Junior Eccleston

Junior Eccleston's route into the professional game ran through Sutton United's academy, which he joined at under-16 level before completing a two-year scholarship there. He broke into the first team during the 2024/25 campaign, though it was a loan spell away from the club, at Walton & Hersham, that gave him his heaviest run of senior football early on — 32 appearances before he returned to Sutton United in January 2025.

The following season proved the breakthrough. Eccleston established himself as a regular starter in Sutton United's National League side throughout 2025/26, making 35 league appearances and finishing the campaign as the club's Young Player of the Year. That run of form drew attention from higher up the pyramid, with Blackburn Rovers among the clubs credited with interest, though it was Chesterfield who signed him, on a three-year contract, in June 2026, for an undisclosed fee.

At youth level he captained Sutton United's under-18 side. A right-footed defender standing 187cm tall.