Craig Hignett

Craig Hignett
Craig Hignett
Personal information
Date of birth 12 January 1970 (1970-01-12) (age 41)
Place of birth Whiston, Merseyside, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Midfielder, Striker (retired)
Youth career
1986–1988 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1992 Crewe Alexandra 121 (42)
1992–1998 Middlesbrough 155 (33)
1998 Aberdeen 13 (2)
1998–2000 Barnsley 66 (28)
2000–2003 Blackburn Rovers 53 (8)
2002 Coventry City (loan) 8 (2)
2003–2004 Leicester City 13 (1)
2004 Crewe Alexandra (loan) 15 (0)
2004 Leeds United 0 (0)
2004–2005 Darlington 19 (9)
2005–2006 Apollon Limassol 0 (0)
2006–2007 Spennymoor United 0 (0)
2007 Hartlepool United 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Craig Hignett, (born 12 January 1970 in Whiston), is an English former professional footballer who now works as an agent and a commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live. He started his career as a striker but later moved into midfield.

Contents

Football career

After attending school at Page Moss secondary, now known as Bowring Community Sports College, in Huyton, Hignett started his career in the youth team at Liverpool before moving to Crewe Alexandra in 1988, making his debut on 8 October 1988 against Wrexham.

In his first spell with Crewe he made 150 appearances and scored 57 goals, helping them to promotion from the old division four in the 1988–89 season and to the play-offs in the 1991–92 season—his last season at Gresty Road—before moving to the Premier League with Middlesbrough in November 1992.

After the club were relegated in his first season with Middlesbrough, he helped them back up two seasons later. In 1996–97 Hignett again suffered relegation with Middlesbrough and was part of the team that lost in the FA Cup final and League Cup final the same season. He had however made sure of a place in the club's history by scoring the first goal at the Riverside Stadium, their new ground, in a 2–0 win over Chelsea at the start of 1995–96 Season.[1]

Hignett also famously took a pay cut in order to stay at the club at one point, in stark contrast to the many big-name signings Middlesbrough were bringing in at the time.[1] In 1998 he left Middlesbrough to sign for Aberdeen on a free transfer, having made 194 appearances and 48 goals for Boro. His stay at Aberdeen was short lived, only lasting six months, before signing for Barnsley for £800,000 in 1999.

After suffering relegation from the Premiership, Barnsley were looking for a quick return to the top flight and Hignett's 20 goals in his second season at Oakwell helped them reach the play-off final of the 1999–2000 season. Hignett scored once in the final but Barnsley lost 4–2 to Ipswich Town.

Hignett finally left Barnsley in 2000 after 66 appearances and 35 goals for the club; he signed for Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £2.2. million. He helped Rovers regain their Premiership status and won a League Cup winners medal in 2002 when Blackburn beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 in the final, with Hignett coming off the bench.

However, in the 2002–03 season he only played three league games and one UEFA Cup game; Hignett was sent on loan to Coventry City halfway through the season. After returning, he scored on the final day of the season which was to prove to be his last appearance for Blackburn Rovers. He played 68 times and scored 14 goals for Rovers before being released.

In 2003 he signed for Leicester City but struggled to get in the side, making only 15 appearances before going on loan back to Crewe Alexandra at the end of the 2003–04 season and playing another 15 games. He only scored once during his time at Leicester but it was a memorable goal: a crucial injury time equaliser against Arsenal.[2]

In 2004 he had a brief stint at Leeds United before signing for Darlington, where he scored on his debut. He then moved to Cyprus to apparently end his professional playing days with Apollon Limassol.

In late August 2006, Hignett signed for Arngrove Northern League Two side Spennymoor United on a part-time contract. He made an impressive debut for Spennymoor, scoring in a 3–1 win over title challengers, South Shields. Hignett played his second game in an FA Cup 1st Round Qualifying game against Northern Premier League Division One South side Goole A.F.C.. Hignett made limited appearances for Spennymoor due to other commitments.

On 22 March 2007, Hartlepool United signed Hignett on a short-term contract. Hignett had been training with the club and had taken part in Reserve Team fixtures prior to signing up permanently.[3] He left the club in May 2007.

He has recently starred in Sky1's Premier League All Stars, in which he helped Middlesbrough beat Newcastle, and represented England in the 2009 Home Nations Masters Cup despite having not won a full international cap. As of April 2008 he was part of the Academy coaching staff at Middlesbrough. He was linked with the Darlington job after Colin Todd was sacked, he was again rumoured after Steve Staunton was sacked.[4]

Honours

Middlesbrough
Blackburn Rovers

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hignett — ist der Name folgender Personen: Alan Hignett (* 1946), englischer Fußballspieler Craig Hignett (* 1970), englischer Fußballspieler Mary Hignett († 1980), britische Schauspielerin Sam Hignett (1885–ca. 1933), englischer Fußballspieler Diese Seite …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 1996–97 Middlesbrough F.C. season — Middlesbrough 1996–97 season Manager Bryan Robson (player manager) Stadium Riverside Stadium FA Premier League …   Wikipedia

  • 2007–08 Middlesbrough F.C. season — Middlesbrough F.C. Season 2007 08 Manager Gareth Southgate Chairman …   Wikipedia

  • PFA Team of the Year — Die Mitglieder des offiziellen PFA Team of the Year werden seit 1973/74 jährlich von der englischen Profifußballer Gewerkschaft Professional Footballers Association (PFA) gewählt. Hierfür stellt die PFA im Januar eine Liste von Kandidaten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Blackburn Rovers F.C. — Football club infobox clubname = Blackburn Rovers F.C. current = Blackburn Rovers F.C. season 2008 09 fullname = Blackburn Rovers Football Club nickname = Rovers, Blue and Whites founded = 1875 ground = Ewood Park capacity = 31,367 Pitch… …   Wikipedia

  • Masters Football — is a 6 a side indoor football competition in the United Kingdom, where players over the age of 35 are chosen by the Masters Football Selection Committee to represent a senior club which they played for. Regional heats are held, and the winners of …   Wikipedia

  • Coupe d'Angleterre de football 1996-1997 — Infobox compétition sportive Coupe d Angleterre 1996 1997 Sport Football Organisateur(s) Fédération d Angleterre de football Éditions 116e Lieu …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Premier League All Stars — Infobox Television show name = Premier League allstars size = caption = format = Sport television country = UK runtime = 120 minutes (episodes 1 7) 180 minutes (episode 8) presenter = Ian Wright , Helen Chamberlain. channel = Sky1 first aired =… …   Wikipedia

  • 2008–09 Middlesbrough F.C. season — Middlesbrough 2008 09 season Chairman Steve Gibson Manager …   Wikipedia

  • Crewe — For other uses, see Crewe (disambiguation). Coordinates: 53°05′56″N 2°26′24″W / 53.099°N 2.44°W / 53.099; 2.44 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”