Colin Cramb (born 23 June 1974 in

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and coach who played as a forward from 1991 and 2009. He notably played for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

. Cramb also had spells with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Falkirk, Hearts,

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

, Bury,

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, Stenhousemuir and

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

. Cramb is the only player to have played in all four divisions in both England and Scotland.

Playing career

Cramb began his career as a junior with

, playing 53 times before a transfer to

in June 1993 for a fee of £60,000. He made one Premiership appearance at The Dell, against Everton as a substitute, but enjoyed a good season in the reserves before joining Falkirk in August 1994 for a fee of £50,000. He moved to Heart of Midlothian in March 1995, Hearts paying £45,000 for Cramb plus Maurice Johnston going in the opposite direction. He played six times for Hearts before a £25,000 move to

where he became a regular goalscorer, scoring 25 times in just 62 games to earn a £125,000 move to

in August 1997. He was a regular in his first season at Ashton Gate when he helped the club gain promotion to the first division (now known as the Championship), but was out of favour in the 1998–99 season due to the form of

Ade Akinbiyi Adeola Oluwatoyin Akinbiyi (born 10 October 1974) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier League for Norwich City, Leicester City and Sheffield United, as well as ...

and Søren Andersen. In February 1999, Cramb spent a month on loan with

and moved to

in August 1999 for a fee of £250,000. Cramb had loan spells with

(September 2000) and Bury (February–May 2001) before leaving Crewe on a Bosman to join Dutch premier side

in June 2001. He played well in the Netherlands but sustained a cruciate ligament injury in March 2002. The club were later relegated and at the start of the following season they hit financial problems and were forced to release players. Cramb returned to Scotland to recover and regain his fitness, training with Hamilton Academical and featuring in reserve games as a trialist for Livingston and St Johnstone. In January 2003, Cramb returned to England, joining Bury until the end of the season. In July 2003 Cramb signed for

, scoring 12 times in 35 games before joining

in September 2004. He struggled to establish himself at Blundell Park and returned to his first club, Hamilton Academical in January 2005. He is the only Hamilton player to have scored in the first team at old Douglas Park and New Douglas Park. In June 2005 he joined Stenhousemuir, scoring 16 times in just 27 league games as Stenhousemuir battled, unsuccessfully, to gain promotion from the Scottish Third Division. He left Stenhousemuir in July 2006 to join

, his 15th professional football club. Cramb was released at the end of the 2007–08 season, after which he signed for

. Having moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, early 2015 seen Cramb sign for local Western League side

Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislington formerly hou ...

, where he scored on his debut against Bradford Town.

Coaching career

Cramb left East Stirlingshire at the end of season 2008–09 and retired from pro football at 35. In season 2009–10 he turned out in frequent charity matches for the Hearts veterans and charity XI alongside players like

Gary Mackay Gary Mackay (born 23 January 1964 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former footballer, who made over 500 league appearances for Heart of Midlothian and also played for Airdrieonians and the Scotland national team. After retiring as a player, he m ...

, John Robertson and Jose Quitongo. He has also turned out for his local amateur side on occasion. Cramb currently resides in

, and after completing his coaching badges he is now a registered football coach.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cramb, Colin 1974 births Living people Footballers from Lanark People educated at Coltness High School Scottish men's footballers Hamilton Academical F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Bury F.C. players Fortuna Sittard players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Brislington F.C. players Scottish Football League players Premier League players English Football League players Eerste Divisie players National League (English football) players Men's association football forwards