Craig Anthony Madden (born 25 September 1958) is an English former professional

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 striker and made more than 400 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Playing career

After playing for Northern Nomads, Madden began his professional career at Bury in 1977. He spent nine years at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gi ...

, making almost 300 league appearances and scoring 129 goals. He still holds the record for the most goals (42) in a season ( 1981-82) and remains the clubs' all-time record goalscorer. A short spell at West Brom followed, before he joined

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, then under the guidance of Sam Ellis, in February 1987. At

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

he began to fall prey to niggling injuries, and each time he dropped out of the team it became more difficult for him to break back in. On 11 November 1989, he opened the scoring in Blackpool's home League game against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

after just eighteen seconds, which was only seven seconds outside Bill Slater's all-time record for the club. Midway through that disastrous 1989-90 season for Blackpool, Jimmy Mullen allowed him to move to non-league

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

, where he found his scoring touch again and continued to enjoy the game. Madden maintained his connection with

, becoming the community officer at Bloomfield Road in April 1991. "I am delighted to have landed the job here at Bloomfield Road," he said at the time. "I am looking forward to getting out and about and meeting people from different groups of the community. My immediate aims are to settle in and carry on with the same activities as before — but hopefully there will be some new ideas too, including two new summer schools for the children's holidays in the summer." He was succeeded in the position by his former Bury and Blackpool teammate

Derek Spence Derek William Spence (born 18 January 1952) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer. He played as a forward in a career spanning seventeen years from 1969 to 1986. He played for clubs in Northern Ireland, England, Greece, the Nether ...

Management

In 2001, Madden became caretaker manager of

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

after the dismissal of

Andy Kilner Andrew William Kilner (born 11 October 1966) is an English former professional footballer and manager. He began his career with Burnley, progressing through the club's youth system and making his professional debut in 1986 before being released ...

. He is still at the club coaching Stockport's youth team having also helped with the first team in the past. In June 2010 Madden was appointed assistant manager at newly promoted

, alongside

Micky Mellon Michael Joseph Mellon (born 18 March 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is the manager of club Oldham Athletic. As a player, he was a midfielder for clubs including Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion, Blackp ...

. Following Micky Mellon's departure in December 2012 he became youth team manager.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madden, Craig 1958 births Living people Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers English football managers Bury F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players York City F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football forwards English Football League players