After leaving Wigan in 1989, he spent one season with Chester City, where he made 30 league appearances before joining Fourth Division side Burnley in 1990.
[7] David Hamilton was born on 7 November 1960 in the town of South Shields, County Durham in north-east England,[2] where his father grew leeks for a living.
[3] He has publicly spoken of his concerns about the increasing wages of Premier League footballers while "the average punter in the stands is struggling to pay his mortgage".
Hamilton was given his first professional contract in September 1978 by Jimmy Adamson, who was manager of Football League Second Division side Sunderland.
While he was with the Black Cats, Hamilton captained the England youth team, which was coached at the time by Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, to the final of the 1978 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship,[8] where they lost to the USSR.
Despite being selected by his country, he failed to play a single first-team match for Sunderland and left to join fellow Second Division side Blackburn Rovers in January 1981.
[10] Upon return from his loan spell in south Wales, Hamilton stayed at Blackburn for one more season, making 33 league appearances and scoring three goals in 1985–86.
After losing out to Swindon Town in the play-offs, Hamilton stayed at Wigan for two more seasons, missing just one league game for the Latics in the 1987–88 campaign.
He only spent one season with Chester, where he played 30 league matches without scoring, before Frank Casper signed him for Fourth Division club Burnley on a free transfer in August 1990.
[11] He made his debut for the Clarets on the opening day of the 1990–91 season, coming on as a substitute for Paul France in a 2–2 draw with Lincoln City at Turf Moor.
[12] His professional career came to an end when he was released by Burnley in May 1992, although he subsequently had spells in non-league football with Chorley, Barrow and Great Harwood Town,[4] while taking his coaching qualifications.
[18] On 5 June 2009, he was given the role of chief scout at League One club Walsall,[7] following the appointment of Chris Hutchings as manager of the team in January 2009.
[19] Hamilton was sacked by Walsall, along with Hutchings and assistant manager Martin O'Connor, in January 2011 with the club at the bottom of League One as a result of three consecutive defeats.