Sam Craven (born 27 September 1988) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He played professionally for

FC New York F.C. New York was an American professional soccer team based first in Queens, New York City, and then Long Island, New York. The team played two seasons, starting in 2011 in the National Division of the USL Professional Division, the third t ...

of the

USL Professional Division The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

Career

College and amateur

Craven attended The Becket School in his native Nottingham, and was part of the youth setup at storied English football league club Notts County where he made several first team appearances as a 17-year-old, before moving to the United States in 2007 after being offered a college soccer scholarship at Lynn University. He played three seasons at Lynn, scoring three goals with seven assists in 47 games, was a two-time all-conference selection, and helped the Fighting Knights to two conference titles. He transferred to the University at Buffalo prior to his senior year in 2010. During his college years he also played with the Long Island Rough Riders in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Craven signed his first professional contract in 2011 when he was signed by

of the

. He made his professional debut on 9 April 2011 in New York's first-ever game, a 3–0 loss to Orlando City. On 31 January 2012, Craven signed for

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 ...

club Mansfield Town after a successful trial with the club.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craven, Sam 1988 births Living people English men's footballers Buffalo Bulls men's soccer players Long Island Rough Riders players F.C. New York players USL League Two players Lynn Fighting Knights men's soccer players Mansfield Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Men's association football defenders USL Championship players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Nottingham