Louis Crayton

Louis Crayton (born 26 October 1977 in Monrovia) is a former Liberian footballer.

Louis Crayton
Personal information
Full name Louis Crayton
Date of birth (1977-10-26) 26 October 1977
Place of birth Monrovia, Liberia
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 St. Joseph Warriors 33 (0)
1997–1998 Lucerne 4 (0)
1998–2000 Grasshopper 3 (0)
2000 Schaffhausen 13 (0)
2001 Wangen bei Olten 6 (0)
2001–2002 YF Juventus 15 (0)
2002–2003 Zug 13 (4)
2003–2005 Concordia Basel 44 (0)
2005–2008 Basel 12 (0)
2008–2009 D.C. United 18 (0)
2010 NSC Minnesota Stars 1 (0)
Total 162 (4)
National team
1999–2008 Liberia 36 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Europe

Crayton started his career playing for St. Joseph Warriors in Liberia before moving to his first Swiss club, Lucerne, in 1997. He left the club in 1998 to spend two seasons at Grasshoppers Zürich until 2000 before going on to spend one half-season apiece at FC Schaffhausen and FC Wangen bei Olten in 2000 and 2001. He then moved to YF Juventus and spent the 2001–02 season with the club before going on to spend the 2002–03 season at Zug.

In the summer of 2003, he moved to Concordia Basel, and spent two seasons with the club before joining their cross-town rivals FC Basel in July 2005. However, he spent his first season with Basel on the bench as a backup for their first-choice keeper at the time, Pascal Zuberbühler, who played in all of the club's competitive matches that season. Crayton finally made his competitive debut for Basel in July 2006, when he made two appearances in both Swiss Super League and UEFA Cup qualification. He also played one match in the UEFA Cup group stage in November 2006 due to a red-card suspension of the first-choice keeper Franco Costanzo.

North America

On 7 August 2008, Basel announced they were allowing Crayton to move to Major League Soccer,[1] and on 15 August 2008 Crayton had signed with D.C. United. He made his first start against Chicago Fire on 16 August 2008, and secured his first MLS shutout in the process. During the 2009 season, Crayton has been caught in a three-way competition with Josh Wicks and Milos Kocic for the starting goalkeeper position for United. It appeared that Crayton would get the starting spot in goal for the 2009 season however a hip injury along with Crayton's high salary proved to much for DC which resulted in Crayton's contract to be terminated.[2]

In the winter/spring of 2010 Crayton tried out with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer but was eventually released. On 16 March 2010 the new expansion NASL team, NSC Minnesota Stars announced that they had signed Crayton to a 1-year deal. Crayton made his debut for the team in its opening game of the 2010 season against the Vancouver Whitecaps, but suffered a serious season-ending knee injury just minutes into the game.[3]

International

Crayton made his international debut for Liberia in a 2000 African Cup of Nations qualifying match against Tunisia. Crayton went on to represent his country 36 times, often serving as captain, before announcing his retirement from international play in May 2008.

In addition to his national team appearances, Crayton has also played in two FIFA World All-Star games, in South Africa in 1999, and in Hong Kong in 2008.

Personal life

Having spent so much time playing for various clubs in Switzerland between 1997 and 2008, Crayton now also holds Swiss citizenship.

Honors
Basel
DC United

References
  1. FC Basel 1893 (2008). "Crayton geht, Almerares kommt!" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  2. Goff, Steven (2009). "Uni". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  3. "NSC Stars Go Up Against Carolina RailHawks | IMS Soccer News". www.insidemnsoccer.com. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
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