Stephen Crainey

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Stephen Crainey
Crainey playing for Scotland in 2011
Personal information
Full name Stephen Daniel Crainey[1]
Date of birth (1981-06-22) 22 June 1981 (age 42)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Left back
Youth career
0000 Lenzie Youth Club
0000–1997 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2004 Celtic 41 (0)
2004 Southampton 5 (0)
2004–2007 Leeds United 52 (0)
2007–2013 Blackpool 214 (4)
2013–2014 Wigan Athletic 20 (0)
2014–2015 Fleetwood Town 28 (0)
2015–2016 AFC Fylde 24 (1)
Total 384 (5)
International career
2001–2002 Scotland U21 7 (0)
2002–2011 Scotland 12 (0)
Managerial career
2021–2022 Fleetwood Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stephen Daniel Crainey (born 22 June 1981) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He is currently U21 manager for Wigan Athletic.

A left back, he made 319 appearances in the Premier League and Football League, including 214 for Blackpool. In his 18-year-long playing career, Crainey has also previously played for Celtic, Southampton, Leeds United, and Wigan Athletic and Fleetwood Town. He joined AFC Fylde in December 2015 for a brief spell.

He also played for the Scotland national team on twelve occasions.

Club career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Born in Glasgow, Crainey started his professional career with Celtic in 1997. He made a total of 58 appearances for the Hoops. He scored one goal when Celtic beat Hearts 5–2 in the quarter-final of the 2000–01 Scottish League Cup.[3] On 18 March 2001 he helped Celtic win the League Cup at Hampden Park when they beat Kilmarnock 3–0 in the Final. He then made 15 appearances as Celtic won the 2001–02 Scottish Premier League championship.

Crainey started the 2003–04 season with Celtic, but on 6 February 2004 he moved to England when he signed for Premier League side Southampton. He made his debut four days later as the Saints lost 2–0 away to Arsenal.[4] However, he was to make a total of just five Premier League appearances for Southampton.

Leeds United[edit]

On 6 August 2004, he joined Football League Championship side Leeds United, initially on loan before the move was made permanent four days later for a fee of £200,000. This was Leeds United's first cash signing since relegation from the Premier League in May 2004. He made his debut on 14 August in a 0–0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. He made a total of 11 appearances in the 2004–05 season. The following season he played a total of 30 games as Leeds United reached the Play-offs. However, Crainey was sent off in the 68th minute in the second leg of the semi-final, as the Whites beat Preston North End to reach the final, which they then lost 3–0 to Watford.

Crainey was a regular at the start of the 2006–07 campaign under former manager Kevin Blackwell, but played less following Blackwell's departure on 20 September 2006. Crainey featured in the heavy defeats that quickly ended John Carver's hopes of becoming the permanent Leeds manager. When new boss Dennis Wise took over, he dropped Crainey in favour of Eddie Lewis and, later, other options at left back. Crainey later regained his place, but then was dropped again before suffering an injury.

Crainey's recovery coincided with the return to fitness of loan player Robbie Elliott who was regarded as Dennis Wise's first choice left-back. Elliott featured on the bench for the game against Leicester City on 13 March 2007, in his first outing since returning from injury, but Crainey was not even included in the squad as Wise chose to start Armando Sá in that role. His last appearance was on 30 January 2007, in a 2–1 win over Hull City. Crainey was eventually released at the end of his Leeds contract on 15 May 2007 as the Whites were relegated to League One.

Blackpool[edit]

On 9 July 2007, Crainey signed for Blackpool in a one-year deal with an option for a further year. On 13 August 2007, he was named in the Press Association's Championship "Team of the Week".[5] Crainey scored his first-ever league goal on 19 September 2007, in a 2–2 draw with Bryan Robson's Sheffield United at Bloomfield Road.[6] On 3 December 2007, he was again named in the Press Association's Championship "Team of the Week".[7] Crainey was also named in the Press Association's Championship "Team of the Week" on 4 February 2008.[8] He made a total of 43 appearances (scoring one League goal) in the 2007–08 season as the Seasiders finished nineteenth in the Championship, the club's highest-place finish in the Football League in 27 years.

