Jason Critchley (born 7 December 1970) is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer who played the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. At club level for the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby le ...

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. Salford Red Devil ...

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

and the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

as a or , and top level club level rugby union for

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(

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 ...

US Dax Union Sportive Dax Rugby Landes, also known as US Dax, is a French rugby union club currently playing in Pro D2, the second level of the French league system. They were founded in 1904. They play at Stade Maurice Boyau (capacity 16,170). They w ...

and

De La Salle Palmerston De La Salle Palmerston FC is an Irish rugby team. The senior team currently play in the Leinster League. The senior side had a short spell in Division 1 starting in the 1998-99 season. The club grounds, Kirwan Park are located between Stepaside ...

. He played representative rugby league for Great Britain at every age level from under 16's, 19's and 21's. He was also selected for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

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on the tour to Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand in 1996.

Personal Information

Critchley was born in St Helens,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England.

Playing career

Club career

Critchley signed for

from junior club

Blackbrook Blackbrook may refer to several places in the United Kingdom: * Blackbrook, Cheshire, England * Blackbrook, Derbyshire, England * Blackbrook, London, in the London Borough of Bromley, near Southborough, Bromley, Southborough * Blackbrook, St Helens ...

in August 1989. In 1992, he was sold to

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

as part of an exchange deal for

Adrian Hadley Adrian Michael Hadley (born 1 March 1963) is a Welsh former List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and Coach (sport), coached rugby ...

. Critchley was Salford's top try scorer in the 1993–94 season with 25 tries. Critchley joined

in 1995. In August 1996, he scored six tries for Keighley Cougars in a match against Widnes Vikings, breaking a club record which had stood for 90 years for most tries in a single match. In May 1997, Critchley was signed by

in exchange for Adrian Flynn and an undisclosed transfer fee. Castleford were bottom of the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, and hadn't won a single game when Critchley first arrived at the club, but he helped the club improve results during the rest of the season, and finished as the club's top try scorer. In 1998, Critchley switched codes and joined

side

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

. He returned to league during the rugby union off-season to play for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

in 2000.

International career

Critchley was selected for the

1996 Great Britain Lions tour The 1996 Great Britain Lions tour was a rugby league tour by the Great Britain team which took place from September to November 1996. The tour included games in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand, however due to the ongoing Super League war a ...

, but did not play in any Test matches. Following the relaxation of eligibility rules, Critchley qualified to play for

. He was selected in the 40-man training squad for the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup (also known as Halifax Centenary World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh World Cup for mens national rugby league teams. It was held between 7–28 October and hosted by England and Wales and was wo ...

, but did not make the final squad. He made his debut a year later, and went on to win eight

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for Wales between 1996 and 2001. He was selected by Wales for the

2000 Rugby League World Cup The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams, held between 28 October and 25 November and hosted between the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and France. ...

, making five appearances during the tournament, and scoring a try in Wales' 22–8 win in the quarter final against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at Newport RFC (blackandambers.co.uk)
*(archived by web.archive.org
The Teams: WalesHunte signs for PontyEngland too strong for brave WalesHull put the bite on WildcatsRugby League World Cup quarter finals - in picturesHarris named in Wales squadNewport RFC : 1998/9 Season Summary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Critchley, Jason 1970 births Living people 20th-century English sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen Caerphilly RFC players Castleford Tigers players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English rugby union players Footballers who switched code Keighley Cougars players Leicester Tigers players Newport RFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside Rugby league wingers Rugby union players from St Helens, Merseyside Salford Red Devils players Wakefield Trinity players Wales national rugby league team players Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players Widnes Vikings players