Midfielder Dean Howell has had a long career which has taken in 13 clubs and included two stints with Halifax.

The 28 year old starting his career with Notts County in 1998 but he made just one substitute appearance at Meadow Lane in two years and so therefore moved to Division One Crewe Alexandra in the summer of 2000.

Things didn't get any better for Howell at Gresty Road. He made just one appearance for the Alex in 2000-2001 in a 3-0 defeat at Watford in September 2000 and moved on loan to Division Three Rochdale in March 2001. He made three appearances whilst at Spotland but in December of 2001 he was signed on a free transfer by Conference side Southport. He made his debut on the very same day he signed (1^st December) in a 2-2 draw with Dagenham and Redbridge. It was his first taste of first team football for nine months. Howell made a further 20 appearances for the Merseyside club in 2001-2002, scoring once in a 5-0 win over Leigh RMI in January 2002 and he helped the Sandgrounders to finish fourth.

Unfortunately the play-off system was not introduced into the Conference until the following year (2002-2003) and in that season Howell made 48 appearances and scored three goals but Southport finished 21^st and were relegated to the sixth tier of English football for the first time in 10 years.

Howell would not be joining Southport in a lower league however as he left that summer to team up with Morecambe who had finished second in the Conference in 02-03 but had lost in the Play-Off semi-finals to Dagenham on penalties.

Howell would make 33 appearances in 2003-2004, scoring three times and getting sent off once, as the Shrimps missed out on the Play-Offs by three points. Howell didn't feature in their final seven games of the season and left to join fellow Conference side Halifax in the summer of 2004.

It was in this one year with the Shaymen that Howell had his most productive spell in front of goal. He made 39 appearances in 2004-2005 and scored six times (against Barnet, Exeter, Burton, Accrington, Stevenage and Gravesend) as Halifax finished 9^th.

This form earned him his big break back in the Football League and after just a year at the Shay he moved to League One outfit Colchester United. It proved a sobering experience. He made just five appearances for the Layer Road outfit in their promotion winning season of 2005-2006, (all of them in the first two months of the season, of which the U's lost three and drew two) and after five months on the sidelines he returned on loan to Halifax in February 2006. It was very short-lived however as he made just one appearance, in a 2-1 win over Grays and he was back in non-league football permanently in the summer of 2006, when he moved to Weymouth who had just been promoted back to the Conference as Conference South champions.

He made 19 appearances for the Terras in 2006-2007 before signing for Grays on deadline day in January 2007. He finished the season by making nine appearances for the Essex side, helping them to a 19^th place finish in the Conference, but was on the move again that summer as he joined Rushden & Diamonds who had finished 12^th.

It proved a productive spell as he made 53 appearances in 2007-2008 including three against Halifax, and scored one goal in a 3-2 defeat at Torquay. Rushden though finished a disappointing 16^th place and as ever Howell didn't need much encouragement to move and he opted for another crack in the Football League in the summer of 2008, by joining Aldershot- the Conference champions.

He made nine appearances for the Shots in 2008-2009 before joining Bury on loan in November 2008. He made three appearances for the Gigg Lane side before coming back to the Recreation Ground, starting in their 4-2 home loss to Rochdale on the 31^st January 2009. At the time of writing, he hasn't played since.

Howell's journeyman career has been confirmed by the fact he hasn't remained at a club for more than one season since his time at Southport between 2001 and 2003.

Rob Miles