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Michael Symes (born 31 October 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He started his career as a trainee with Everton, playing in attack with future England international Wayne Rooney. He moved to Bradford City after he failed to break into the Everton side but after two injury-ravaged seasons with Bradford he moved to Shrewsbury Town, following a short loan spell. He spent three seasons with Shrewsbury, then joined Accrington Stanley in July 2009 after a loan period the previous season.
His most successful campaign in terms of goals was with Accrington, which resulted in a summer move to newly promoted AFC Bournemouth in 2010. After two years there, he moved on to Leyton Orient, then Burton Albion, initially on a temporary deal, before being released in 2014. He played two matches for Southport in 2015.
Before the following season started, Symes was loaned out to Macclesfield Town for six months, but in July he suffered an ankle injury keeping him out until September. He never played for Macclesfield meaning his action in 2005 was limited to just 35 minutes on New Year's Day. Instead he joined Stockport County in another loan deal in January 2006, where he made his one and only appearance in a 1–1 draw with Torquay United on 31 January 2006. He returned to Bradford and played another three games, scoring in a 1–1 draw with Brentford on 8 April 2006. However his season again ended early when he pulled his hamstring during the draw with Brentford. Symes later admitted "it never happened" for him at City and that his confidence was shattered by manager Colin Todd.
Symes was not a regular in the Shrewsbury side at the start of the 2007–08 season, making 12 starts and nine substitute appearances as he scored just three goals. In January 2008, he rejoined Macclesfield Town with defender Neil Ashton on loan until the end of the season. Despite his exit, Shrewsbury manager Gary Peters said the pair could both return to Shrewsbury at the end of the season. He played his first Macclesfield game in a 1–0 defeat to Peterborough on 12 January, and scored his first goal as Macclesfield drew 1–1 with Milton Keynes Dons on 29 January. It was his only goal in his first eight games and he was dropped for Macclesfield's 3–0 defeat against Peterborough on 23 February when he came on as a substitute in the 44th minute. He returned to the side a week later for new manager Keith Alexander's first match against Notts County when Macclesfield were denied a victory by a late goal from Richard Butcher. While Symes was on loan at Macclesfield, Shrewsbury manager Peters left the club and was replaced with Paul Simpson, who promised Symes and other players out on loan that he would monitor their progress and build his own opinion of them. Macclesfield were involved in a relegation fight during Symes' stay and it was not until a 1–0 victory over Chesterfield on the penultimate weekend of the season that Macclesfield ensured they would be in the league the following season. Symes played 14 games, four as substitute, but scored just one goal during his stay with Macclesfield.
Symes returned to Shrewsbury and started pre-season training ahead of the 2008–09 season, having been told by Simpson that he would be given the same chance as any other player at Shrewsbury to impress, and also personally vowing to force his way into the manager's first-team plans. However, Simpson signed new strikers during the summer including Grant Holt, who cost a club record £170,000, and Symes spent the start of the season out of the team. After scoring six goals in two consecutive reserve games, Symes earned his first game for the first team, when he came off the bench to score a late equaliser and earn Shrewsbury a 2–2 draw with Notts County on 30 August. After starting in a 2–1 Football League Trophy victory against Exeter City, he was again sidelined when he picked up a knee injury. He returned to action in mid-October, when he came on as substitute to give Shrewsbury a late equaliser against Port Vale, only for Vale to score another goal to give them victory.
In November 2008, he was again sent out on loan, this time to AFC Bournemouth, also in League Two, for one month. Simpson said: "We have a big squad and I felt that the opportunity for Michael to go and get a month out on loan at Bournemouth would do him the world of good." Symes made his debut for Bournemouth on 15 November, as they lost 3–0 to Accrington Stanley. He returned to Shrewsbury at the end of his month loan spell, in which he failed to score from five appearances. He was immediately recalled to the Shrewsbury squad and came on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 defeat to league leaders Wycombe Wanderers the following weekend. Because of injury problems, Symes played only three more games, before he moved on loan, this time to Accrington Stanley, another League Two side.
His goals helped Symes land December's League Two Player of the Month and an offer of a contract extension by Accrington to fend off reported interest from other clubs during the January 2010 transfer window. However, Symes announced he would not sign a new contract during the transfer window increasing the chance he could leave on a free transfer during the summer on a Bosman ruling transfer. Two weeks later, Accrington announced they had rejected two bids from fellow League Two side Grimsby Town for their striker. One bid included striker Barry Conlon moving in the opposite direction. The second bid was reported to be a six-figure sum. Symes continued his rich vein of form as his 14th goal of the season—making it his most productive season to date—levelled the scoring against Premier League Fulham in the FA Cup fourth round. A victory would have given Stanley a fifth round place for the first time in their history, but they eventually lost 3–1. In the crowd at the club's following game was Preston North End's new manager Darren Ferguson to become Symes' latest suitor. Despite the interest in Symes, no further bids were reported by Accrington for him or for midfielder Bobby Grant as the January transfer window closed. Symes finished the season with 19 goals—his best return of his career to that point—with 13 of those coming in the league.
