Kyle Vassell

**Kyle Thomas Vassell** (born 7 February 1993) is English-born Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Northern Ireland national football team and most recently at club level for Fleetwood Town on loan from Rotherham United. He began his career as a youth at Norwich City and Brentford, before embarking on a nomadic period in non-League football. He made his Football League debut for Peterborough United in 2013. He is a distant relative of Darius and Isaac Vassell.

## Club career

### Early years

Vassell began his career as a schoolboy at Norwich City and joined Brentford at age 15 after having difficulty with commuting from his London home to Norfolk. He later acknowledged that at the time he found the change of clubs difficult to comprehend. He failed to feature in the first team while at Brentford and spent work experience loan spells at Conference South sides Woking and St Albans City during the 2010–11 season. He was released by Brentford in June 2011 after he completed his two-year scholarship and later felt that he had given away his opportunity at being a professional footballer.

### Dover Athletic

Following interest from Gillingham and Burton Albion and an unsuccessful trial with League Two side Crewe Alexandra, Vassell signed non-contract terms with Conference South side Dover Athletic in October 2011, linking up with former Brentford manager and player Nicky Forster. He scored on his debut against in a 6–3 Kent Senior Cup win over Maidstone United on 12 October. He made three further appearances before leaving the club.

### Sutton United, dual-registrations and loan

Vassell signed non-contract terms with Conference South side Sutton United on 30 November 2011 and scored on his debut in a 1–0 Surrey Senior Cup win over Epsom & Ewell on 6 December. Vassell bagged four goals in a 6–0 Surrey Senior Cup win over Godalming Town on 17 January 2012. In December 2011 and January 2012, Vassell had dual-registration spells with Isthmian League Premier Division side Tooting & Mitcham United and Isthmian League Division One South side Whitehawk respectively. He signed for Conference South side Staines Town on loan on 21 March 2012. During the 2011–12 season, he made fifteen Sutton appearances, scored seven goals and helped the club into the Conference South playoffs, where they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Welling United. Vassell made 17 appearances and scored three goals for Sutton during the early months of the 2012–13 season before leaving the club in November 2012.

### Chelmsford City

Vassell signed for Conference South side Chelmsford City on 6 December 2012. He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance in a 2–1 league victory over Boreham Wood on 29 December. From early January 2013 to early February, he was in fine form and bagged five goals in five games. He helped secure a fifth-place finish for Chelmsford, but he suffered playoff heartbreak for the second season running as Chelmsford were beaten in the semi-finals by the eventual promoted team Salisbury City. He finished the season having made 25 appearances and scored seven goals, despite being utilised predominantly in a wide midfield role.

### Bishop's Stortford

Vassell signed for Chelmsford City's neighbours and divisional rivals Bishop's Stortford on 30 June 2013. He scored a hattrick in his first competitive game for the club, a 6–1 Herts Charity Cup win over Ware on 1 August. Vassell scored his first league goal for Bishop's Stortford in a 2–2 draw with Boreham Wood on 19 August. Vassell bagged four goals in 17 minutes in a 5–0 FA Cup second qualifying round win over Hendon on 29 September, which saw him receive an FA Cup Player Of The Round nomination. Another hattrick followed for Vassell in the FA Cup third qualifying round in a 6–1 victory over Chipstead. Vassell's run of 16 goals in 16 games saw him hailed as "the new Dwight Gayle" (after Gayle secured a move to League One with Peterborough United and subsequently Premier League side Crystal Palace the previous year on the back of a prolific goalscoring spell for Bishop's Stortford), though Vassell dismissed the comparison. Vassell was the subject of national attention when Bishop's Stortford's FA Cup first round tie with League Two side Northampton Town was chosen to be screened by ITV. Vassell started the match on 10 November, but suffered a dead leg early in the second half and was substituted as Northampton ran out 2–1 winners. It was his last appearance for the club.

### Peterborough United

After his goalscoring exploits for Bishop's Stortford led to interest from Football League clubs, Vassell signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with League One side Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee on 11 November 2013. Vassell made his Peterborough debut (his first appearance in the Football League) on 24 November, starting in a 1–0 home league defeat to Stevenage. He was replaced by Shaun Jeffers after 71 minutes. Vassell was an unused substitute for a 3–2 league defeat to former club Brentford on 26 NovemberTemplate:Citation needed and his third Posh appearance came in the return fixture on 1 January 2014. He replaced Mark Little after 76 minutes of the 3–1 defeat. Vassell scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 Football League Trophy Southern Area Final first leg draw at home to Swindon Town on 5 February.

Vassell later spent time on loan at Dagenham & Redbridge, before joining Shrewsbury Town on loan for the rest of the season in January 2016.

He was released by Peterborough at the end of his contract in May 2016.

### Blackpool

On 16 June 2016 it was confirmed Vassell had signed a one-year contract to play for League Two side Blackpool. On 6 August 2016 he scored on his League debut for Blackpool, against Exeter City.

### Rotherham United

In July 2018, Vassell signed a three-year deal with Championship side Rotherham United. His first league goal for the club came over a year later; an acrobatic strike against Peterborough United in the League One game on 29 December 2019. On 15 January 2021, Vassell joined League One side Fleetwood Town on loan for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. On 17 May 2021, Rotherham United published their retained list, and confirmed Vassell would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.

