Craig Thomas Lynch (born 25 March 1992) is an English 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 ...

who played as a striker. He is currently manager of

Morpeth Town Morpeth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Morpeth, Northumberland, England. They are currently members of the and play at Craik Park. History The club was established in 1909. They joined the Northern Alliance in 193 ...

Playing career

Sunderland

Born in

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...

, County Durham, Lynch turned professional in 2010 after two seasons in Sunderland's

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

. In 2008, Lynch signed his first professional contract with the club. He was called up into the first team in April 2011, and made his professional debut on 30 April, coming on as a substitute in their 3–0 home loss to Fulham in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Two months later in July, Lynch signed a two-year contract with the club. Under the management of

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

, it announced that Lynch go out on loan to gain first team experience. On 8 September 2012, he joined Football League One side

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

on a one-month loan deal. Lynch scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–1 loss against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on 27 September 2012. Despite losing 3–1, Manager

Neale Cooper Neale James Cooper (24 November 1963 – 28 May 2018) was a Scottish football player and coach. He played as a midfielder during the 1980s and 1990s, most prominently for the Aberdeen team managed by Alex Ferguson, and later played for Aston ...

praised Lynch performance, as well as, his goal. After making six appearances and scoring once, Lynch returned to his parent club after spending one month at Hartlepool United.

Rochdale

On 18 February 2014, Lynch joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

following his release from Sunderland. On 3 May 2014, Lynch made his only appearance for Rochdale, coming on as substitute on the 56th minute of the final game of the season, a 2–1 defeat away at Newport County. Lynch was among released at the end of the season.

Non-League

After being released by Rochdale, Lynch moved to

Spennymoor Town Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field. The club began playing in the Northern ...

of the Northern Premier League Division One North on 8 August 2014. On 5 February 2015,

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

announced the signing of Lynch. In November 2015 he joined Seaham Red Star.

Managerial career

In February 2018 Lynch was appointed manager of Seaham Red Star. In June 2018 Lynch joined

as assistant manager. In September 2021 he was appointed caretaker manager of Morpeth. He was given the job permanently the following month. During his first season in charge, Lynch guided

to their best ever run in the FA Trophy and equal best run in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, on both occasions losing to then

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. He also guided the club to safety after a poor start to the season under Stephen Turnbull, including a run of 1 league defeat in 18 games following his appointment.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

References

External links

Sunderland profile
* 1992 births Living people Footballers from Chester-le-Street English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Sunderland A.F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Seaham Red Star F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Northern Premier League players English football managers Seaham Red Star F.C. managers Morpeth Town A.F.C. managers {{England-footy-forward-1990s-stub