Jon Challinor (born 2 December 1980) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Southern League Premier Division Central club Stamford.

[8][9] He made 46 appearances, scoring three goals, in 2001–02 before spending the close season with the Kalamazoo Kingdom in the American USL Premier Development League.

[7][10] Challinor returned to England after joining Isthmian League Premier Division club St Albans City on a two-year contract in August 2002.

[12] Challinor played in St Albans' 4–1 FA Cup first round defeat to Second Division team Stockport County on 16 November 2002.

[12][13] After being released by St Albans, Challinor signed for Football Conference club Aldershot Town on 8 August 2003, having appeared for them in pre-season.

[16] Having made an impressive start for Aldershot, scoring five goals in 12 appearances, Challinor signed a contract lasting until the end of 2004–05 on 14 October 2003.

[16][18] He played in the 2004 Football Conference play-off final against Shrewsbury Town at the Britannia Stadium, which Aldershot lost 3–0 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw following extra time.

[16] Aldershot qualified for the play-offs again in 2004–05, and Challinor played in both semi-final matches against Carlisle United, which ended in a 2–2 draw on aggregate.

[20] Having finished the season with nine goals in 44 appearances,[21] Challinor was released by Aldershot on 18 May 2005, despite being rated as one of the best attacking midfielders in the Conference National.

[35] Soon after he was told by manager Gary Brabin to provide more support for the team's strikers, with Challinor agreeing, saying "It will put the added responsibility on me to start shooting and take some pressure off the forwards.

[37] Challinor's first sending off for Cambridge came after receiving a second yellow card during a 5–0 home defeat to Crawley Town in the FA Trophy second round on 14 January 2009.

[35][39] Challinor came on as a 79th-minute substitute for Paul Carden in the 2009 Conference Premier play-off final at Wembley Stadium, in which Torquay United won 2–0.

[46] Challinor made a scoring debut for Mansfield with the equalising goal from close range in a 1–1 draw at home to Eastbourne Borough on 21 November 2009.

[47][48] After making six appearances and scoring one goal in his loan spell,[47] Challinor signed permanently for Mansfield for the rest of the season on 6 January 2010.

[55][56] Challinor scored on his next appearance for Newport, with the winning goal after netting Sam Deering's cross in the 29th minute of extra time in a 1–0 victory away to Wealdstone in an FA Trophy first round replay on 13 December 2010.

[70] Eight days later he again played at Wembley Stadium to win promotion to League Two through the 2012 Conference Premier play-off final with a 2–1 victory over Luton Town.

[71] Thus, Challinor was successful in achieving promotion to the Football League in his fourth appearance in a Conference Premier play-off final.

[72] Ahead of Challinor's first season as a Football League player, he was quoted as saying "It's been a long time coming so I'm going to embrace it and enjoy every minute.

[78] After impressive performances throughout December 2013, which culminated in him being named Stamford's Player of the Month, Challinor signed a dual registration deal with Conference Premier team FC Halifax Town on 7 January 2014.

[80][81] He played in the final of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup as Stamford beat Brigg Town 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out following a 3–3 draw after extra time on 29 April 2014.