Thomas Craddock (born 14 October 1986) is a retired English 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 for multiple clubs including
Spennymoor Town
Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field.
The club began playing in the Northern ...
,
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
, and
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
as a
striker.
Career
Middlesbrough
Born in
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
, County Durham, Craddock came through 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 ...
at
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
since joining the academy from Darlington Spraire Lads when he was eleven years old,
and was a member of their
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
winning side in
2003–04. While at the academy, Craddock suffered a serious shoulder injury, but managed to overcome the injury
and started out as attacker role and then switched to defense role before reverting to attacker role. On 12 March 2005, Craddock signed his first professional contract with the club.
He made his
first team
First team may refer to:
Sports
* First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club
* The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball
* First Team All-A ...
debut for the club as a
substitute in the final game of the
2005–06 season against
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, having already scored 20 goals for the
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
. On 16 June 2006, Craddock signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2008.
He joined
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
on a month's
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 ...
from 25 October 2006. He scored the winning goal on his debut for the team; however, the next day it was discovered he had suffered a knee injury, ruling him out for six weeks. After being sidelined for weeks, Craddock scored on his return for the club's reserve match against
Leeds United Reserve on 29 November 2006.
In the 2007–08 season, Craddock made a handful of first team appearance at Middlesbrough following a crisis of striker's injury and made two more league appearances for the club. However, Craddock suffered a hernia injury that resulted him having two operation and upon return, his first team opportunities was further limited. On 13 February 2008, Craddock joined
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 ...
side
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...
on a month's loan.
Craddock made his Hartlepool United debut three days later, where he played 26 minutes, in a 1–1 draw against
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
. After making four appearances, Craddock's loan spell with the club came to an end on 18 March 2008 following a one-month loan.
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, he signed a one-year contract extension with Middlesbrough in July 2008.
Luton Town
On 17 October 2008, Craddock was sent on a one-month loan to
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
.
This loan was extended in November after Craddock scored three goals in four games,
then extended for a further month following more impressive performances, despite injury.
Craddock's loan period came to an end in mid-January and Luton sought his services once more, this time lodging a bid of £80,000, which Middlesbrough accepted. On 30 January 2009, Craddock signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Luton Town.
He scored 12 goals in 30 games for Luton in the
2008–09 season, including a goal in the Hatters'
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 Leag ...
victory 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 ...
. However, a 30-point deduction imposed upon the club at the start of the season led to Luton's eventual relegation from
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 ...
, despite Craddock scoring 10 league goals.
In the
2009–10 season, Craddock was linked with a move away from the club to a newly promoted side
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
. However, the move never materialised and Craddock stayed at the club, where he finished the season as Luton's top scorer with 24 goals, also finishing as third top scorer in the
Conference Premier
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-profess ...
. On 13 April 2010, Craddock scored a hat-trick (which was also his first professional career) in a 6–3 win over
Histon
Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which r ...
. In addition to his performance, In June 2010, Craddock, along with
Claude Gnakpa, were named in the Conference Premier team of the season.
The 2010–11 season saw Craddock scored two goals in four appearances against
Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
and
Tamworth.
Oxford United
On 31 August 2010, the day of the transfer deadline, Craddock signed for
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
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...
for a fee of £50,000, signing a three-year contract.
[.] Upon joining the club, Craddock was given number 29 shirt and revealed how the completed move to Oxford United was almost stalled and the paperwork was filed in time.
After making his Oxford United debut against
Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...
on 4 September 2010, Craddock scored his first Oxford United goal in the next game on 11 September 2010, in a 2–0 win over
Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...
. Throughout January, Craddock scored five goals in six league matches against
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
,
Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...
,
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
,
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
and Cheltenham Town. As a result, Craddock's form earned him a nomination for npower League Two Player of the Month award for January, but lost out to
Gillingham's
Cody McDonald
Cody Darren John McDonald (born 30 May 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Club career
Early career
McDonald was born in Witham, Essex. He started his career playing for Valley Swiftshttp://www.bnesl.co.uk/vs.h ...
. In his first season in the football league at Oxford, Craddock was the club's second top scorer with 15 goals,
including two against
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 ...
, the winner being in the 94th minute.
Before the start of the following season, Craddock sustained a knee injury in the first pre-season game against
Didcot Town and was ruled out till November. His first game back was as a substitute in a
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 Leag ...
fixture 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 ...
, in which he was sent off seven minutes after coming on. On his return from suspension and injury in December, Craddock scored the first in a 2–0 win over Northampton Town,
only to be ruled out through injury again three games later. He did not play again till the final day of the 2011–12 season at Port Vale.
