Andrew Caton
| File:28 A Caton.JPG | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew James Caton | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Swindon Town | ||
| Number | 28 | ||
Andrew James "Andy" Caton (born December 3, 1987) in Oxfordshire is an English footballer who plays in midfield. He is the son of the former Arsenal, Oxford United, Charlton Athletic and Manchester City defender Tommy Caton. Andy was five years old when his father died, and his sister Claire was just three at the time. Their brother Stephen was aged just eight then too.
Caton signed for Swindon Town football club as a first year scholar during pre-season in 2004. He was previously a youth team player at the Southampton centre of excellence and was top scorer for hellenic league outfit North Leigh during the 2003/04 season.
He impressed during pre-season - scoring goals against Newbury and Cirencester for the youth team, and then scoring his debut first team goal for Swindon Town in a game against Bristol Rovers- so when Lloyd Opara picked up a thigh strain, with the Town only having three professional strikers on the books, Caton was handed a place on the bench for the opening game of the season, at the tender age of 16. He took his chance well, coming on as a late substitute, and scoring a last minute consolation goal, as the Town went down 2-1 at Wrexham.
Caton stayed on the fringes of the first team throughout the season, making his full debut in an LDV Vans Trophy win at Exeter in October, and a total of seven substitute appearances - before his full league debut on the last day of the season, a 1-1 draw with Chesterfield. During the season, he was also part of the youth squad that won the Youth Alliance South West Conference title and the Alliance Cup - partnering Ashan Holgate up front in the victorious final tie at Burnley.
With a small squad for the 2005/06 season, it appeared as though manager Andy King would be ready to utilise Caton more throughout the season, and he was one of the few youth team players given a squad number in preparation. Unfortunately though, that was as far as it went - early in September, Caton picked up a knee injury playing for the under 18's, later confirmed to be cruciate ligament damage, predicted to force him out of action for the rest of the season. Recovering quickly, Caton returned to light training in December, but just two months later, he cracked his skull in a car accident that knocked back his recovery - though he did manage to appear in twenty minutes of reserve action before the season was out. As a result of his disrupted final year, the club successfully applied for an extension to his scholarship, running to February 2007. Andy has been out of action again recently with a hamstring injury.
In February 2007, Swindon Town announced they were offering Andy a new contract running to Christmas 2007.