[Bispham Seasider]

Alex John-Baptiste



Signed from Mansfield Town for an undiclosed fee.

Born on 31 January 1986 in Sutton-in-Ashfield, England. Current age 22. Plays usually in central defence and as also played at right back and defensive midfield.

John-Baptiste was a youth player at Mansfield and made his debut in the first team as a 17 year old in April 2003. He had two short loan spells at non-league Tamworth and Burton Albion, and eventually became Mansfields first choice central defender by the end of the 2003-04 season. In 2005-06 he was an ever present in the side. In summer 2007 he signed a new three year contract with the club, stating his desire to play higher level football than League Two with Mansfield who he and the club hoped would do well in the 2007-08 season. However, he missed three months of the season which saw Mansfield relegated out of the Football Legaue to the Football Conference, and at the end of the season and after over 175 appearances for the club, he requested a transfer.

He is seen as a very ambitious player who wants to play at Championship level. Whether he will get straight into the 1st team yet or not remains to be seen, but he is definitely one for the future.