Laurence David Craker (1 March 1953 – 16 May 2020) was an 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. As a player, Craker played in the Third Division and the Fourth Division with

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, and ...

Early life

Craker was born in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

Playing career

As a player, Craker started his career at

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 ...

, but did not make an appearance for the club and left to join

Jewish Guild Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...

in 1971, where he played for nine months. He returned to England, joining

in 1972. Craker went on to make 66 league appearances for Watford, scoring 4, between 1972 and 1977 in the Third Division and the Fourth Division. He suffered multiple injuries while at Watford, including a broken leg. Towards the end of his spell at Watford, Craker had a three-month loan spell at Dartford. After leaving Watford, Craker joined Hayes in August 1977, where he made 184 appearances, scoring 8, before being released by the club in August 1981. Following his release by Hayes, Craker played for

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

, Chesham United, Maidenhead United, Northwood and Chalfont St Peter.

Managerial career

Craker's first managerial role came when he was offered the manager role at Windsor & Eton in 1984, before later managing Chalfont St Peter across the 1986–87 season. In 1990, he was appointed as assistant manager at Marlow with Dave Russell, and helped guide Marlow to the FA Cup third round in the 1992–93 season, before Craker and Russell moved on to

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

. Craker was manager of Walton & Hersham across the 1996–97 season. In January 1999, Craker became the assistant manager of Chesham United, before becoming their manager in April 1999 following the departure of

Alan Cork Alan Graham Cork (born 4 March 1959) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a striker for several clubs, most notably Wimbledon (where he spent 14 years, played in all four divisions of the Football League and gained an FA C ...

. He later became the manager of

Flackwell Heath Flackwell Heath is a village in the civil parish of Chepping Wycombe on the outskirts of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. With an elevation of about , in the Chiltern Hills. It has a population of around 6000. History The name 'Flack ...

in 2000 before resigning in August of the following year. Craker was appointed as a coach at Kingstonian in 2003, before returning to Flackwell Heath as manager in 2004. Craker became assistant manager at Burnham before resigning in 2014.

Personal life

Craker also worked as a thatcher alongside his father. His son Lewis was also a footballer and played for multiple clubs, including Maidenhead United, and is now manager of Thame Rangers. Craker died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on 16 May 2020, aged 67.

References

External links

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Laurie Craker
at Neil Brown Newcastle Fans {{DEFAULTSORT:Craker, Laurie 1953 births 2020 deaths English footballers English football managers Sportspeople from Aylesbury Association football midfielders Deaths from cancer in England Chelsea F.C. players Jewish Guild players Watford F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players Chesham United F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Northwood F.C. players Chalfont St Peter A.F.C. players English Football League players Windsor & Eton F.C. managers Chalfont St Peter A.F.C. managers Marlow F.C. non-playing staff Slough Town F.C. non-playing staff Walton & Hersham F.C. managers Chesham United F.C. non-playing staff Chesham United F.C. managers Flackwell Heath F.C. managers Burnham F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in South Africa English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Footballers from Buckinghamshire