John Leslie Crumplin (born 26 May 1967) 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 made more than 200

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 ...

appearances for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

or on the

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

Career

Crumplin was born in

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

, in 1967, and spent his early childhood in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, where his soldier father was stationed, before the family settled in

Walberton Walberton is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, north-west of Littlehampton, and south of the A27 road. The land rises from above sea level, a quarter of the height of Nore Hill, the nearest foothill of t ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. He was on the books of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

as a youngster, but his progress was interrupted by a broken leg, and he joined

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks’, the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently co ...

. After playing for Bognor's first team at 16, he spent time on the books of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, and returned to Bognor before signing for

in March 1987. making his debut in a 2–1 home defeat against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

and supplied the cross from which

Steve Gatting Stephen Paul Gatting (born 29 May 1959) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre half or central midfielder. He notably played for Brighton & Hove Albion in the 1983 FA Cup Final. He was most recently a youth team co ...

headed Brighton in front. He took a few years to establish himself in the side, and was released at the end of the 1992–93 season, before re-signing for one final campaign in which he took his totals to 245 appearances and 9 goals, of which 207 and 7 were in league competition. After leaving Brighton, he played for

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, contributing 3 goals from 48

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

appearances as the team finished as runners-up in 1994–95 and 1995–96 as well as starting in the

1994–95 FA Trophy The 1994–95 FA Trophy was the twenty-sixth season of the FA Trophy. Preliminary round The matches (no including replays) were played on September 3, 1994. Ties Replays First qualifying round The matches (no including replays) were played ...

final. He later played for

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

Selsey Selsey () is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish, about south of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is in ...

, East Preston, Three Bridges, St Leonards,

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

where he also acted as physiotherapistand

Crawley Down Crawley Down is a village in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. There is one church, one school, and a number of social groups. It lies east of Crawley and east of London Gatwick Airport, Gatwick Airport. Cr ...

. He was

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of Selsey, Three Bridges, and Crawley Down, and then managed

Ringmer Ringmer is a village and civil parish in the Lewes (district), Lewes District of East Sussex, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. The vi ...

, Crawley Down for a second spell, Redhill in October 2008, and Walton and Hersham from 2009 to 2010 when he resigned for work reasons.

Honours

Woking *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

: 1994–95

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crumplin, John 1967 births Living people Footballers from Bath, Somerset English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Southampton F.C. players Bognor Regis Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Woking F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Selsey F.C. players East Preston F.C. players Three Bridges F.C. players St. Leonards F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Crawley Down Gatwick F.C. players Isthmian League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players English football managers Selsey F.C. managers Three Bridges F.C. managers Crawley Down Gatwick F.C. managers Ringmer F.C. managers Redhill F.C. managers Walton & Hersham F.C. managers Isthmian League managers