John McCombe

Huddersfield Town

Born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, McCombe joined Huddersfield Town as a trainee, and was converted from playing as a centre-forward to become a centre back. He made his first-team debut on 3 May 2003, coming onto the pitch as a late substitute for Jon Stead in a 1–1 draw with Oldham Athletic at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium. Unused in the 2003–04 season, he had to wait until September 2004 for his next first-team appearance. He made seven appearances in 2004–05.

McCombe's only appearances of 2005–06 were against Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup – where he only played because of injuries and suspensions, against Boston United in the Football League Trophy – when manager Peter Jackson rested all his first-team players, and on the last match of the season against Swindon Town. In between these appearances he spent February on loan at Torquay United, but did not appear for John Cornforth's struggling team.

On 15 March 2007, he, along with Hartlepool United's Michael Proctor, agreed to join Boston United on loan. However, due to Boston's financial state, Boston chairman Jim Rodwell was unable to sanction the deals. He was released by Huddersfield in May 2007, and two months later he signed for Hereford United, ending his eleven-year association with the club.

Hereford United

He began 2007–08 as third-choice centre back, but an injury to Dean Beckwith gave McCombe his chance. He turned in a number of impressive performances, preserving Hereford's unbeaten record and scoring his first professional goal from a Kris Taylor cross in a 2–0 FA Cup victory against Hartlepool United. McCombe made 27 league appearances as Hereford gained promotion from League Two, but was dropped for the run-in, in favour of Karl Broadhurst. This coincided with McCombe's mistake in a key fixture against Chester City when he conceded a penalty kick in the last minute for handball, which enabled Chester to draw the match 2–2. He was to make only one more appearance for the club, as a second-half substitute on the final day of the season. In May 2008, manager and chairman Graham Turner confirmed that out-of-contract McCombe would not be offered a new deal.

Port Vale

On 29 May 2008, McCombe agreed a two-year contract to join Port Vale. He claimed one of the reasons he put pen to paper was that having met manager Lee Sinnott 13 years previously, he knew that Sinnott could help improve his game. However, he established himself as a first-choice centre back under new manager Dean Glover, but was also told he was too 'nice' and needed to be more aggressive in his defending. Nevertheless, his performances 2008–09 earned him the chairman's Player of the Year award, as well as the nickname 'Boom Boom McCombe' from fans.

Retaining his first-team place in 2009–10, he was transfer listed in late September 2009, along with the entire Port Vale squad, after manager Micky Adams saw his team slip to a third consecutive defeat. However, by the end of October 2009 he had played in the opening 18 matches of the season, picking up a goal on the way, and was confident of earning a new contract by the season's end. On 12 December 2009, he received the first sending off of his career, following a professional foul on Northampton Town's Adebayo Akinfenwa. This brought to an end his run of 29 consecutive starts, and kept him out of the team for the next six weeks, as manager Micky Adams switched his tactics during McCombe's absence, moving from a 3–5–2 to 4–4–2 formation. He was offered a new two-year contract by the club at the end of the season, which he quickly signed.

He started 2010–11 in fine form, and his strong performances in November 2010 saw him nominated for the League Two player of the month award. His strong performances continued throughout the season, and he was rewarded with the club's Player of the Year award.

Adams continued to use McCombe in the heart of the Vale defence at the start of 2011–12, however he dropped him from the first team after 11 matches in favour of loan signing Liam Chilvers. He marked his return to the first team on 14 October 2011 with the second goal of a 3–0 win over Northampton Town. However, he was dropped after the next match, a 4–0 defeat at home to Morecambe, only to win back his first-team place the following month after turning down the chance to leave the club on loan. With the loanees back at their parent clubs, Gareth Owen out injured and Clayton McDonald in court, McCombe helped to guide teenage centre back Joe Davis through the final stages of the season. He agreed to sign a new two-year deal with the club in June 2012.

He formed a solid centre-back partnership with Clayton McDonald at the start of 2012–13. On 27 October 2012, he was sent off for the second time in his career, again against Northampton at Sixfields, as he put in a late challenge on midfielder Alex Nicholls, who managed to score the opening goal of the match just before McCombe made his challenge; it was later confirmed that the tackle had broken Nicholls's leg. Opposition manager Aidy Boothroyd accepted McCombe's apology, and Northampton player Akinfenwa also stated that McCombe was "not a malicious character". McCombe himself picked up an injury on 1 January 2013, damaging knee ligaments in a defeat to Fleetwood Town, and was ruled out of action for several weeks. Vale secured promotion with a third-place finish at the end of the season, with McCombe playing 37 matches in a regularly changing four back. Despite still being under contract, he chose to leave the club in the summer.

Mansfield Town

McCombe signed for Mansfield Town on a free transfer in June 2013, and was described by manager Paul Cox as "a commanding player who will add knowledge and experience to our defence". He left Field Mill by mutual consent in January 2014, having made only seven starts for Mansfield in 2013–14.

York City

McCombe signed for League Two club York City on 12 January 2014 on a two-and-a-half-year contract, after his release from Mansfield. He made his debut as an 85th-minute substitute for Ryan Jarvis in a 2–0 away defeat to Hartlepool United on 25 January 2014. On 1 February 2016, McCombe left Bootham Crescent by mutual consent after not playing a match three months into new manager Jackie McNamara's tenure.

Macclesfield Town

On 1 March 2016, McCombe joined National League club Macclesfield Town on a contract running until the end of 2015–16. He debuted later that day, as an 81st-minute substitute in a 2–1 home defeat to Torquay. He made 12 appearances and scored one goal as Macclesfield finished in 10th-place in the 2015–16 National League. He retained his first-team place for the following season, and scored the winning goal as Macclesfield won 1–0 away to League One team Walsall in the First Round of the FA Cup. He made 44 appearances in 2016–17, including in the 2017 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium, where Macclesfield were beaten 3–2 by York City.

Chester

McCombe rejected a new contract offer from Macclesfield to join their National League rivals Chester on 6 June 2017 on a one-year contract.

Style of play

A solid and efficient centre back, in the opposition's box he is a goal threat from set pieces.

Personal life

In January 2009, he was attending Manchester Metropolitan University, studying for a sports science qualification. He is a Sheffield Wednesday fan.

His elder brother Jamie is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Honours

Hereford United

Port Vale

Macclesfield Town

Individual