In June 2008 newspaper reports linked Crainey with a £250,000 move to fellow Championship club Burnley,[9][10] but he instead signed a new contract with Blackpool.[11] He missed the start of the 2008–09 season with a groin injury and Blackpool brought in Mohammed Camara on loan to cover for him. On 9 September the club confirmed that Crainey had undergone an operation the day before which would keep him out of action for a further four to six weeks.[12] He made his comeback on 24 January 2009 as an 87th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over Birmingham City at Bloomfield Road. That season he made a total of 17 appearances.

Crainey was named in the Championship "Team of the Week", along with teammates Matthew Gilks and Marcel Seip, following his performance in Blackpool's 0–0 draw with Swansea City on 24 October at the Liberty Stadium.[13][14]

On 22 January 2011, in a home defeat to Sunderland, Crainey suffered an ankle injury that saw him miss part of Blackpool's debut season in the Premier League. With Blackpool relegated back to the Championship, Crainey put pen to paper on a new two-year contract, Blackpool putting in a 'big offer' to help Crainey snub the interest of Premier League side Wigan Athletic.[15][16]

On 26 November 2011, Crainey scored his second League goal for Blackpool in a draw against Birmingham City at Bloomfield Road.[17] On 11 February 2012, Crainey scored his third League goal for Blackpool in a draw against Portsmouth with a free kick into the top right hand corner. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Crainey rejected a new contract from Blackpool.

Later career[edit]

Crainey signed a one-year deal with Wigan Athletic in June 2013.[18] He left the club at the end of June 2014 when his contract expired.[19] He then signed for Fleetwood Town.[20] After leaving Fleetwood, Crainey trained with Barnsley before signing for National League North club AFC Fylde in December 2015 for a short spell.[21] Crainey retired from playing in 2016.[22]

International career[edit]

Crainey was capped by Scotland at under-21 level, then made his full international debut for Scotland on 27 March 2002 as they lost a friendly 5–0 to France at the Stade de France in Paris. He made a total of four appearances for Scotland in 2002, playing in the 1–2 friendly defeat to Nigeria at Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen on 17 April and another friendly defeat on 21 August, 0–1 to Denmark at Hampden Park, Glasgow. He then made his competitive debut in the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Group 5 2–2 draw with the Faroe Islands at Svangaskarð, Toftir on 7 September.[23] His next international appearances came in 2004 in two more friendly defeats. On 31 March, 1–2 to Romania at Hampden Park and 0–1 to Denmark on 28 April at Parken Stadium, Copenhagen.[24]

On 16 November 2010 Crainey made a return to the Scotland set up under Craig Levein for a friendly against the Faroe Islands at Pittodrie to claim his seventh cap.[25]

Coaching career[edit]

After his retirement from playing in 2016, Crainey rejoined Fleetwood Town as a youth team coach.[22] He became their first team caretaker manager on 21 November 2021,[22] and a month later he was appointed manager until the end of the 2021–22 season.[26] Despite a 4–2 defeat to Bolton Wanderers on the final day of the season, Fleetwood survived relegation on goal difference.[22][27] He returned to his U-23's team role on 4 May 2022.[28]

Crainey moved to Wigan Athletic in November 2022, becoming a youth team coach.[22]

