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Christopher Mark Eagles (born 19 November 1985) 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 le ...
who played as a winger. After coming through the youth system at
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
, he began his professional career with
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, but was unable to break into the first-team on a regular basis. He played 17 times for United, including in the
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
and
2007 FA Community Shield The 2007 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 85th staging of the FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the reigning Premier League champions a ...
matches. He had two loan spells back at Watford, as well as with
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
and Dutch club N.E.C., before a permanent move to
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
for a £1.2 million fee in July 2008. He spent three seasons with the club, helping them to win promotion out of the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
in
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
. He was sold on to
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
in July 2011, where he stayed for another three seasons. He went on to have brief spells with
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
,
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
,
Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
,
Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...
,
Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
and Ross County. He joined
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...
in July 2019 after spending more than a year away from the game, before leaving his contract early in January 2020.


Career

Eagles was born in
Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...
,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, and was a season ticket holder at
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
, whom he went to see with his family. Originally coming through the youth system at
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
, Eagles left when he was 14 to join the
Manchester United academy Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effectiv ...
. The compensation owed to Watford for this move would later form part of the package which took
Danny Webber Daniel Vaughn Webber (born 28 December 1981) is an English former professional football striker. He represented England under-20s in 2002. Born in Manchester, Webber began his career as a trainee with Manchester United, but failed to cement ...
in the opposite direction.


Manchester United

Eagles made his first-team debut for Manchester United on 28 October 2003 as a second-half substitute for
Kieran Richardson Kieran Edward Richardson (born 21 October 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger, left-back, or central midfielder. Richardson began his career as a trainee at West Ham United, going on to play senior footba ...
in an extra-time win away to
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
in the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
. He played once more that season, this time as a substitute for
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
as United lost 2–0 away to
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
in the Fourth Round of the League Cup. His performances saw him nominated for the new League Cup talent award, awarded to the young player judged to have made the best first-team breakthrough in the competition. He played in the
2004 FA Community Shield The 2004 Football Association Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield in partnership with McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd staging of the FA Community Shield, an annual football match contested by the reigning c ...
, coming on as a 74th minute substitute in a 3–1 defeat by
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
at the
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...
. Eagles was loaned out to Watford on 21 January 2005. He scored his first goal in senior football in a 2–0 win over Gillingham at
Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cassi ...
on 5 February. He made 13
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
appearances for the "Hornets", and manager
Ray Lewington Raymond Lewington (born 7 September 1956) is an English retired footballer. He was most recently assistant manager of Watford. Born in London, he started his playing career in the city at Chelsea. He went on to play for Vancouver Whitecaps, Wim ...
said that: "he is an exciting player and has done very well". He was also loaned to
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
for the first half of the 2005–06 season. Manager
Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...
stated that: " Sir Alex said to me that he wants this player to play in front of big crowds and see how he handles it". He scored his first goal for the "Owls" in a 1–0 victory over
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
at Hillsborough on 13 September. He ended his loan spell at Wednesday with three goals in 25 appearances. On 6 January 2006, Eagles returned on loan to
Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...
's Watford. He scored the only goal of the match against
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
in his first league appearance of his second loan spell at Watford. He scored the winning goal in the 1–0 away win at
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
on 18 February from 50 yards (almost the halfway line), which won him the club's goal of the season award. Watford reached the 2006 Championship play-off Final, and Eagles was an unused substitute as they secured promotion to 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 Foo ...
with a 3–0 win over Leeds United. On 31 August 2006, Eagles agreed to spend four months on loan at Dutch
Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
side N.E.C., to gain more experience. He decided to take the option of returning to
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
on 21 December after struggling to get many games at the
Stadion de Goffert The Goffertstadion (), formerly known as McDOS Goffertstadion for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium in Nijmegen, Netherlands, located in the Goffertpark. It is home to football club NEC (football club), NEC. The st ...
. On 13 March, Eagles featured in the second half for United in the
UEFA Celebration Match The UEFA Celebration Match was a football match played at Old Trafford, Manchester, on 13 March 2007 as a celebration of both the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the foundations for the European Union. Manchest ...
exhibition at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
against
Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and 2 ...
's Europe XI. On 28 April, Eagles scored his first senior goal for United in a 4–2 Premier League win over Everton; after coming on as a second-half substitute, he scored a 93rd-minute goal to put the result beyond doubt as United went five points clear in their race for the Premier League title. He was an unused substitute in the
2007 FA Community Shield The 2007 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 85th staging of the FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the reigning Premier League champions a ...
, as United beat
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
on penalties following a 1–1 draw.


