Jonathan Antoni Gittens (22 January 1964 – 10 May 2019)[2] was an English professional footballer who played for Swindon Town as well as for Southampton, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Torquay United and Exeter City.
Born in Moseley, Gittens started his career with Midlands Combination side Paget Rangers whilst taking a two-year course in menswear tailoring when he was spotted by Southampton.
[5] In July 1987 he became a free agent and, having found it difficult to hold down a regular place in the Southampton side, he moved to Swindon Town for a fee of £40,000.
[10] In March 1991, after 126 games for the Robins, Chris Nicholl re-signed him for Southampton, and he returned to The Dell a day before the transfer deadline, this time for a fee of £400,000.
[1] As Middlesbrough struggled at the foot of the table, Gittens lost his place, and left on a free transfer in August the following year, joining Portsmouth.
Despite achieving national attention by allegedly punching West Ham United's Romanian international Florin Răducioiu in a friendly later that month[13] (his first game for the Gulls) he settled in well at Plainmoor in terms of first-team football.
He returned the following season and finished it as the club's player of the year with an appearance at Wembley in the playoff final defeat at the hands of Colchester United, Gittens giving away a harshly awarded penalty.
He played 82 times for the Grecians, but was released at the end of the 1999–2000 season as part of Noel Blake's mass clearout, joining Conference side Nuneaton Borough on 6 August 2000.