Andrew Crofts (footballer)

Football player infobox
playername = Andrew Crofts


fullname = Andrew Lawrence Crofts
height = height|ft=5|in=9
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1984|5|29|df=yes
cityofbirth = Chatham, Kent
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Gillingham
position = Midfielder
years = 2001–
clubs =Gillingham
clubnumber = 7
caps(goals) = 173 (17)cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=24691|title=Andrew Crofts|publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-24]
nationalyears = 2002–2004
2005–2006
2005–
nationalteam = Wales U19
Wales U21
Wales
nationalcaps(goals) = 008 0(0)cite web|url=http://www.faw.org.uk/teams/1/29|title=Men – A Squad – Andrew Crofts|publisher=Football Association of Wales|accessdate=2008-09-24]
010 0(1)
012 0(0)cite web|url=http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~1322050,00.html|title=Crofts collects twelfth cap|publisher=Gillingham F.C.|accessdate=2008-06-02|date=2008-06-01]
pcupdate = 4 October 2008
ntupdate = 22 August 2008

Andrew Lawrence Crofts (born 29 May 1984) is an English-born professional footballer. He has spent his entire professional career with Gillingham, for whom he made his Football League debut at the age of 16, and has made over 180 appearances for the Kent-based club. As one of his grandparents was born in Wales he was eligible to play for the Welsh national team, and after representing the country at under-19 and under-21 level he won his first cap at senior level in 2005. In 2008 he won his twelfth cap, breaking the record for the most international caps received by a Gillingham player.

Early life

Crofts was born in Chatham and began playing competitive football at the age of six for a club in nearby Rainham. Between the ages of 10 and 15 he attended weekly training sessions organised by Premier League club Chelsea. He also tried out on two occasions for the English Schools Football Association's national schoolboy team, but was unsuccessful.cite book | first=Roger|last= Triggs | title=The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club| publisher=Tempus Publishing Ltd | year=2001| id=ISBN 0-7524-2243-X|pages=p98]

Professional career

Club career

In September 2000, Crofts joined Gillingham as a trainee and was a regular in the club's youth and reserve teams during the 2000–01 season. At the end of the season, shortly before his 17th birthday, he was a surprise inclusion in the first team squad for a match at home to Watford, and made his Football League debut as a late substitute for Marlon King.cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=303671|title=Gillingham 0 (0) – 3 (0) Watford |publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-24] The following season he suffered a broken leg during a reserve team match and missed several months of action. [cite web
title = Andrew Crofts Injury Set-back
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~134460,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.
date = 2001-12-01
accessdate = 2008-09-25] Although he returned to action in early 2002, his next appearance for the first team did not come until October, when he came on as a substitute in a Football League Cup match against Stockport County.cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=303671|title=Stockport (1) 1 – 2 (1) Gillingham |publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-24] This was to be his only senior appearance of the 2002–03 season.cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=24691&seasonid=132|title=Games played by Andrew Crofts in 2002/2003 |publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-24] He finally secured a regular first team place towards the end of the following season, featuring regularly during March and April 2004.cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=24691&seasonid=133|title=Games played by Andrew Crofts in 2003/2004 |publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-24]

Crofts was a first team regular in the 2004–05 season, making 27 Football League appearances, and scoring his first senior goal for the club in a defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on 26 December.cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=24691&seasonid=134|title=Games played by Andrew Crofts in 2004/2005 |publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-29] In January 2005 he signed a new contract designed to keep him at the club until 2009. [cite news
title = Football: Crofts is Top Dog for Stan
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_/ai_n9718495
work= Sunday Mirror|author=Peter Burrington
date = 2005-01-16
accessdate = 2008-09-29] He was omitted from the team for most of March and April, but was recalled for the last match of the season, in which a draw with Nottingham Forest led to the "Gills" being relegated from the Football League Championship. [cite news
title =Nottm Forest 2–2 Gillingham
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/4500797.stm
publisher= BBC Sport
date = 2005-05-08
accessdate = 2008-09-29] In the 2005–06 season he made the most appearances of any player in the Gillingham squad, missing only one of the team's 46 matches in Football League One. Although the team struggled in the league, finishing in the lower half of the table, they defeated Premier League team Portsmouth in the Football League Cup, with Crofts scoring the winning goal. [cite news
title =Gillingham 3 Portsmouth 2
url = http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/gillingham-3-portsmouth-2-507718.html
work= The Independent
date = 2005-09-21|author=Amar Azam
accessdate = 2008-09-30] cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/league2.sd?teamid=1098&seasonid=135|title=Final 2005/2006 Football League One Table |publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-30] The following season he again made over 40 appearances and also scored eight goals, his best total for an individual season, but Gillingham again finished the season in the bottom half of the table.cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/league2.sd?teamid=1098&seasonid=136|title=Final 2006/2007 Football League One Table |publisher=Soccerbase|accessdate=2008-09-30] He made his 100th start for the club on 18 December 2006 in a match against AFC Bournemouth, and marked the occasion with a goal. [cite news
title =Football: Crofts Classic
url = http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:DSMC&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=11621FA80B36ED08&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815
work= Daily Mirror
date = 2006-12-18
accessdate = 2008-09-30] At the end of the season he won four awards at the club's Player of the Year event and was dubbed "Mr Gillingham" by manager Ronnie Jepson. [cite web
title = Season Review
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~1033690,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.
date = 2007-06-11
accessdate = 2008-09-30] He took over as team captain in the 2007–08 season,cite web
title = Andrew Crofts
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10416~15093,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.
accessdate = 2008-09-30] [cite news
title =Gillingham 1 Albion 0
url = http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2007/9/15/241887.html
work= The Argus
date = 2007-09-15
accessdate = 2008-09-30] but it was an unsuccessful season for the team, who were relegated from League One. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/7377686.stm|title=Leeds 2–1 Gillingham|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2008-05-03|date=2008-05-03] The following October he was stripped of the captaincy, which was instead given to Barry Fuller. Manager Mark Stimson stated that he felt that the captaincy might have been too much of a burden for Crofts, and had a negative effect on his form. [cite web
title = Fuller handed captain's armband
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~1415953,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.
date = 2008-10-08
accessdate = 2008-10-08]