## International career

In October 2018, Kyle Vassell was called up to the Northern Ireland squad for the first time, for their Nations League matches away to Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Qualifying for Northern Ireland as his grandfather was from County Fermanagh, on his call up, Vassell said: "I'm over the moon, it has been a while coming, I'm grateful that my opportunity has come and it's my first ever call-up, so I'm really excited." On 12 October he made his debut against Austria, coming on as a substitute in the 77th minute.

## Career statistics

Template:Updated

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1. ↑ Appearances in Kent Senior Cup
2. ↑ Appearances in Surrey Senior Cup
3. ↑ Appearances in FA Trophy
4. ↑ One appearance and one goal in Essex Senior Cup, one in Conference South play-offs
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Appearances in Football League Trophy
6. ↑ Two appearances in the EFL Trophy and two in the League Two play-offs
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## Honours

**Blackpool**

* EFL League Two play-offs: 2017

## References

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1. ↑ New signing Kyle Vassell keen to give Oxford United a boost.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nations League: Rotherham United striker Kyle Vassell earns first NI call-up. BBC Sport (8 October 2018).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Badcock, Matt. Forget Dwight Gayle – I'm The New Bishop's Stortford King | The Non League Football Paper – Daily football news. The Non League Football Paper.
4. ↑ Non-League Football News. Footballexclusives.co.uk (20 April 2012).
5. ↑ Woking Football Club | News | Two Players Sign From Brentford. Wokingfc.co.uk.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Official Football Conference League Website. Footballconference.co.uk.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 [1]Template:Dead link
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 FA Cup (10 November 2013). Kyle Vassell determined to make each moment count as Bishop's Stortford take on Northampton in FA Cup. Telegraph.
9. ↑ Hoad, Alex (12 October 2011). Dover Athletic complete signings of Agustin Battipiedi and Kyle Vassell. Kentonline.co.uk.
10. ↑ Match Details – Maidstone United 3–6 Dover Athletic – KSC – 12 October 2011. Aylesbury United FC.
11. ↑ The Official website of Dover Athletic Football Club | Profile for Kyle Vassell. Doverathletic.com (5 June 1992).
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 England – K. Vassell – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway. Uk.soccerway.com.
13. ↑ Match Details – Sutton United 6–0 Godalming Town – SSC – 17 January 2012. Aylesbury United FC.
14. ↑ Tooting & Mitcham searching for a goalscoring hero (From Your Local Guardian). Yourlocalguardian.co.uk (28 November 2011).
15. ↑ mitoo.co.
16. ↑ Striker Kyle Vassell Joins Clarets Squad. Chelmsford City FC.
17. ↑ Bishop's Stortford FC new signings relish the challenge | Blues News – all the latest from Bishop's Stortford Football Club. Hertsandessexobserver.co.uk (27 July 2013).
18. ↑ http://www.bsfc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Ware-Home-HCC-01072013.pdf
19. ↑ Posh Sign Stortford Hot-Shot. Theposh.com (11 November 2013).
20. ↑ Coney, Steven. Four Up For FA Cup Accolade | The Non League Football Paper – Daily football news. The Non League Football Paper.
21. ↑ Hat-trick for Vassell as Blues hit six to march on in FA Cup | Blues News – all the latest from Bishop's Stortford Football Club. Hertsandessexobserver.co.uk (12 October 2013).
22. ↑ A number of Football League clubs are tracking Bishop's Stortsford's Kyle Vassell. Sky Sports.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 BBC Sport – Peterborough United complete deal for Kyle Vassell. Bbc.co.uk (11 November 2013).
24. ↑ Watch FA Cup first round live on ITV – Bishop's Stortford v Northampton | FA Cup – ITV Sport. Itv.com (28 October 2013).
25. ↑ FA Cup match report and highlights: Bishop's Stortford 1–2 Northampton | FA Cup – ITV Sport. Itv.com (10 November 2013).
26. ↑ BBC Sport – Peterborough United 0–1 Stevenage. Bbc.co.uk (23 November 2013).
27. ↑ BBC Sport – Peterborough United 1–3 Brentford. Bbc.com (1 January 2014).
28. ↑ Osborne, Chris. BBC Sport – Peterborough United 2–2 Swindon Town. Bbc.co.uk.
29. ↑ Kyle Vassell and Richie Wellens sign for Shrewsbury Town. BBC Sport (8 January 2016).
30. ↑ Peterborough United release Gabriel Zakuani and five other players. BBC Sport (13 May 2016).
31. ↑ Striker Agrees Blackpool Deal (16 June 2016).
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33. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
34. ↑ Rotherham United 4–0 Peterborough United. BBC Sport (29 December 2019).
35. ↑ Vassell joins Town on loan. Fleetwood Town FC (15 January 2021).
36. ↑ Retained list confirmed by Millers ahead of 2021/22 campaign. Rotherham United F.C. (17 May 2021).
37. ↑ Waiting is over as Vassell gets Northern Ireland call.
38. ↑ Austria 1–0 Northern Ireland – Arnautovic scores winner. BBC Sport (11 October 2018).
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 39.6 39.7 39.8 Games played by Kyle Vassell – Aylesbury United. Aylesbury United F.C..
40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Games played by Kyle Vassell – Football Mitoo. Football Mitoo.
41. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Template:Soccerbase season
43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Template:Soccerbase season
44. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
45. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
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48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Template:Soccerbase season
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