Ian Gayle

Gayle was born in Welling, London Borough of Bexley and is of Jamaican descent. Gayle joined the youth system at Dagenham & Redbridge in 2010 as a scholar.[5] In March 2011, Gayle joined United Counties League Premier Division side St Neots Town on a youth loan.[6] He made his debut for the club against Boston Town, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 win.[6] His first start for the club came in a 5–2 win over Newport Pagnell Town.[6] His final appearance came in an 8–1 away win against Cogenhoe United, as St Neots clinched the league title.[6] Gayle made a total of eight appearances for St Neots scoring no goals. In May 2011, he completed his scholarship and progressed into the first team after being offered a one-year contract by first-team manager John Still, with the option of a one-year extension.[7]

In August 2011, Gayle joined Isthmian League Division One North side Grays Athletic on a short-term loan deal with an option to extend.[8] He made only one appearance during his loan spell in a 1–1 draw with Heybridge Swifts before returning to the Daggers.[9] In October 2011, he joined Isthmian League Premier Division side Kingstonian on loan until the end of the season.[10] His debut came in the 3–0 away league defeat to A.F.C. Hornchurch, featuring as a substitute.[11] He scored in his first start for the club, in a 3–1 Isthmian League Cup defeat to Margate.[11] He scored the second in a 2–1 win over Dulwich Hamlet in the London Senior Cup quarter final.[11] In March 2012, he scored the winner in a 2–0 league win over Canvey Island.[11] His final game of his loan spell came in April 2012, in a 5–2 defeat to East Thurrock United.[11] Gayle made a total of 31 appearances in all competitions scoring three goals.

In the summer of 2012, Gayle signed a one-year contract extension. In August 2012, he joined Conference North side Histon on loan until January 2013.[12] He made his debut for the club in a 4–1 home defeat to Guiseley.[13] In October 2011, Histon manager Dennis Greene ended Gayle's loan spell and he returned to Dagenham after picking up an injury playing in a training match for his parent club.[14] In January 2013, Gayle re-joined Isthmian League Premier Division side Kingstonian on loan.[15] He played his first match in a 3–1 away win over Carshalton Athletic.[16] In March, his loan was extended until the end of the season.[17] His final game of the loan spell came against Leiston in a 2–2 draw.[16] He made a total of thirteen appearances in all competitions as Kingstonian finished in mid-table.

In the summer of 2013, Gayle was set to be released, however he impressed in pre-season friendlies against Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace and signed a three-month contract in August with a view to an extension.[18] In November 2013, Gayle returned to Grays Athletic on an initial one-month deal.[19] His first game came in a 1–0 defeat to Canvey Island.[9] In December 2012, his loan was extended for a further month.[20] His final appearance for Grays came in a 3–2 away defeat to Dulwich Hamlet.[9] In January 2014, Gayle returned to the Daggers after his loan spell had been blighted by injuries.[21] In February 2014, Gayle was on the move again joining Conference South side Whitehawk on a one-month loan deal.[22] His debut for the Hawks came in a 2–1 home defeat to Eastbourne Borough.[23] His second and final game for the club came in a 3–1 defeat to Bath City.[23] In April 2014, Gayle finally made his Daggers and Football League debut in a 2–0 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers, replacing Matthew Saunders as a substitute.[24] He went on to make a further three league appearances as the Daggers finished in the top half of the table.[25] In June 2014, he signed a new one-year contract until 2015.[25] After finding it difficult to break into the first team, in November 2014 he was sent to Conference South side St Albans City on an initial one-month.[26] In December 2014, following a 1–0 defeat to Bromley, his loan was extended for a further month.[27] His final game for St Albans came in February 2015, in a 1–1 draw with Basingstoke Town.[28] He returned to Dagenham at the end of the month having made sixteen appearances for the club in all competitions.[29] In August 2015, he re-joined National League South side St Albans City on an initial one-month loan.[30] In November 2015, he joined National League South side Bishop's Stortford on a one-month loan deal.[31] In February 2016, he joined National League side Welling United on loan until the end of the season along with Adeoye Yusuff.[32] In May 2016 as his contract expired, he was released along with eleven players as Dagenham were relegated to the National League.[33]

In August 2016, he signed for National League side Braintree Town on a free transfer following his release by Dagenham.[34] On the opening day of the season, he went onto make his debut during Braintree's 0–0 draw with North Ferriby United, playing the full 90 minutes.[35] Following several major injuries, Gayle's playing time was limited at the National League side and the centre-back only managed to feature just twenty-three more times before leaving for Welling United in June 2017.[36]

On 4 June 2018, following his release from Wealdstone, Gayle joined recently relegated Woking.[37] On the opening day of the 2018–19 campaign, Gayle made his Woking debut during their 1–0 away victory over East Thurrock United, featuring for the entire 90 minutes.[38] Three days later, he scored his first goal for the Surrey-based side, netting the winner in their 2–1 home victory against St Albans City.[39]

In June 2022, Gayle signed for Isthmian Premier Division side Folkestone Invicta for the 2022/2023 campaign.[40]

As of match played 26 April 2022

• Ian Gayle at Soccerbase