Craig Alcock (born 8 December 1987) is an former English 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 ...

who recently played as a defender for club Harlow Town. Having begun his career at

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

he spent time on loan at

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

Taunton Town Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...

and

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 ...

before moving to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. Alcock then played for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

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 ...

and

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

. Alcock is currently a U16s coach at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Career

Yeovil Town

Born in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, Alcock started his career with the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

in 2004. At the start of the 2005–06 season Alcock was awarded a first team contract along with fellow youth teammates Tom Clarke and Jake Smeeton. Due to being over-age for playing in the youth side for Yeovil Town, he had three short-term

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

spells in the 2006–07 season with Conference South side

Weston-super-mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

, Southern League sides

and

. He made his first team debut as a substitute away at Gillingham in the final league match of the 2006–07 season. After making a breakthrough and challenging for the number one right back slot in the 2007–08 season, Alcock became a regular starter during the 2008–09 season due to injuries and suspensions concerning

Lee Peltier Lee Anthony Peltier (born 11 December 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Championship club Rotherham United. While he has played in positions in both defence and midfield, he primarily plays as a right-bac ...

. In February 2008 Alcock had to play in goal after an injury to Steve Mildenhall against

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 ...

; he came on at 0-0 but Yeovil ended up losing 2–0. In May 2009, Alcock signed a new 2-year contract with Yeovil Town, and after new captain Stefan Stam was dropped due to injury and poor form, Alcock was made captain for the remainder of the season. In early summer 2010, Alcock was linked with a move to championship side

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

but remained with Yeovil for the remainder of the season and in May 2011 was informed by the club that he was one of seven Yeovil players who would be awarded new contracts.

Peterborough United

Despite being offered a new deal at Yeovil, in July 2011 Alcock signed for

on a three-year deal with Yeovil receiving £100,000 in compensation due to his age. Alcock made 112 appearances for Posh in all competitions over his three seasons at the club, including winning the EFL Trophy in 2014, before being released at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Sheffield United

In July 2014, Alcock signed a two-year deal with

. Alcock started as a regular in the side both at centre half and then in his more customary role at right back. However, after an injury he has found himself in a more peripheral role, made harder by the January arrivals of additional full backs

Kieron Freeman Kieron Samuel Freeman (born 21 March 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Oldham Athletic. Born in England, he represented the Wales national team. Starting his career at Nottingham Forest, he then moved to l ...

and

John Brayford John Robert Brayford (born 29 December 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Burton Albion. Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, he began his career at Burton Albion, which was then a non-League club, before ...

. In his second season at United, Alcock again found match time hard to come by, and as a result joined fellow

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

on a 28-day loan on 10 November 2015. The loan was made permanent on 7 January 2016.

Cheltenham Town

On 7 August 2018,

signed the now free agent Alcock on a free transfer. On 26 January 2019, Alcock was released by Cheltenham.

Yeovil Town

On 1 February 2019, following his release from Cheltenham, Alcock re-signed for

on a contract until the end of the 2018–19 season.

Personal life

Alcock is also a keen cricketer playing for Wincanton CC in the Somerset League. Alcock studied for his A-Levels at Sexey's School in Bruton, Somerset.

Career statistics

Honours

;Peterborough United * EFL Trophy: 2013–14

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alcock, Craig 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Truro English footballers Association football defenders Yeovil Town F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players People educated at Sexey's School