In the 2012–13 season, Craddock started the season well when he scored twice on 21 August 2012, in a 2–0 win over Southend United. Then on 20 October 2012, he scored four goals in a 5–0 victory over
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 ...
. After scoring three more goals, including a brace against
Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...
on 6 November 2012, Craddock was once again nominated for the npower League Two Player of the Month award for January, but lost out to
Ashley Vincent
Ashley Derek Vincent (born 26 May 1985) is an English former football player and manager.
He played on the wing or as a striker, and was renowned for his pace. He graduated through the Wolverhampton Wanderers youth system to win a contract wit ...
. However, Craddock's first team opportunities was soon limited, due to injuries. Despite this, Craddock finished the 2012–13 season as the league top-scorer, alongside
Alfie Potter
Alfie James Potter (born 9 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays for Oxford City as a midfielder.
Career
Potter came through the youth team ranks at Peterborough United, after being released by Wimbledon at the age of 1 ...
with ten goals.
At the end of the 2012–13 season, Craddock was among twelve players to be released by the club. During his time at Oxford United, Craddock formed a partnership with
James Constable
James Ashley Constable (born 4 October 1984) is an English semi-professional football coach and player who plays as a striker. He plays for and is the assistant manager at club Banbury United. He has played in the Football League for Walsall ...
.
Portsmouth
On 13 May 2013, Craddock signed a two-year deal for
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
after being released by Oxford.
Upon joining the club, Craddock was given number 10 shirt for the new season after
Yassin Moutaouakil
Yassin Moutaouakil ( ar, ياسين المتوكل; born 18 July 1986) is a French footballer who plays for Hayes & Yeading United. He plays as a right back and has represented France at Under-19 and Under-21 levels.
Career Club career Early ca ...
switched to number two shirt.
Craddock made his Portsmouth debut, in the opening game of the season, where he played 21 minutes, in a 4–1 home defeat to his former club,
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...
on 3 August 2013. In the first round of the Johnstone Trophy, Craddock converted the first penalty in the shoot-out, in a 5–3 win over Torquay United after the game went throughout 120 minutes, in a 0–0 draw. It took until 23 November 2013 for Craddock to score his first Portsmouth goal, in a 2–1 loss against
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
. However, Craddock struggled in the first team at Portsmouth, due to injury and loss of form that led to being on the substitution bench. In late-November, Craddock suffered a knee injury during the match against Southend United, which is considered as serious.
After being ruled out of the season, Craddock said he's expected to return to training in the pre-season. However, his plan was back-fired, as his recovery was delayed, which ruled him out for the start of the season and eventually throughout 2014. After delays of returning to the pitch, Craddock made his return in the pitch for the first time in two years in a reserve match against
Fulham U21, which saw them lost 3–1. After being planned out to be loaned out to as "the best way forward for him", this plan was backfired, however, due to another knee injury that kept him out for three weeks.
At the end of the 2014–15 season, Craddock was released on 18 May 2015 after an injury hit spell. Though he was released by the club, Craddock remained at the club as a trialist, in hopes of earning a contract when he appeared in the club's reserve match. However, Craddock opted to leave the club, due to his judgement call.
Later career
After going on a trial at
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 N ...
, Craddock joined Non-League side
Guiseley
Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds.
It sits in t ...
on 27 July 2015. Craddock made his Guiseley debut, in the opening game of the season, in a 1–0 loss against
Welling United
Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football.
History
Welling United Foot ...
. Craddock then scored his first Guiseley goal, in a 4–4 draw against
Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
on 12 September 2015 His second goal then came on 26 September 2015, in a 1–0 win over
Braintree Town
Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road.
History
The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...
. Despite suffering from fitness concern, Craddock finished the 2015–16 season, making 31 league appearances and scoring two times.
On 8 June 2016, Craddock joined
Spennymoor Town
Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field.
The club began playing in the Northern ...
, scoring 4 goals in 13 appearances in all competitions during the
2016–17 season. He retired on 1 January 2017.
Tom is now a Teacher of PE at Carmel College, Darlington; which he formerly attended as a student.
Career statistics
Honours
Middlesbrough
*
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
:
2003–04
Luton Town
*
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 Leag ...
:
2008–09
References
External links
Tom Craddock profileat the Luton Town website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craddock, Tom
1986 births
Living people
Footballers from Darlington
English men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Hartlepool United F.C. players
Luton Town F.C. players
Oxford United F.C. players
Portsmouth F.C. players
Guiseley A.F.C. players
Spennymoor Town F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players