Craig Skelton

Craig Skelton (born 14 September 1980) is an English footballer who played as a striker in the Football League for Darlington[4] and in non-league football for a large number of clubs, mostly in the north east of England.

Craig Skelton
Personal information
Date of birth (1980-09-14)14 September 1980[1]
Place of birth Middlesbrough,[1] England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Darlington
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2000 Darlington 1 (0)
2000 → Altrincham (loan) 4 (0)
2000–2001 Whitby Town
2001–2002 Blyth Spartans
2002 Whitby Town
2002–2003 Billingham Town[2] (19)
2003 Spennymoor United
2003–2004 Billingham Town
2004–2005 Thornaby
2005–2007 Northallerton Town
2007–2008 Guisborough Town
2008–2010 Marske United
2010–2011 Redcar Athletic
2011 Marske United
2011–2012 Thornaby[3] (15)
2012 Marske United
2012–201? Redcar Athletic
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Darlington

As a youngster with Darlington, the Middlesbrough-born Skelton was a regular goalscorer for the junior teams. Celtic's city rivals Rangers also showed an interest, but an ankle injury prevented further progress. He returned to Scotland for further trials after his recovery,[5] but no move ensued.

In February 2000, Skelton signed on loan for Conference Premier club Altrincham: his debut, playing in midfield in a home defeat to the division's bottom club, Welling United, was described in the local newspaper as "a baptism of fire for Skelton, who could add nothing to an ineffective Robins attack, and found himself in referee Clattenburg's book for an over-zealous challenge".[6] He appeared in four Conference matches without scoring.[7]

In October, his improved scoring form for Darlington's reserves[8] earned him inclusion in the first-team squad for the visit to Cardiff City in Division Three. With Cardiff a goal up, Skelton came on for his Football League debut as an 82nd-minute substitute, but Darlington were unable to prevent the home side increasing their lead.[1][9] He made no more first-team appearances for the club and, to the reported surprise of supporters, was released at the end of November when his latest monthly contract expired.[10]

Non-league football

He signed for Whitby Town of the Northern Premier League,[10] with whom he spent what remained of the season. He moved on to Blyth Spartans, also of the Northern Premier League, for 2001–02,[11] but by March 2002 was back with Whitby.[12] In November 2002, he signed for Northern League club Billingham Town,[13] and scored 19 goals to help them reach the highest league finish in their history, third in the Northern League First Division.[2] Early the next season, he returned to the Northern Premier with Spennymoor United, newly promoted to the First Division,[14] but he stayed there only a month before being released back to Billingham.[15] In his first game back, away at Durham City, he scored what was believed to be the fastest Northern League goal ever, after no more than eight seconds,[16] and he was a member of the team that beat Bishop Auckland to win the 2004 Durham Challenge Cup, the first major trophy in the Billingham club's history.[17]

Skelton began the 2004–05 season with Billingham,[18] but soon moved on to fellow Northern League side Thornaby,[19] and in January 2005, dropped down a division to join Northallerton Town, for whom he scored twice on his debut in a 3–1 win at Marske United[20] and scored 14 goals as they came close to achieving promotion. He broke his ankle in the following pre-season,[21] and was only able to return in the last few weeks of the campaign[22] as Northallerton clinched promotion to the First Division. Skelton missed much of the season with injuries,[23][24] and returned to the Northern League second tier with Guisborough Town in the 2007 close season.[25]

He moved to Marske United for 2008–09,[26] helping them reach the quarter-finals of the 2009 FA Vase[27] fifth place in Northern League Division Two in 2008–09 and fourth in 2009–10.[28] After a first foray into the Wearside League with Redcar Athletic for 2010–11,[29] Skelton rejoined Marske United, newly promoted to the first tier of the Northern League, for 2011–12.[30] He soon left for the second tier with former club Thornaby,[31] but returned to Marske United in March 2012.[32] He started the next season back with Redcar Athletic in the Wearside League.[33]

References
  1. "Craig Skelton". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. "Billingham Town scale the heights". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 2 May 2003 – via NewsBank.
  3. Greener, Keith (21 May 2012). "Northern League Division 2 Leading Scorers 2011–12". Chester-le-Street Town F.C. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  4. "Darlington: 1946/47–1988/89 & 1990/91–2009/10". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  5. "Rangers to eye the new Beardsley". Daily Record. Glasgow. 29 September 1999. p. 63 – via NewsBank.
  6. "Leroy Chambers tries in vain to set up a chance for the Robins". Crewe & Nantwich Guardian. 18 February 2000. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  7. Harman, John, ed. (2005). Alliance to Conference 1979–2004: The first 25 years. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 32, 39. ISBN 978-1-869833-52-7.
  8. "Ref clears Gray but Molby faces charge". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 18 October 2000. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  9. "Bennett left fuming as Quakers crash". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 25 October 2000. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  10. "Quakers release Skelton". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 29 November 2000. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  11. "Quakers slip to embarassing [sic?] defeat". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 22 July 2001. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  12. "Bishops' boss praises players". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 1 April 2002. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  13. "Cup money under threat". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 8 November 2002. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  14. "Shocks abound in FA Cup". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 5 September 2003. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  15. "UniBond League". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 3 October 2003. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014 – via NewsBank.
  16. "The Albany Northern League Today". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 10 October 2003. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  17. "Non-league round-up: Billingham grab first major trophy". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 10 October 2003. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  18. "Northallerton give Billingham a scare in FA Cup battles". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 10 September 2004. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  19. "Albany Northern League: Young lays down the Law after sorry loss to leaders". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 13 September 2004. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  20. "Skelton's debut brace keeps Town in the hunt". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. 28 January 2005. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  21. Simpson, Ray (12 August 2005). "Moors' revival begins tonight". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough – via NewsBank.
  22. "Town head into critical week as games pile up". Harrogate Advertiser. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  23. Groves, Andrew (3 January 2007). "Town seek success in weather-jinxed cup tie". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  24. "Burton impressed by Town youngsters". North Yorkshire News. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  25. Simpson, Ray (29 June 2007). "I've no intention of retiring, Scaife". The Northern Echo. Darlington – via NewsBank.
  26. Simpson, Ray (22 September 2008). "West look for new boss after Owers resignation". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  27. Brown, Steve (2 March 2009). "Seasiders on a cruise into FA Vase semis". The Journal. Newcastle – via NewsBank.
  28. "Northern League 2008–09". and "Northern League 2009–10". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  29. Pratt, Malcolm (2 August 2010). "Rebuilt Prudhoe alive and kicking". The Journal. Newcastle – via NewsBank.
  30. "STL Northern League". The Journal. Newcastle. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  31. Pratt, Malcolm (24 October 2011). "FA Carlsberg Vase/STL Northern League". The Journal. Newcastle. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  32. Simpsom, Ray (25 March 2012). "Bishop play for 80 minutes with ten men and beat Benfield". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  33. Pratt, Malcolm (4 August 2012). "Wearside League". The Journal. Newcastle. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
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