Michael James Craig (born 16 April 2003) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. Born in England, he was a youth international for Scotland.

Background

Michael Craig and his younger identical twin brother

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...

were born 2 minutes apart on 16 March 2003. Both of their grandfathers hail from Scotland including

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

born Ron Still who top scored for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

one season and also played for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, both in the mid-1960s.https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/michael-and-matthew-craig-who-are-the-scottish-twins-in-the-tottenham-squad-for-pacos-de-ferreira-clash-3353258

Club career

Craig and twin brother Matthew both played for

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

at a young age before both joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

when aged 12. Michael was at Arsenal between Watford and Spurs. Whilst with Tottenham Hotspur, Craig featured on the bench for the away leg of their

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

Playoff tie against

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

. In February 2022, he went on trial with fellow

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Reading

In April 2022, Craig featured for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in their

Berks & Bucks Senior Cup The Berks & Bucks FA County Senior Cup is the Senior County Cup competition of the Berks & Bucks FA. History The competition first took place in 1878–79 – a time when the FA Cup had only been going for seven years, there was no Football Lea ...

semi-final against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. On 22 June 2022,

announced the signing of Craig to their U23 team. Craig made his debut for Reading in their 2–1

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

defeat to

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

on 9 August 2022, coming on as a second-half substitute for Tyrese Fornah. On 8 May 2024, Reading activated a one-year extension to Craig's contract, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2025. For the 2024/25 season, Craig was given the number 5 shirt, and featured predominantly at right-back in the first stages of the campaign.

Rubén Sellés Rubén Sellés Salvador (born 15 June 1983) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager who is the manager of club Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. Sellés has also managed Southampton F.C., Southampton ...

confirmed that during the off-season Craig had alerted him to his ability to play at right-back, in addition to his usual central midfield position, via a text message. On 22 October 2024, Craig scored his first senior goal in a 2–1 away win against

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. Craig scored his second goal of the season on 28 January 2025, in a 3-2 defeat away to

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

. In March, Craig was ruled out for the remainder of the season as a result of injury.

Leyton Orient

On 4 July 2025 he signed for Leyton Orient.

International career

Both born in England, Michael Craig and his younger identical twin Matthew Craig have represented Scotland at age group level. Matthew said of their international allegiance, "Both of my grandfathers are Scottish. Obviously, once Scotland came calling, it was a big honour to be selected here, There wasn't a debate.">https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/22489474.matthew-craig-reveals-twin-ambitions-make-history-scotland Craig has represented Scotland at U16,

U17 U17 or U-17 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , various vessels * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Cessna U-17 Skywagon, an American utility aircraft * Nonconvex great rhombicuboctahedron In geometry, the nonconvex g ...

and U19 level. On 8 September 2022, Craig was called up to the Scotland U21 squad for the first time, making his debut on 22 September 2022 against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Michael 2003 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Barnet Scottish men's footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers English men's footballers English people of Scottish descent Reading F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football midfielders British identical twins 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Scottish sportsmen