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 le ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Thackray started his career with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

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

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

side

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are nic ...

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

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

club

Monopoli Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and 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 ...

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

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

side,

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

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

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

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 Deg ...

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

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

, 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,

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Thackray received an offer from Maltese Premier League side

Qormi Qormi ( mt, Ħal Qormi ; pronounced in the Qormi dialect), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), mak ...

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

Alemannia Aachen Alemannia Aachen () or ATSV Alemannia 1900 is a football in Germany, German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long term fixture of the country's 2. Bundesliga, second division, ''Alemannia'' enjoyed a three- ...

and

KFC Uerdingen KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the fifth-level Oberliga. History The ...

before returning to Malta to sign for Gżira United. Thackray played for

Spennymoor Town Spennymoor Town Football Club is a football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, in the North East of England. They currently compete in and currently play their home matches at The Brewery Field. The club began playing in the Northern ...

in the 2018–19 season. He left the club at the end of the season and joined

Morpeth Town Morpeth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Morpeth, Northumberland, England. They are currently members of the and play at Craik Park. History The club was established in 1909. They joined the Northern Alliance in 193 ...

in June 2019. Thackray then joined Blyth Spartans 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 footballers English expatriate footballers Serie B players Reggina 1914 players A.C. Ancona players Cosenza Calcio players Fidelis Andria 2018 players Qormi F.C. players Alemannia Aachen players KFC Uerdingen 05 players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Morpeth Town A.F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Association football defenders English expatriate sportspeople in Italy English expatriate sportspeople in Malta English expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Malta Expatriate footballers in Germany