Craig Cathcart

Craig George Cathcart (born 6 February 1989) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He played for the Northern Ireland national team, and captained his country's under-21 side.

A product of the Manchester United youth academy, Cathcart spent time on loan at Belgian club Royal Antwerp, and English Football League Championship sides Plymouth Argyle and Watford, before joining newly promoted Blackpool in 2010. Cathcart returned to Watford in July 2014 on a permanent deal where he became one of their longest serving players, achieving two promotions and an FA Cup Final.

Club career

Early career

Born in Belfast, Cathcart was spotted playing football for Glengormley High School at the age of 14, and, despite being coveted by clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Rangers upon winning the Northern Ireland Youth Player of the Year award in 2003, he began training at the Manchester United School of Excellence in Belfast. He signed trainee terms at Manchester United in July 2005, and turned professional on his 17th birthday in February 2006. Cathcart became a regular in the Manchester United Under-18s team, and was a member of the Under-17s team that played at the 2007 Northern Ireland Milk Cup, scoring the first goal in a 5–0 win over Liechtenstein. During the 2006–07 season, he was made captain of the United youth team that reached the FA Youth Cup Final, although he missed both legs of the final, the first through selection for the first team and the second through injury.

Manchester United

On 19 March 2007, Cathcart received his first call-up to the Manchester United senior squad for the FA Cup Sixth Round replay with Middlesbrough. After an injury to Nemanja Vidić, Cathcart was promoted to the first team squad as cover on 31 March 2007. He was an unused substitute in Manchester United's 7–1 win against Roma in the Champions League less than two weeks later, the FA Cup semi-final victory over Watford a further four days later, and the victory over Sheffield United on 17 April.

Speculation that this defensive injury crisis would lead to Cathcart making his senior debut ended when he suffered a season-ending knee injury during training after the match against Sheffield United. As a result, he also missed the second leg of the FA Youth Cup final; he had already missed the first leg due to his call-up to the senior squad. Despite his injury, Cathcart's performances in the club's youth teams earned him the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award for the 2006–07 season.

Loan to Antwerp

At the start of the 2007–08 season, Cathcart was sent on a half-season loan to United's Belgian feeder club, Royal Antwerp, to gain match experience. He made his debut for the Belgians on 22 September 2007, in a match against OC Charleroi. The next game saw Cathcart score Antwerp's only goal of the game in a 4–1 loss to Kortrijk. He scored again in a match against Tubize, to earn a 1–1 draw, and also the Man of the Match award. He made a further nine appearances for "The Great Old", to bring his total to 13, before returning to Manchester United at the end of 2007.
Although he was not originally selected for the squad, Cathcart was briefly called up to the Manchester United first team for their tour of South Africa on 24 July 2008, and played the full 90 minutes in the team's 4–0 victory over Kaizer Chiefs on 26 July, his first appearance for the first team. He then came on as a 66th-minute substitute for Jonny Evans in a match against Portsmouth in Nigeria the following day, before then coming on for Wes Brown at half-time in a friendly against Peterborough United on 4 August.

Loans to the Championship

On 8 August 2008, in a search for first-team football, Cathcart joined Championship side Plymouth Argyle, on loan until the end of 2008. This was later extended to the entire 2008–09 season, as Cathcart had quickly become a regular at Home Park. He scored his first Plymouth goal in their 3–1 defeat at home to Ipswich in October 2008.

Cathcart returned to Manchester United at the end of the 2008–09 season and played in two pre-season friendlies for the reserve team before joining up with the first team for the Audi Cup in Munich. After Nemanja Vidić suffered a calf strain in the warm-up before the semi-final against Boca Juniors, Cathcart was promoted to the starting XI. Manchester United won the match 2–1, with Cathcart giving a good performance, although he did head the ball against his own crossbar midway through the second half.

Cathcart scored the opening goal in a 3–1 away win over Bolton Wanderers in the first game of the 2009–10 Premier Reserve League season on 24 August 2009. The following season, Cathcart was sought after by a number of Championship sides, and Manchester United received a bid of £1.25 million from a Championship side but United preferred a loan deal. Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town both showed an interest in the young defender, but he instead signed for Watford on loan until 4 January 2010, where he joined fellow Old Trafford teammate Tom Cleverley and Arsenal youngster Henri Lansbury on loan.

Blackpool

On 11 August 2010, Cathcart signed for Blackpool for an undisclosed fee, after agreeing a three-year contract, with an option for a further year. Three days later, he made his debut as Blackpool marked their Premier League debut with a 4–0 win over Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium. He scored his first goal in the Premier League with a powerful header against his former club, Manchester United, at Bloomfield Road on 25 January 2011; the 15th-minute goal opened the scoring for the match, but Blackpool went on to lose 3–2.

Watford

On 24 June 2014, Cathcart agreed terms on a two-year deal with Watford having been out-of-contract at Blackpool. He officially became a Watford player on 1 July.

Cathcart's first Watford appearance came as a substitute for Gabriel Tamaș against AFC Bournemouth on 20 September 2014, scoring an equalising goal on his debut. In total, he played 29 league games, scoring three times, as Watford were promoted to the Premier League. Cathcart later signed new four-year deals in July 2015, June 2017 and June 2019.

Cathcart was a fan favourite at Watford and his time at Watford was memorable. He was instrumental in getting them promoted in 2014–15 and again in 2020–21. He was sometimes used as a right-back, which highlighted his versatility.

On 30 June 2023, the club announced his departure upon the expiry of his contract after nine seasons with the club.

Kortrijk

On 5 September 2023, Belgian Pro League club Kortrijk announced the signing of Cathcart on a one-year contract, with an option to extend the contract for a further year. He then decided to retire early in the season as he felt he had lost his motivation for the game.

International career

Cathcart was involved with the Northern Ireland national team since Under-17 level, and was part of the team that attempted to qualify for the 2006 European Under-17 Championship.

By November 2006, still just 17 years old, Cathcart had been promoted to the Northern Ireland Under-21 team, and was named in the squad for a friendly against Germany on 14 November 2006. In February 2007, Cathcart was selected in the European squad for the 2007 Meridian Cup, a competition between two "all-star" Under-18 teams from Europe and Africa.

After his first call-up, Cathcart was a regular name in Northern Ireland Under-21 squads, also playing a 3–0 defeat by Germany on 5 September 2008.

Cathcart was called up to the Northern Ireland squad in May 2009, along with nine other uncapped players for the international friendly against Italy on 6 June. Cathcart made his full international debut in Northern Ireland's 1–0 win against Slovenia in Maribor on 3 September 2010. Playing out of position at left-back, due to an injury to Jonny Evans, Cathcart put in a strong performance and set up the winning goal for Corry Evans.

He played at UEFA Euro 2016, when Northern Ireland made it out of the group before being knocked out by Wales in the round of 16; it was the nation's best performance at a UEFA European Championship.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.''

Honours

Watford
*FA Cup runner-up: 2018–19

Individual
* Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year: 2006–07

References

External links

*
Profile
at redStat

at NIFG
Northern Ireland stats
at Irish FA

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathcart, Craig
1989 births
Living people
Association footballers from Belfast
Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers
Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers
Northern Ireland men's international footballers
Men's association football defenders
Manchester United F.C. players
Royal Antwerp F.C. players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Blackpool F.C. players
K.V. Kortrijk players
Challenger Pro League players
Premier League players
English Football League players
UEFA Euro 2016 players
Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland
Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Belgium
21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland