Jamie Thomas Proctor (born 25 March 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Barrow.
He began his career at hometown club Preston North End, turning professional in January 2010 and making his first-team debut four months later. He was loaned out to Stockport County in August 2010 and having featured 34 times for Preston in the 2011–12 season, was signed to Premier League club Swansea City in August 2012. He spent time on loan at Shrewsbury Town before being sold on to Crawley Town in January 2013. He played 49 games in the 2013–14 season, scoring seven goals, and then moved on to Fleetwood Town in June 2014. He spent -seasons with Fleetwood before being sold on to Bradford City following a short loan spell. He spent the 2016–17 League One promotion-winning season with Bolton Wanderers, part of which he spent on loan at Carlisle United, and then was sold to Rotherham United in July 2017. He spent four seasons with Rotherham, without establishing himself in the first-team after rupturing his knee ligaments at the start of the 2017–18 campaign, and instead enjoyed loan spells with Scunthorpe United, AFC Fylde, Newport County and Wigan Athletic. He signed with Port Vale in July 2021 and helped the club to win promotion out of League Two via the play-offs in 2022. He joined Barrow in June 2023.
Career
Preston North End
Born in Ingol, Preston, Lancashire, Proctor came through the youth academy at hometown club Preston North End from the age of eight. He scored 15 goals at youth-team level in the 2008–09 season and was part of an under-18 side that knocked Manchester City and Sunderland out of the FA Youth Cup the following year. On 27 January 2010, Proctor was handed a -year professional contract. Manager Darren Ferguson handed Proctor his professional début on the last day of the 2009–10 Championship season, when he came on as a 78th-minute substitute for Chris Brown in a 4–1 defeat to Reading at the Madejski Stadium on 2 May 2010.
On 13 August 2010, Proctor joined League Two club Stockport County on a 28-day loan aged just 17. Having impressed manager Paul Simpson during training, he made his debut the next day, coming on as a 61st-minute substitute for Danny Rowe in a 0–0 draw with Wycombe Wanderers at Edgeley Park. His loan spell was extended for another month until October. On 28 September, Proctor set up a goal for George Donnelly in a 2–2 draw with Accrington Stanley. He made seven appearances for the "Hatters", before returning to Preston after Simpson claimed that Stockport's dire financial situation meant "we've had to let him go for the sake of a couple of hundred quid". Proctor was on the fringes of the "Lilywhites" first-team squad during the 2010–11 season and had to wait until the last game of the season to score his first senior goal in a 3–1 win against Watford at Deepdale, by which stage Preston's relegation into League One had already been confirmed after a disappointing season under the management of Phil Brown.
Proctor was injured with a double hernia in October 2011. Upon his recovery, he struggled to establish himself in the first-team under the management of Graham Westley. He started 26 games and made seven substitute appearances throughout the 2011–12 season, scoring three goals.
Swansea City
On 18 August 2012, Proctor signed a two-year contract with Premier League club Swansea City, who paid Preston an undisclosed fee. He was signed to be a part of the club's new under-21 team rather than a part of Michael Laudrup's first-team plans as chairman Huw Jenkins cited a need to build for the future. He had been identified as a target by previous manager Brendan Rodgers in 2011. His time at the Liberty Stadium was 'frustrating' as he made no appearances in any senior competitions and hated playing youth-team football. On 26 October 2012, Proctor joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on a month long loan, with manager Graham Turner looking for a "good option" up front. He made his "Shrews" debut the next day, playing 90 minutes in a 2–2 draw with Colchester United at the New Meadow. However he made just two further appearances for the club.
Crawley Town
On 16 January 2013, Proctor signed an 18-month deal with League One side Crawley Town after being purchased from Swansea for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goals for the club with a brace in a 2–0 win at Bury on 2 March. He scored seven goals in 18 games at the Broadfield Stadium during the second half of the 2012–13 season.