Symes was injured during pre-season but made his second Bournemouth debut on the opening day of the 2010–11 season against Charlton Athletic as a half-time substitute. Bournemouth lost the game 1–0 but played against ten men for the last half-hour after defender José Semedo was sent off for a bad tackle on Symes. He was again a substitute for his side's League Cup match before he made his first start the following weekend as Bournemouth defeated Peterborough United 5–1 and a week later he scored his first Bournemouth goal with a penalty in a 3–0 win against Tranmere Rovers. However, Symes soon suffered a shoulder injury, which required specialist treatment and kept him out for nearly a month. With Bournemouth's form pushing them towards the top of the league, Symes admitted he would have to prove himself again to manager Eddie Howe. Bournemouth, however, suffered a number of injuries to strikers, and they risked bringing Symes back early. He was brought on as a half-time substitute against Carlisle United and helped lead his side to a 2–0 victory by scoring the second goal. He instantly won a place in Bournemouth's starting team and followed up his goal-scoring performance by netting twice against Exeter City to put Bournemouth second in the table. He soon spent another six weeks on the sidelines because of a shoulder injury before returning in November. His injury problems continued during the winter and he struggled to gain a run of games in the team meaning he did not score again until February at which point he scored in three successive matches.
On the final day of the January 2012 transfer deadline window, Symes rejoined his former Accrington manager John Coleman by joining Rochdale on loan for the rest of the season. He made his debut on 14 February, replacing Ashley Grimes in the 58th minute of a 1–0 loss to Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park. His first goals for the Dale came on 17 March in a 3–2 win over neighbours Oldham Athletic, a hat-trick concluding with a penalty which he won after being fouled by James Tarkowski. Two weeks later, he scored the only other goal of his 15-match loan spell, an 82nd-minute penalty in a 3–3 draw with Walsall at Spotland, having earlier missed an open goal when set up by Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro. On 14 May, he was one of four players released by new Bournemouth manager Paul Groves.
Symes was loaned to League Two Burton Albion on 31 January 2013, until the end of the season. He made his debut two days later, away to bottom-placed AFC Wimbledon, and equalised for a 1–1 draw in the 36th minute. He scored 4 goals in 15 appearances as the team made the play-offs, being eliminated by his former employers Bradford.
On 29 July 2013, Symes signed a permanent deal for Burton. He came on as a 78th-minute substitute for Rene Howe in a League Cup second-round game against Championship team Fulham at the Pirelli Stadium on 27 August, and nearly scored the winning goal, which was disallowed for offside. When the game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes, he headed the Brewers into the lead in the 102nd, and when it finished 2–2 and went to penalties, he scored the first attempt although his team lost 5–4 nonetheless. On 28 May 2014, he was released by manager Gary Rowett.
Returning to Merseyside, Symes played two matches as late substitute for Southport in the Conference in April 2015, his debut coming on the 3rd, when he replaced Richard Brodie for the final 13 minutes of a 2–0 loss at Altrincham. Eight days later, he came on at the same point for a loss by the same score at Bristol Rovers.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||||||||
| Everton | 2003–04 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Crewe Alexandra (loan) | 2003–04 | Division One | 1 | |||||||||
| Bradford City | 2004–05 | League One | 2 | |||||||||
| 2005–06 | League One | 1 | ||||||||||
| Macclesfield Town (loan) | 2005–06 | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stockport County (loan) | 2005–06 | League Two | 0 | |||||||||
| Shrewsbury Town | 2006–07 | League Two | 13 | |||||||||
| 2007–08 | League Two | 3 | ||||||||||
| 2008–09 | League Two | 2 | ||||||||||
| Macclesfield Town (loan) | 2007–08 | League Two | 1 | |||||||||
| AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 2008–09 | League Two | 0 | |||||||||
| Accrington Stanley | 2008–09 | League Two | 1 | |||||||||
| 2009–10 | League Two | 19 | ||||||||||
| AFC Bournemouth | 2010–11 | League One | 8 | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | League One | 3 | ||||||||||
| Rochdale (loan) | 2012–13 | League One | 4 | |||||||||
| Leyton Orient | 2012–13 | League One | 2 | |||||||||
| Burton Albion | 2012–13 | League Two | 4 | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | League Two | 3 | ||||||||||
| Southport | 2014–15 | Conference Premier | 0 | |||||||||
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