International career

Crofts was selected for the Welsh national under-19 team in 2002, qualifying due to having a Welsh grandparent. [cite web
title = Crofts Gets Welsh Call Up
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~238387,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.|author=Amy Inkersole
date = 2002-07-12
accessdate = 2008-09-25] He made his first appearance for the team in the Milk Cup tournament in Northern Ireland, but was forced to return home after suffering an ankle injury in the Welsh team's first match. [cite web
title = Andrew Crofts – Further Injury Setback
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~246880,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.
date = 2002-07-30
accessdate = 2008-09-25] In total he made eight appearances at under-19 level, including appearing in a second Milk Cup in 2003. [cite web
title = Crofts Enjoying International Duty
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~401236,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.
date =2003-07-22
accessdate = 2008-09-27]

After moving up to the under-21 level Crofts was selected for the national under-21 team for the first time for a match against Germany in February 2005. [cite web
title = Crofty Gets Welsh Call
url = http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~619931,00.html
publisher = Gillingham F.C.
date = 2005-01-28
accessdate = 2008-09-25] He went on to gain 12 caps at this level, scoring one goal.

He made his debut for the Welsh national team against Azerbaijan on 12 October 2005, coming on as a substitute for Carl Fletcher. [cite news
title = Wales 2–0 Azerbaijan
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4324386.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2005-10-12
accessdate = 2008-09-24] At the end of the 2005–06 season, as part of manager John Toshack's policy of introducing young players to the team, Crofts gained two further caps, both as a substitute, against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago, [cite news
title = Wales 0–0 Paraguay
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4756204.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2006-03-01
accessdate = 2008-09-26] [cite news
title = Wales 2–1 Trinidad & Tobago
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/football/internationals/5004566.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2006-05-27
accessdate = 2008-09-26] and also played in an unofficial international match against a Basque Country XI. [cite news
title = Basque XI 0–1 Wales
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/5000308.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2006-05-21
accessdate = 2008-09-26]

He was included in the starting line-up for an international for the first, and to date only, time in August 2007 when he played the full 90 minutes of a match against Bulgaria, [cite news
title = Bulgaria 0–1 Wales: Goal makes Eastwood's day
url = http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=223007&&cc=5739
publisher = ESPN
date = 2007-08-22
accessdate = 2008-09-26] but was back on the substitutes' bench for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Germany the following month. [cite news
title = Wales 0–2 Germany
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_of_wales/6975038.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-09-08
accessdate = 2008-09-26] In June 2008 he made his twelfth appearance for Wales, coming on as a substitute for the eleventh time, when he played against the Netherlands in Rotterdam. This appearance gave him the record for the most caps ever gained by a Gillingham player.

Career statistics

:"Statistics correct as of 9 October 2008"

Personal life

Crofts is a fan of Chelsea and at one time shared a flat with the club's future captain John Terry. [cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/internationals/chelsea-fan-crofts-looks-to-hero-terry-for-welsh-inspiration-509721.html|title=Chelsea fan Crofts looks to hero Terry for Welsh inspiration|work=The Independent|accessdate=2008-09-24|date=2005-10-06|author=Paul Walker] During his time as captain of Gillingham he was involved with a number of charity events, including acting as a celebrity waiter at a Gillingham pub and presenting a signed shirt to a brain damaged teenage fan. [cite web|url=http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10416~1115121,00.html|title=Meet 'Crofty' and 'Trigger' Tonight|publisher=Gillingham F.C.|accessdate=2008-09-24|date=2007-09-18] [cite news|url=http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/rainham/Gills-star-tragic-teen-s-fundraiser/article-300236-detail/article.html|title=Gills star at tragic teen's fundraiser|publisher=ThisIsKent.co.uk|accessdate=2008-09-24|date=2008-09-01] In January 2005 he dedicated a match-winning goal to his grandmother Lily, who had died several months earlier. [cite news|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:EXSC&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=107B421F51FF0ECE&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815|title=Crofts makes it a day worth remembering |work=The Mirror|accessdate=2008-09-27|date=2005-01-17]

References

External links

* [http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10416~15093,00.html Andrew Crofts player profile] at gillinghamfootballclub.com
*soccerbase|id=24691|name=Andrew Crofts