Burnley

In July 2008, Eagles signed for
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. The ''
London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
'' reported that the fee was £1.2 million, of which £200,000 would go to Watford as part of a sell-on clause. Manager
Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one ...
said: "He can play as a striker, or behind the striker or wide or as a central midfielder. He gives you a host of variations, but outwith that he's a talented footballer and that's what we want – young exciting talents to complement the quality we already have." Eagles made his league debut for Burnley on 9 August in a 4–1 loss to Sheffield Wednesday. On 27 September, he scored his first goal for Burnley in a 3–1 victory over rivals
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
. He was nominated for the
Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the English football league system, second tier of English football. ...
award for November, losing out to
Chris Iwelumo Christopher Robert Iwelumo (; born 1 August 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a striker. Iwelumo started his career with St Mirren before moving to Danish club Aarhus Fremad for two years. A move to Stoke Cit ...
. He ended the 2008–09 season with eight goals in 57 league and cup appearances, and came on as a 69th-minute substitute for
Robbie Blake Robert James Blake (born 4 March 1976) is an English former professional footballer and current coach at Bognor Regis Town. He began his career as a striker but was increasingly used as midfielder in the latter part of his career. He began his ...
as Burnley beat
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 ...
1–0 in the Championship play-off Final at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
. He scored two goals in 34 Premier League games in the 2009–10 campaign as Burnley were relegated in 18th-place. In July 2010, the "Clarets" accepted a bid from Scottish champions Rangers to buy Eagles, but the player was unable to agree terms with the Scottish club and remained in England. He agreed a new two-year contract with Burnley the following month. In October 2010, manager
Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...
said that Eagles was "unplayable" and in "absolutely magnificent form" after scoring five goals in the space of four games. Eagles went on to score 15 goals in 48 appearances for Burnley in the
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, and newly appointed manager
Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the head coach of Premier League club Newcastle United. A defender during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...
was reported to have planned to build his team around Eagles.


Bolton Wanderers

In July 2011, Eagles and his Burnley teammate
Tyrone Mears Tyrone Robert Mears (born 18 February 1983) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. His clubs include Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End F.C., Preston North End, West ...
joined
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
on a three-year contract for a joint fee in the region of £3 million, linking up with their ex-manager
Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one ...
for the second time in their careers. He made his debut in a 4–0 away win at
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
on 13 August, where he created an assist for the second goal put in his own net by
Danny Gabbidon Daniel Leon Gabbidon (born 8 August 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City (two spells), West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace, and Panteg. He a ...
. On 20 September, he scored his first goal for the "Trotters", from 25 yards, in the League Cup Third Round 2–0 away win against
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. He also scored a brace in a 5–0 win over
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
at the
Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...
on 6 November. He found himself out of the starting line-up for a short time due to
Tuncay Tuncay (; ''toonj-eye'') is a Turkish given name for males and a surname. People named Tuncay include: Given name * Tuncay Güney (born 1972), Turkish spy * Tuncay Karakaya (born 1989), Turkish Paralympian goalball player * Tuncay Mataracı (b ...
being in form, but he came back to the starting line-up on 21 April, where he scored in a 1–1 draw at home to
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
. At the end of the season, Bolton were relegated into the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
. Eagles was named Player of the Month by the fans for August, September and October of the new season. He finished the
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season as Bolton's top goalscorer with twelve goals, and also created the most goals, with twelve assists. His form in April earned him a nomination for the Championship Player of the Month award. He played just 18 games in the 2013–14 season, and was released by the club in May 2014. Shortly after his release from Bolton, he explained that he was disappointed at aspects of his departure, but maintained an affection for both the club's supporters and the town. In July 2014, Eagles was awarded an
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
by the
University of Bolton , established = 2004 – gained University Status 1982 – Bolton Institute of Higher Education , type = Public , endowment = £160,000 (2009) , administrative_staff = 700+ , chancellor ...
for his services to sport. He later blamed manager
Dougie Freedman Douglas Alan Freedman (born 25 May 1974) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the current sporting director of Crystal Palace. Freedman played as a striker, primarily for Crystal Palace and also had spells as ...
for his exit, saying "I didn't like him and I didn't like the way he managed. He showed me no respect".


