Nathan Tyson (born 4 May 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Long Eaton United. He represented the England under-20 team in February 2003.
A pacey, left-footed forward, he began his career at Reading, where he made his first-team debut in April 2000. He had loan spells at Maidenhead United, Swansea City, Cheltenham Town, and Wycombe Wanderers, before he joined Wycombe Wanderers on a permanent transfer in March 2004. He averaged a goal every two games for Wycombe and was sold on to Nottingham Forest for a £675,000 fee in January 2006. He spent five and a half seasons with Forest, and helped the club to win promotion out of League One in 2007–08. He moved on to Derby County in June 2011, and was loaned out to Millwall in January 2013. He signed with Blackpool in September 2013, and was loaned out to Fleetwood Town and Notts County after failing to win a first team place at Blackpool. He joined Doncaster Rovers in July 2014, and spent two seasons with the club before moving to Kilmarnock in 2016 for a year.
Club career
Reading
Tyson began his career at Reading as part of the youth academy, and made his first team debut on 29 April 2000, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for Darius Henderson in a 1–1 draw with Bury at Gigg Lane. In August 2001, he joined Swansea City of the Third Division on an initial one-month loan. On 29 September, he was sent off for a foul on goalkeeper Stuart Brock two minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 win over Kidderminster Harriers at Aggborough, though manager Colin Addison said that he intended to appeal the decision as Tyson was "only a fraction from taking the ball". Tyson scored his first goal in the Football League on 23 October, helping the "Swans" to a 2–0 win over Darlington at Vetch Field. He returned to the Third Division towards the end of the 2001–02 season, joining Cheltenham Town on loan in March 2002. Manager Steve Cotterill signed him to help the club push for the play-offs, and Tyson scored one goal from one start and seven substitute appearances in the league, but did not feature in the play-offs as the "Robins" went on to secure promotion with a 3–1 victory over Rushden & Diamonds in the play-off final.
Reading were promoted into the First Division in 2002, and Tyson managed to earn himself a place in the "Royals" first team in the 2002–03 season, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2–1 victory over Derby County on 28 December. Reading qualified for the play-offs at the end of the campaign, though Tyson was sent off in the play-off semi-final first leg defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers after fouling Paul Butler and then using abusive language.
Wycombe Wanderers
In December 2003, Tyson joined Second Division side Wycombe Wanderers on a short-term loan, although had to return to Reading early the next month for treatment on a knee injury. After impressing manager Tony Adams, Tyson was signed for an undisclosed transfer fee in March 2004 and agreed a two-year contract. He finished as the club's top-scorer during the 2004–05 season with 22 goals in 42 league appearances, and also won the club's Player of the Year award. During the close season, Tyson was the subject of three bids from Sheffield Wednesday, all of which were turned down by Wycombe.
He began the 2005–06 season with 13 goals in 19 games, making him the top-scorer in the English leagues at the end of September. He was named as the League Two Player of the Month for August, having scored six times in six games. Sheffield Wednesday had a £700,000 bid accepted in October, but Tyson rejected the move. Tyson stated that he was "flattered" and said "I'm not worth that. How many houses can you buy for £750,000?" He was also linked with moves to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Hull City. His goal glut was quickly followed by a run of six games without a goal, which led manager John Gorman to claim that "his attitude has been fantastic and he'll bounce straight back".