Craig Derek Mahon (born 21 June 1989) is an Irish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger. He currently manages

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

. He has played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

Early life

Craig Derek Mahon was born on 21 June 1989 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Club career

Early career

Mahon's footballing education took place at the Dublin-based club Lourdes Celtic, from there he signed as trainee in the 2006–07 season at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

he then progressed through the ranks. He signed a one-year professional contract with Wigan in June 2008. Mahon signed for

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

in the 2008–09 season. He made his debut on 29 November 2008 in a League Two match against Bury, which ended in a 2–1 home defeat for Accrington. In the summer of 2009, he was released by Wigan and went on to have a short spells with Salford City and

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...

. After trials at Football League clubs Bury and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, Mahon signed for

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

club

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors Limited , ;Company No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. is a British Automoti ...

on 4 September 2010. He signed a further one-year contract on 26 July 2011. The club secured the services of Mahon on a further one-year contract on 27 July 2012. He was voted the Vauxhall Motors Player of the Season for the 2012–13 season.

Chester

Mahon signed for

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

club

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

on 23 May 2013. First season at Chester included time on loan at the Northern Premier League side

. At the end of the season he agreed new deal. On 7 November 2014, Mahon became the father of twins. The following day Mahon was back on the pitch playing for Chester against Football League team

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

first round. Mahon had further cause for celebration by scoring the winning goal in the 51st minute, the match ending 2–1 to Chester as they pulled off a surprise victory against higher-ranked opponents. He signed a new two-year contract in April 2015 though his displays in the FA Cup drew attention from Football League scouts. Mahon signed further two-year deal in May 2017 and stayed with Chester despite financial troubles hit the club and relegation to the National League North in April 2018. At the end of May 2019 Mahon extended his stay at Chester to seventh year. He was loaned out to Northern Premier League side

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. Having been founded as Hurst in 1892, they folded in 1892, before being reformed in 1909. ...

in December, before signing for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

in January 2020. On 12 September 2017, Mahon broke the all-time appearance record for Chester and went on to make 215 league appearances during his seven year stay with the club.

Later career

He was part of the Altrincham team that beat

in the play-off quarterfinals and eventually were promoted to the National League on 1 August 2020 after beating

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

1–0 in the final. Mahon signed for

club

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

in September 2020. He signed a further one-year contract as a player-coach in August 2021. In October, he took the role of interim manager for three games, whilst the club recruited a new manager. In September 2023, he was appointed interim manager for a second time following the departure of Adam Lakeland. On the 8th February 2024, Craig was offered the Management role on permanent deal until June 2025.

International career

Mahon represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level, making his debut for the under-18 team on 7 February 2007 in a 0–0 draw against

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He appeared for the under-19 team later in the year, playing in a 2–1 defeat against Chile.

Personal life

Craig Mahon is a nephew of a former

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

midfielder Alan Mahon. During the time with Chester he combined his playing career with work at Wigan Athletic Community Trust.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Altrincham *

play-offs:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Curzon Ashton F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahon, Craig 1989 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football wingers Wigan Athletic F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Burscough F.C. players Vauxhall Motors F.C. players Chester F.C. players AFC Fylde players Ashton United F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Curzon Ashton F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Curzon Ashton F.C. managers National League (English football) managers 21st-century Irish sportsmen AFC Fylde managers