Later career

On 18 November 2014, Eagles joined
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
on a short-term contract until January 2015. He played seven games for the "Tangerines", but left
Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...
at the expiry of his contract despite both he and manager Lee Clark reportedly being keen to extend his stay at the club. Eagles signed for
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
on 19 February 2015 on a free transfer until the end of the 2014–15 season. He scored on his Charlton debut, as the "Addicks" won 3–0 away at
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...
; manager
Guy Luzon Guy Luzon ( he, גיא לוזון; born 7 August 1975) is an Israeli former footballer and manager, currently managing the Israel national under-21 football team. Club career Guy Luzon was a graduate of the Maccabi Petah Tikva youth program, jo ...
said that "he played well for his first time". He left The Valley at the expiry of his contract in May 2015. Eagles had trials with
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
, Wigan Athletic, and
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
, before joining
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 ...
club
Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
in October 2015 on a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season. However four months later he was sent to train with Ryan Kidd and the youth team by manager
David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the director of football at club Port Vale. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry ...
, who deemed him not fit enough to train with the first team. He was released in the summer and signed with John Coleman's
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
side
Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...
in August 2016. The following month he agreed to stay at the
Crown Ground The Crown Ground is a multi-use stadium in Accrington, Lancashire, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Accrington Stanley. Opened in 1968, the stadium has a capacity of 5,450. The ground is cur ...
until January after settling in well at the club. He joined League One side
Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
on a short-term contract after impressing manager Michael Brown during a trial game in January 2017. After initially being used out wide, he was moved to a number 10 role and scored in consecutive games against
Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
and
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...
to pick up important points for Vale's relegation battle. He won a place on the EFL team of the week after picking up an assist and a goal in a 2–0 win over
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
at
Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...
on 1 April. He also scored the only goal of the penultimate game of the season against
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on 25 April to take the "Valiants" ultimately unsuccessful battle against relegation to the last day of the 2016–17 season; the strike won him the club's Goal of the Season award. He left the club at the end of the season, but returned to train at Vale Park in November 2017 after new manager
Neil Aspin Neil Aspin (born 12 April 1965) is an English football manager and former player. A solid defender who could play at centre-back and right-back, he was a good marker and an adept tackler. He made his debut in the English Football League for L ...
offered him a contract, which Eagles rejected. On 23 November 2017, Eagles signed for
Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
club Ross County until the end of the 2017–18 season, reuniting with former manager Owen Coyle at the
Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
club. Eagles left Ross County by mutual consent on 4 April, a month after Coyle had resigned as manager. After spending 15 months as a free agent, Eagles returned to League Two on 27 July 2019 after signing a one-year deal with
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...
, with the option of a further year. However he departed
Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...
on 6 January 2020 after agreeing to a mutual termination of his contract. On 14 November 2021, Eagles played in a charity match as part of a team of Bolton Wanderers Legends against the current Bolton first team with the match helping to raise money for Mother of Bolton player
Gethin Jones Gethin Clifford Jones (born 12 February 1978) is a Welsh television presenter. He was an active rugby union player while at Manchester Metropolitan University and, after graduation, he began his television career on Welsh language channel S4C a ...
, who had been diagnosed with
Motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...
. The Bolton first team won 7–4, with Eagles scoring twice for the Legends team.


Style of play

Eagles was a winger, though could also play as an
attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
. Writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in December 2008,
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 ...
reported that Eagles "is a natural footballer who makes the difficult things look easy", boasting natural ability and composure, as well as good distribution skills; he did however criticize his tactical discipline and defensive work-rate. Former Bury teammate
Tom Pope Thomas John Pope (born 27 August 1985) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Centre forward, centre forward for side Congleton Town F.C., Congleton Town. A Crewe Alexandra F. ...
said that: his "technique was frighteningly good – that was his ability on the ball, dribbling and his awareness of players around him".


Personal life

Eagles joined
Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
in September 2021 after being found by police while drunk in charge of a vehicle outside the home of ex-girlfriend
Jennifer Metcalfe Jennifer Joanne Metcalfe (born 4 September 1983) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles of Jade Nicholls in Emmerdale and Mercedes McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', which she has appeared in since 2006. Her portr ...
; he was banned from driving for three months and fined £1,250. He had recently split from his fiancée, Danielle Mitchinson, with whom he had two children during an eight-year relationship.


Career statistics


Honours

Manchester United *
FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...
:
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
Watford *
Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...
:
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
Burnley *Football League Championship play-offs:
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eagles, Chris 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Hemel Hempstead Footballers from Hertfordshire English footballers Association football wingers Association football midfielders Watford F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands NEC Nijmegen players Burnley F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Bury F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Eredivisie players Scottish Professional Football League players Alumni of the University of Bolton