Darren Craddock (born 23 February 1985) is a former English

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 defender. Craddock started his career with

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 ...

in 2003. He joined

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 ...

on a one-month

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 d ...

in 2006, who he joined permanently later that year, after making 24 league appearances for Hartlepool.

Career

Born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, Craddock joined 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 2001. Craddock played 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 ...

in the FA Youth Cup third-round tie against Manchester United alongside

Antony Sweeney Antony Thomas Sweeney (born 5 September 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played in the Football League for Hartlepool United and Carlisle United. He is a first team coach at Hartlepool United. ...

and

Matty Robson Matthew James Robson (born 23 January 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger or left back for Hartlepool United, Carlisle United and Shildon. Biography Hartlepool United Robson came through Hartlepool's youth d ...

. Man United won 3-2 (AET) and featured future stars such as

Darren Fletcher Darren Barr Fletcher (born 1 February 1984) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who is currently the technical director of Manchester United, where he spent the majority of his playing career. He mostly played as a centr ...

Phil Bardsley Phillip Anthony Bardsley (born 28 June 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Stockport County. He has played international football for the Scotland national team. Bardsley began his career with Manchester United whe ...

and

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 ...

. Craddock made his first team debut in a 4–0 victory over Whitby Town 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 ...

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

on 8 November 2003. He joined Whitby Town on

work experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

in January 2004, where he made five appearances. He was handed his first professional contract by Hartlepool in June 2004, which was signed on 6 July. In 2005, Craddock played at the Millennium Stadium in front of 79,000 fans in the 2005 Football League One play-off final for Hartlepool against

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 ...

. He was signed by

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

team

on a one-month loan in January 2006. He was released by Hartlepool at the end of the 2005–06 season. He signed for York permanently in May 2006, following his release by Hartlepool. He was warned he could face a spell on the sidelines by manager Billy McEwan after receiving a one-match ban after he was booked for fouling

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

striker Allan Russell after losing possession on the halfway line. He missed the rest of the 2006–07 season due to a fractured jaw, which was sustained against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

. He was offered a new contract by York at the end of the 2006–07 season. He was placed on standby for the

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

team in February 2008 but two months later was released by York at the end of the 2007–08 season. He joined

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, it won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Divi ...

of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Division One North in June 2008. A year later, Craddock signed for

Conference 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 Sy ...

side

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 ...

. He re-signed for former club Whitby in July 2010. Craddock signed for newly promoted Northern League Division One outfit

Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act 1946, New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles to the north of Darlington and ten miles to the south of Durham, E ...

in July 2011, and scored on his debut for the team, a 6–1 victory over Stokesley Sports Club. Craddock made 83 appearances for the club. Craddock signed for Shildon in May 2013 and won player of the year in his first season. He signed for West Auckland Town in May 2016.

Career statistics

Footnotes

:A. The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

and Northern League. :B. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the

Conference League Cup The Conference League Cup (formerly known as the Setanta Shield for sponsorship reasons, and before that the Bob Lord Trophy) was a football competition open to clubs playing in the Football Conference. History The competition was formed for t ...

Durham Challenge Cup The Durham County Challenge Cup (commonly known as the Durham Challenge Cup) is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Durham County Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for the ...

, FA Trophy,

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

and Northern League Cup.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craddock, Darren 1985 births Living people Footballers from Bishop Auckland English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Hartlepool United F.C. players Whitby Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Newcastle Blue Star F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Newton Aycliffe F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players