Dene Cropper (born 5 January 1983) 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 notably played in the Football League for Lincoln City and

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

after starting his career 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 ...

. He has also played for

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

and

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was established in 1878 as Matlock Football Club.< ...

Career

Cropper was a produce of the youth setup at

and signed professional terms with The Owls in August 2000, a few months prior to the club's relegation from 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 ...

. He would make the first and reserve teams and although offered a new deal he left the club on a free transfer in the summer of 2002. During the 2001–02 season Cropper signed on loan for

, He notched up a decent scoring rate for them, netting ten goals in twenty games. On 10 May 2002, Cropper along with Ben Futcher became Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander's first signings of his second spell in charge at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since th ...

. He made his Football league debut in the club's 1–1 opening day draw at Kidderminster Harriers on 10 August 2002, though this was marred when, seven minutes from time, referee Phil Crossley deemed his challenge on Abdou Sall unfair and, following an earlier booking for dissent, dismissed him for two bookings. His home debut, three days later, was a far happier affair as he notched his first goal for the club in a 2–0 victory over

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 ...

. Cropper had a good season with Lincoln, but failed to score as many goals as his play deserved in a season which saw him and his team lose out in the playoff finals at the Millennium Stadium. The following season, Cropper found himself overlooked, and was finding himself on the bench on a regular basis due to long lay offs with injury and the performances of the club's other forwards. In February 2004 he signed on loan with Non-League club

, in a month that saw him net once in five appearances at

The Northolme The Northolme (known as the Gainsborough Martin & Co. Arena for sponsorship purposes) is a football ground in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. It is the home ground of Gainsborough Trinity, it has a capacity of 4,304, of which 504 is seated ...

. He returned to Lincoln after his month and was subject to another loan offer, this time from

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, but he rejected the chance to play for Scarborough in favour of a permanent switch to local rivals

. Cropper played five times for Boston and scored once but suffered a serious knee injury towards the end of the season which prompted his release from the club. Upon returning to the game Cropper turned down a move to King's Lynn before re-joining former club Worksop Town. He made a move to

in September 2005 for an undisclosed fee. He joined Woolley Moor United ahead of the 2011–2012 season, debuting in the club's 4–2 Midlands Regional Alliance, Division 1 victory at Findern on 13 August 2011.

Personal life

Outside of football, Cropper is a Physics teacher and worked at ARK Kings Academy. He is now head of Physics at Aldridge School

References

External links

*
Lincoln City F.C. Official Archive ProfileUnofficial Dene Cropper profile
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The Forgotten Imp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cropper, Dene 1983 births Living people Footballers from Chesterfield English footballers Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Matlock Town F.C. players Association football forwards Northern Premier League players