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English footballer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Craig William Clay (born 5 May 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic, as a midfielder.
|
Clay playing for York City in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Craig William Clay[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 5 May 1992[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder[4] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2010 | Chesterfield | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2013 | Chesterfield | 27 | (1) |
| 2010 | → Barrow (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2012 | → Alfreton Town (loan) | 4 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | York City | 8 | (0) |
| 2014 | FC Halifax Town | 4 | (0) |
| 2014 | Worksop Town | 9 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Grimsby Town | 74 | (5) |
| 2016–2017 | Motherwell | 35 | (1) |
| 2017–2023 | Leyton Orient | 210 | (6) |
| 2023–2024 | Sutton United | 27 | (1) |
| 2024– | Dunfermline Athletic | 6 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2016 | England C | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:29, 27 October 2024 (UTC) | |||
He has previously had spells as a professional for Chesterfield, York City, Grimsby Town and Motherwell before a four-year spell with Leyton Orient where he won several promotions and was voted the player of the year in 2019. He has also played semi-professionally for Barrow, Alfreton Town, FC Halifax Town and Worksop Town. In 2016 he was capped once by England C.
Clay was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.[5] He started his career with Chesterfield's youth system in 2008 and was part of the team that won the Youth League.[6][7] He was named Chesterfield's Young Player of the Year for the 2008–09 season.[8] His first involvement with the first team came as an unused substitute in a League Two match against Torquay United on 16 January 2010.[9] He made the bench on a number occasions through the rest of 2009–10, but did not make an appearance.[9]
He signed a two-year professional contract with Chesterfield in June 2010.[10] He made his debut for the club on 18 September 2010, in a 3–0 home win over Cheltenham Town, replacing Mark Allott in the 85th minute.[11] On 2 October 2010, he scored his first professional goal with a 25-yard shot during stoppage time to earn a 5–5 draw at home to Crewe Alexandra.[11][12] On 28 October 2010, Clay joined Conference Premier club Barrow on a one-month loan with Chesterfield teammate Tendayi Darikwa.[13] His only appearance for Barrow came two days later, in a 5–0 defeat away to Rushden & Diamonds.[14] He made four appearances and scored one goal for Chesterfield in 2010–11,[11] in which the club was promoted to League One as League Two champions.[15]
Clay was loaned out by Chesterfield for a second time on 20 January 2012, joining Conference Premier club Alfreton Town on a one-month loan.[16][17] Four days later, he scored Alfreton's third goal in a 3–0 win away to Bath City on his debut with a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 90th minute.[18][19] Clay finished the loan with one goal in four appearances.[20] He made one more appearance for Chesterfield before the end of 2011–12, which he finished with eight appearances[18] as the club was relegated to League Two in 22nd place.[21]
He signed a new one-year contract with Chesterfield in May 2012.[22] His only goal of 2012–13 came in a 6–1 win over League One team Hartlepool United in the FA Cup first round on 3 November 2012.[23] Clay had a double hernia operation in March 2013 and after returning made one more appearance before the end of the season, as an 89th-minute substitute in a 2–0 victory away to Barnet on 6 April.[23][24] He was released by Chesterfield on 29 April 2013[25] after making 23 appearances and scoring one goal in 2012–13.[23]
Clay signed for League Two club York City on 17 May 2013 on a two-year contract.[26][27] He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over Northampton Town on 3 August 2013, in the first match of 2013–14.[28] Having made 10 appearances for York,[28] Clay left the club by mutual consent on 13 January 2014, along with Jamal Fyfield.[29]
He signed for Conference Premier club FC Halifax Town on 16 January 2014 on a one-month contract[30][31] and made his debut two days later in a 1–1 home draw with Cambridge United.[20] After making four appearances for the club he was released on 24 February 2014.[32] Nearly a month later, Clay signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Worksop Town on 21 March 2014.[33] He made his debut the following day as an 84th-minute substitute for Shane Clarke in a 2–0 away win over Stafford Rangers.[34]
Clay signed for Conference Premier club Grimsby Town on 28 July 2014 on a one-year contract, having spent the pre-season on trial.[35] On 15 May 2016, he started for Grimsby as they beat Forest Green Rovers 3–1 at Wembley Stadium in the 2016 National League play-off final.[36] This meant Grimsby were promoted to League Two, after a six-year absence from the Football League.[36] Clay was released when his contract expired at the end of the 2015–16 season.[37]
Upon his release from Grimsby, Clay joined South African Premier Division club Bidvest Wits on trial.[38] Clay then joined Scottish Premiership club Motherwell on trial,[39] playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory over East Stirlingshire in the Scottish League Cup on 26 July 2016.[40] Clay made his league debut on 6 August 2016 in a 2–1 victory away to Kilmarnock,[41] before signing a two-year contract with the club on 10 August.[42] He scored his first goal for the club on 28 December 2016, in a 2–1 win away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[43]
Clay signed for newly relegated National League club Leyton Orient on 17 July 2017 on a two-year contract.[44] He went on to win both the National League and EFL League Two titles with the club over the 6 years he was with them. His contract was not renewed at the end of the 2022/23 season.
On 30 June 2023, Clay signed for EFL League Two side Sutton United.[45]
Clay signed for Dunfermline Athletic of the Scottish second tier in September 2024.[46]
Clay made his debut for the England C national team as a substitute in their 2–0 away win over Ukraine under-20s in the International Challenge Trophy on 22 March 2016.[47]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | League Cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Chesterfield | 2009–10[48] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010–11[11] | League Two | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2011–12[18] | League One | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2012–13[23] | League Two | 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| Total | 27 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 2 | ||
| Barrow (loan) | 2010–11[14] | Conference Premier | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Alfreton Town (loan) | 2011–12[20] | Conference Premier | 4 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | ||
| York City | 2013–14[28] | League Two | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| FC Halifax Town | 2013–14[20] | Conference Premier | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Worksop Town | 2013–14[49] | NPL Premier Division | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Grimsby Town | 2014–15[20] | Conference Premier | 39 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 6[d] | 0 | 47 | 2 | |
| 2015–16[20] | National League | 35 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | 5[e] | 0 | 44 | 3 | ||
| Total | 74 | 5 | 6 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | 91 | 5 | |||
| Motherwell | 2016–17[41] | Scottish Premiership | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 39 | 1 | |
| 2017–18[50] | Scottish Premiership | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | ||
| Leyton Orient | 2017–18[20] | National League | 43 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[f] | 0 | 49 | 4 | |
| 2018–19[20] | National League | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5[f] | 1 | 48 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20[51] | League Two | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[52] | League Two | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 36 | 1 | |
| Total | 152 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 172 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 314 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 365 | 15 | ||
Grimsby Town
Leyton Orient
Individual
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