kelty Hearts signal ambition after signing Championship striker". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  3. "Racist Abuse Set To Drive Young Scots Talent From Football". Daily Record. 22 March 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  4. "Race taunt teen Nathan Austin vows to play on and beat bigots". Daily Record. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  5. "Race taunt footballer Nathan Austin told not to let bigots win during Hampden visit". Daily Record. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  6. "New Signings for The Fife". eastfifefc.info. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  7. "Reported Aberdeen, Dundee & Motherwell target Nathan Austin cool on future – but wants a crack at full-time football". Deadline News. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  8. "Forfar Athletic 2–1 East Fife". Scottish Professional Football League. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  9. "East Fife 1–0 Arbroath". Scottish Professional Football League. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  10. "East Fife 7–0 Threave Rovers". BBC Sport. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  11. "Elgin 3–5 East Fife". BBC Sport. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  12. "Montrose 1–4 East Fife". BBC Sport. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  13. "Stirling 1–3 East Fife". BBC Sport. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  14. "Bairns seal deal for Nathan Austin". falkirkfc.co.uk. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  15. "Annan Athletic 2-4 East Fife; match report". BBC Sport. 16 January 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  16. "East Stirlingshire 1-3 East Fife". BBC Sport. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  17. "Clyde 0-0 East Fife". BBC Sport. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  18. "East Fife Twitter". Twitter. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  19. "January transfer window signings". SPFL. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  20. "Kelty hitman Austin makes temporary Fifers switch".
  21. "East Fife sign Kelly and Austin". Scottish Professional Football League. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  22. "Games played by Nathan Austin in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  23. "Games played by Nathan Austin in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  24. "Games played by Nathan Austin in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  25. "Games played by Nathan Austin in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  26. "Games played by Nathan Austin in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  27. "2019/20 Lowland League Season". Scottish Lowland League. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
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