Lance Cronin (born 11 September 1985) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He made seven international appearances for the England C national team. In 2016 he was assistant manager at

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

, the last club he played for.

Career

Cronin was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. He came up through the youth system at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. He joined

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on loan during the 2004–05 season, where he made one appearance for the club in League Two. He was released by Crystal Palace at the end of the 2004–05 without playing for the first-team and joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

on a non-contract basis in November 2005 to provide cover for an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

tie against

Chasetown Chasetown is a village in the town of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. It is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich. History Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village ...

, in which he made a substitute appearance. He then joined

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on non-contract terms in February 2006 to provide cover for regular goalkeeper

Joe Hart Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury Town in the Football Conference and League Two. In ...

. Cronin left Shrewsbury in April 2006, and after a trial with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, joined Gravesend and Northfleet (now

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...

) to cover a long-term injury to regular goalkeeper Craig Holloway. After a good start to his first season at Ebbsfleet, Cronin was called up for the England National Game XI (now the England C team) squad for the first time in November 2006, and made his debut against Holland as a substitute nine minutes from time as England won the European Challenge Trophy. Cronin collected a winner's medal when Ebbsfleet won the

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 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in May 2008. In July 2010, he joined Gillingham on a free transfer after a successful trial. He made his debut in a 1–1 draw away to

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

on 28 August. Cronin was released from his contract at the end of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, joining recently relegated

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

. He made his Rovers debut in the New Year's Eve match against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

replacing Scott Bevan at half-time who had conceded four goals in the first half. In February 2012, Cronin re-joined Ebbsfleet United on a month's loan, which was later extended until the end of April 2012. In June 2012, he joined Macclesfield Town having been told he was surplus to requirements at Bristol Rovers. He left the club in May 2013. In May 2014, he followed his former manager at Macclesfield Town Steve King to

, having taken a year out of football to set up his own business. Cronin was appointed Assistant Manager at

under Pablo Asensio after King was sacked in January 2016. He left after two games of the 2016–17 season, for personal reasons.

Personal life

In 2012, Cronin set up ''Repainted'', a painting and property maintenance company.

Honours

: 2008

References

External links

Profile at Ebbsfleet United website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Lance 1985 births Living people Footballers from Brighton English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Crystal Palace F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Whitehawk F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen