Christopher Curran (born 17 September 1971) is an English former professional footballer. Curran was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and began his career as a trainee with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, making his debut during the 1989–90 season whilst still a trainee. He turned professional on 13 July 1990 and went on to make 152 appearances for the Gulls, scoring 4 goals. On 22 December 1995 he was, surprisingly, sold to local rivals

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

for £40,000, but failed to settle at Home Park, moving to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on 31 July 1997 for £20,000. This move made him one of only a handful of players to have played for all three of the Football League sides in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. He made an impressive start to his career at Exeter, but in September 1997 picked up a serious knee ligament injury which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. He returned to the side and a regular place in the team, so much so that he was one of only a handful of players not released or transfer listed by manager

Noel Blake Noel Lloyd George Blake (born 12 January 1962) is a former professional footballer and current coach. He was formerly the head coach of the England national under-19 football team. He played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Shrewsbury Tow ...

in May 2000. He was appointed as club captain and in January 2001 was sent off in the game against Torquay United after only six minutes of the game. Having struggled with knee and

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

problems, Curran was loaned to

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

in December 2002. He played eight times for Tiverton, before being recalled by Exeter as they unsuccessfully struggled to avoid relegation from the Football League. He suffered a ruptured

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

just before the end of the 2002–03 season and was released by Exeter. He relocated back to the Midlands to recuperate and enrolled on a Physical Education course at the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...

. In February 2004 he was reported to be looking to join a non-league club, and agreed terms with Weymouth, managed by

Steve Claridge Stephen Edward Claridge (born 10 April 1966) is an English football pundit, coach and former professional player. He was a pundit for BBC Sport football shows including ''Football Focus'' and ''The Football League Show'', until 2014 when he beca ...

, the following month. However, he failed to appear for Weymouth and returned to the Midlands. He joined Willenhall Town in August 2004. In January 2005 he joined Newport County on trial, which resulted in a permanent move. He was released by Newport in September 2005 and returned to Willenhall Town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curran, Chris 1971 births Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Torquay United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Willenhall Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Living people Men's association football defenders