Kris Thackray (born 27 April 1988) 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Career

Thackray started his career with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, but was released at the age of 16. He signed for the then Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side Reggina, after being spotted playing in tournament for England Colleges XI. He spent his first professional season on loan with

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging ...

club

Monopoli Monopoli (; ) is a town and comune, municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,246 (2014), ...

, where he was awarded Monopoli's Player of the Season. He played on loan to Reggina's fellow

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side,

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

He played ten games at Ancona. In July 2010 he was sold to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

club

Fidelis Andria Fidelis Andria 2018 or simply Fidelis Andria is an Italian football club based in Andria, Apulia. The club was founded in 1971 and re-founded in 2005, 2013 and 2018. The team competes in . Fidelis Andria play their home matches at Stadio Degl ...

in a co-ownership bid. Later in January 2011 he was loaned to

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

, another club from Lega Pro Prima Divisione. He scored his first professional goal for Cosenza against Pisa on 13 February. In July 2011 he ended his contract with Reggina for the chance to return home to England. After trialing with

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Thackray received an offer from

Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as 360Sports Malta Premier for sponsorship reasons with 360Sports (colloquialism, colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Foot ...

side

Qormi Qormi (, , ), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), making it Malta's fifth-la ...

and signed in January 2012. After leaving Qormi, Thackray went on to play in Germany for

Alemannia Aachen Aachener Turn- und Sportverein Alemannia 1900 e. V., short Alemannia Aachen (), is a German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long-term fixture of the country's second division, Alemannia enjoyed a three- ...

and

KFC Uerdingen KFC Uerdingen 05 was a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side, which had its greatest successes in the 1980s, plays in the fourth-level Regionalliga. In 2025, t ...

before returning to Malta to sign for Gżira United. Thackray played for Spennymoor Town in the 2018–19 season. He left the club at the end of the season and joined Morpeth Town in June 2019. Thackray then joined

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

on a one-month loan on 13 December 2019 after an injury, before signing permanently with The Spartans at the end of the loan spell in January 2020.Arrival , Thackray signs on permanent deal
blythspartans.com, 10 January 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thackray, Kris 1988 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Serie B players AS Reggina 1914 players AC Ancona players Cosenza Calcio players Fidelis Andria 2018 players Qormi F.C. players Alemannia Aachen players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Gżira United F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Morpeth Town A.F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Men's association football defenders English expatriate sportspeople in Italy English expatriate sportspeople in Malta English expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 21st-century English sportsmen