John Craven (footballer)

Football player infobox
playername= John Craven


fullname = John Roland Craven
nickname =
dateofbirth = May 15 1947
cityofbirth = Lytham St Annes
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = 1996
height =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1965-1971
1971-1973
1973-1977
1976-1978
1978-1980
1981
clubs = Blackpool
Crystal Palace
Coventry City
Plymouth Argyle
Vancouver Whitecaps
California Surf
Career
caps(goals) = 163 (24)
063 (14)
089 0(8)
045 0(3)
070 (10)
019 0(0)
360 (49)
manageryears =
managerclubs =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =

John Roland Craven (May 15, 1947 — 1996) was an English professional football player. He played as a defender, but also played as a centre-forward on occasion.

Career

Craven made his professional debut at left-back in Blackpool's 4–0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on August 27, 1965. At first, he teamed up with skipper Jimmy Armfield, but after failing to displace Tommy Thompson, he switched to half-back. After a period in the forward line alongside Gerry Ingram and Alan Skirton, he was put back in the heart of defence by Ron Suart.

It was Les Shannon who converted Craven to the forward line on a permanent basis, and it was his partnerships with Fred Pickering and Mickey Burns that helped Blackpool to promotion in 1969–70.

During the 1970–71 season, during which Jimmy Armfield's appearances became sporadic as his playing career wound down, Bob Stokoe gave Craven the captain's armband.

Craven led Blackpool to success in the Anglo-Italian Cup Final, scoring the equalising goal as they went on to beat Bologna in the Italian city.

In 1971, Craven was voted Blackpool's Player of the Year, but that September he asked for a transfer and moved to Crystal Palace.

After two years with Palace, he went on to play for Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle before moving to Canada to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps. He finished his career with California Surf in 1981.

Death

Craven died of a heart attack while in the United States in 1996. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article498209.ece "Caught in Time: Blackpool win promotion to the First Division, 1970" - TimesOnline] ]

Notes

References

*cite book | first=Roy | last=Calley| coauthors= | title=Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992 | publisher=Breedon Books Sport | location= | year=1992 | editor= | id=ISBN 1-873626-07-X
* [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/johncraven.htm Craven's career statistics]