Career statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic 1999–2000[29] Scottish Premier League 9 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 9 0
2000–01[30] Scottish Premier League 2 0 1 0 2 1 — 0 0 5 1
2001–02[31] Scottish Premier League 15 0 2 0 1 0 1[a] 0 0 0 19 0
2002–03[32] Scottish Premier League 13 0 2 0 2 0 2[a] 0 0 0 19 0
2003–04[33] Scottish Premier League 2 0 0 0 2 0 2[b] 0 0 0 6 0
Total 41 0 5 0 7 1 5 0 0 0 58 1
Southampton 2003–04[33] Premier League 5 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 5 0
Leeds United 2004–05[34] Championship 9 0 0 0 1 0 — 0 0 10 0
2005–06[35] Championship 24 0 2 0 2 0 — 2[c] 0 30 0
2006–07[36] Championship 19 0 0 0 3 0 — 0 0 22 0
Total 52 0 2 0 6 0 0 0 2 0 62 0
Blackpool 2007–08[37] Championship 40 1 1 0 2 0 — 0 0 43 1
2008–09[38] Championship 17 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 17 0
2009–10[39] Championship 41 0 1 0 1 0 — 3[c] 0 46 0
2010–11[40] Premier League 31 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 31 0
2011–12[41] Championship 42 3 0 0 0 0 — 3[c] 0 45 3
2012–13[42] Championship 43 0 2 0 1 0 — 0 0 46 0
Total 214 4 4 0 4 0 0 0 6 0 228 4
Wigan Athletic 2013–14[43] Championship 20 0 4 0 1 0 4[d] 0 1[e] 0 30 0
Fleetwood Town 2014–15[44] League One 28 0 1 0 0 0 — 1[f] 0 30 0
AFC Fylde 2015–16[45] National League North 24 1 0 0 — — 2[g] 0 26 1
Career total 384 5 16 0 18 1 9 0 12 0 439 6
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Cup
  2. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in Championship play-offs
  4. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearance in 2013 FA Community Shield
  6. ^ Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  7. ^ Appearance(s) in FA Trophy

Honours[edit]

Blackpool

Individual

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Stephen Crainey". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  3. ^ "Celtic youngsters see them through". BBC Sport. 1 November 2000. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  4. ^ "Arsenal 2–0 Southampton". BBC Sport. 10 February 2004. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Coca-Cola Championship Team of the Week". The Football League. 13 August 2007. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
  6. ^ "Blackpool 2–2 Sheff Utd". BBC. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  7. ^ "Coca-Cola Championship Team of the Week" (PDF). The Football League. 3 December 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
  8. ^ "Coca-Cola Championship Team of the Week" (PDF). The Football League. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2008.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Kayley, Jason (2 June 2008). "Burnley launch global search for new players". Burnley & Pendle Citizen. Retrieved 31 January 2010.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Crainey Clarets link". Blackpool Gazette. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  11. ^ "Blackpool Today: News, Sport, Jobs, Property, Cars, Entertainments & More". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  12. ^ "Crainey blow for Pool". Blackpool. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Trio Named in Team of the Week". Blackpool F.C. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)[dead link]
  14. ^ "Championship Team Of The Week (26/10/2009)" (PDF). The Football League. 26 October 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  15. ^ "Blackpool hit by Crainey blow" – Blackpool Gazette, 24 January 2011
  16. ^ "Crainey signs new contract" – Daily Mirror, 17 July 2011
  17. ^ "Blackpool 2 –2 Birmingham" – BBC Sport, 26 November 2011
  18. ^ "Stephen Crainey: Wigan sign Blackpool and Scotland defender". BBC Sport. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  19. ^ "Wigan Athletic FC". Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  20. ^ Stephen Crainey: Fleetwood sign ex-Wigan & Blackpool defender, BBC Sport.
  21. ^ "AFC Fylde beat Barnsley to sign Blackpool hero Crainey". Lytham St Annes Express. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  22. ^ a b c d e "Stephen Crainey appointed as Lead Professional Development Phase Coach (U21s)". Wigan Athletic FC. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Scotland International Matches 2002". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 14 March 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  24. ^ "Scotland International Matches 2004". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 14 March 2008. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  25. ^ Live – Scotland v Faroe Islands, bbc.co.uk; accessed 30 August 2015.
  26. ^ "Crainey confirmed as Head Coach until end of the season". Fleetwood Town FC. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  27. ^ "Bolton Wanderers 4–2 Fleetwood Town: Fleetwood avoid relegation despite loss". BBC Sport. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Manager update: Stephen Crainey to return to Under-23s role". www.fleetwoodtownfc.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  30. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  31. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  32. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  33. ^ a b "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  34. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  35. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  36. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  37. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  38. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  39. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  40. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  41. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  42. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  43. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  44. ^ "Games played by Stephen Crainey in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  45. ^ Stephen Crainey at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  46. ^ "Football League Championship play-off final: Blackpool 3–2 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  47. ^ "Pool Player of Year revealed". Blackpool Gazette. 7 May 2008. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2008.

External links[edit]

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