Zac Attwood

DOB: 14th December 1988

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 2013/14

Season of last appearance: 2014/15

Full Appearances: 27

Substitute: 22

Goals: 12

Also played for:

Eastbourne Borough, Bognor Regis Town, Hastings United, Histon, Welling United, Maidstone United, Crowborough Athletic, Sevenoaks Town and Eastbourne Town.

Player Profile:

Hastings-born attacker who started his career in Eastbourne Borough's youth teams before joining Conference South outfit Bognor Regis for the 2007/08 season.

Zac moved on to Hastings in the summer of 2008 and went on to make 19 appearances (seven as sub) without scoring in the Isthmian League Premier Division during the 2008/09 campaign. He then left the club and spent a year on a football scholarship in California, USA, before abandoning his studies.

After returning to the UK, Zac signed for Histon in July 2010 and on 14.8.10 he scored twice on his debut as they beat visitors Barrow 3-1 in the Conference. He was a regular in Histon's matchday squad for most of the 2010/11 season but only scored once more in the league. Zac was also sent off in a 3-1 defeat at Southport on 1.3.11. He left Histon at the end of the campaign having scored four goals from a total of 27 appearances (ten as sub) in all competitions.

In the summer of 2011, Zac joined Welling United of the Conference South and he made his full debut for the Wings as they beat his old club Eastbourne 3-0 at Park View Road on 27.8.11. In October 2011, he was loaned out to Hastings and Zac's return to his hometown team soon became permanent.

He top-scored with a total of 14 goals for Hastings during 2011/12 and 11 of Zac's strikes came from his 30 appearances in the Isthmian League Premier Division. On 2.1.12, he was on target in a 4-1 defeat at Margate.

During the 2012/13 season, Zac again scored a total of 14 goals for Hastings, seven in league games and another seven in cup ties. Although the U's were relegated from the Premier Division, they did enjoy a famous FA Cup run and on 5.1.13 Zac featured in their 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough in the 3rd Round.

In June 2013, he signed for Margate and Zac scored in his first outing for the club - a 5-1 win in a friendly at Ashford on 9.7.13. On 26.7.13, he made his competitive debut as Margate took on Ramsgate in the first leg of the Thanet Challenge Cup at Hartsdown Park and Zac opened the scoring from the penalty spot after only six minutes. Margate went on to win 2-0.

After featuring as a substitute in the next three matches, Zac returned to the starting line-up as Margate entertained Harrow in the Isthmian League Premier Division on 17.8.13 and scored the third goal in a 3-1 win, driving home a low angled shot. He also scored in his next outing - a 1-1 draw at Enfield on 20.8.13.

On 26.8.13, Zac impressed during a 1-0 win over Maidstone at Hartsdown Park and Margate's joint player-manager Craig Holloway praised him on the club's website. Holloway said that Zac "led the line superbly, bringing others into play and opening up their defence on numerous occasions". Zac then got his fourth goal with a penalty in a 2-0 win at Metropolitan Police on 31.8.13 but that turned out to be his last outing for Margate. A few days later he signed for Maidstone who'd put in a seven-day approach as a result of his recent display against them. Zac had scored four times from a total of nine appearances (three as sub).

Margate made a statement about his departure and said: "The directors of Margate Football Club are very disappointed that nobody from Maidstone United had the courtesy to speak with any member of our board or the management team before serving notice on our player Zac Attwood. Zac made an immediate decision when approached by Maidstone as he was not on contract with us at the time."

After scoring on his debut for Maidstone, Zac went on to find the net 24 times as the Stones challenged for promotion from the Premier Division. On 26.12.13, he got one of the goals in a 4-0 home win over Margate. Maidstone eventually slipped out of contention for a place in the Conference South and, in May 2014, Zac rejoined Margate.

Maidstone's manager Jay Saunders - a former Margate star - explained: "Margate asked to see him and said they might be able to make an offer he couldn't refuse, which is exactly what they've done. It wasn't an easy decision for Zac - he said no at first and couldn't make up his mind - but you can understand why he's gone. He's looking to buy a house and the money is miles better than he was on here. It's money I couldn't get close to - probably more than some League 2 players are on - but as much as I'd love to keep him, it wasn't even worth me making another offer. Money has to come into it as a non-league player. You may enjoy playing for certain clubs but we've all got to live and I wouldn't expect him to turn down that sort of money."

In June 2014, Margate's website quoted Zac as saying: "I am absolutely delighted to be back at Margate. I had a great season at Maidstone last year and I have some friends there still but once I met Terry [Brown] and Stuart [Cash] they sold me the vision of the club and it blew me away. I have never worked with either of them before but everyone in non-league football knows about what they have done in the past at AFC Wimbledon, Aldershot and Hayes. The new chairman here is fantastic and he wants to move the club forward and we are certainly going to do that."

He ended up making 21 league starts plus 19 sub appearances in 2014/15. His nine goals included the Blues' only goal in the 2-1 defeat at his former club Maidstone on 28.03.15. But he missed out on the promotion run-in and Margate's victorious play-off campaign with an Achilles injury.

In summer 2015, Zac left Hartsdown Park to return to Ryman League Division 1 South side Hastings United.

Talking to Kent Online, boss Terry Brown paid tribute to Attwood, saying: “Zac played a vital part in us winning promotion last season and I would like to thank him for his efforts."

Hastings just missed out on the play-offs in 2015/16 and, at the end of that season, Zac left the Pilot Field to join Crowborough Athletic of the SCEFL.

Hastings manager Darren Hare told the local media that the club tried to persuade him to stay but "Zac felt like he needed a fresh challenge away from Hastings".

Zac gained promotion with Crowborough in 2016/17 and also played for them in 2017/18.

After a spell at Sevenoaks Town, Zac signed for Eastbourne Town in October 2018. He scored on his debut against Horsham YMCA and went on to notch 13 league goals in 19 league starts. He resigned for Eastbourne ahead of 2019/20.