Michael Joseph Cullerton (born 25 November 1948) is a Scottish former

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 ...

. He is noted for his two spells with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, as well as for being

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include ...

' star

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as they were one of the elite

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

clubs in the 1970s. He later worked behind the scenes at Port Vale and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, and commentated for

BBC Radio Stoke BBC Radio Stoke is the BBC's local radio station serving Staffordshire and South Cheshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, Freeview and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Hanley area of Stoke-on-Trent. According to RAJAR, the station has a week ...

Career

Port Vale

Cullerton played for Scotland under-16s, where he impressed

Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...

, and won a trial at Chelsea after being scouted by

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

. However, he joined

in October 1965, with the promise of first-team football from

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

. Vale had recruited a number of Scottish youngsters at this time and reached the quarter-finals of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

, losing to

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

. He made his debut on 12 January 1966, playing in a front-line of five teenagers (the others being Alex Donald, Roddy Georgeson, Paul Bannister, and Paul Ogden). By November 1966 he had become a regular playing out of position in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and was the 1966–67 season as the club's top scorer with 12 goals. A

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

to Everton was arranged by the club. Still, Cullerton failed a medical after it was discovered he had

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. On 22 August 1967, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 3–0 win over

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

in the League Cup, only to hand in a

request to

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

the following month. He remained at the club however, and scored another hat-trick in a 4–2 win over Swansea Town on 20 April 1968. Of an outspoken nature, he lost his first-team place after vocally criticizing manager Gordon Lee in the dressing room. He felt that Lee was a very basic

long ball In association football, a long ball is a pass attempt that moves the ball a long distance on the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfie ...

merchant. Cullerton later admitted to going out drinking seven nights a week, saying, "to say I went off the rails might be an understatement". He was

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 ...

ed out to Chester in March 1969, moving there for free in May of that year. Chester had been on course for

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

when he arrived, but injuries to key players saw the Seals fall away to a mid-table finish. Manager Ken Roberts tolerated Cullerton's party lifestyle.

Derby County reserves

Cullerton signed with

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, though never made an appearance for the club despite hitting more than eighty goals for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. Clough, at one point, promised him a first-team game, but Cullerton contracted

glandular fever A gland is a cell or an organ in an animal's body that produces and secretes different substances that the organism needs, either into the bloodstream or into a body cavity or outer surface. A gland may also function to remove unwanted substances ...

soon afterwards.

non-League

Cullerton went into

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with Eastwood and

. With

Roy Chapman Roy Clifford Chapman (18 March 1934 – 21 March 1983) was an English professional football player and manager. He was the father of former Arsenal and Leeds United striker Lee Chapman. An inside-forward, he started his career at Aston Villa ...

's Rangers he lifted 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 ...

in 1972 after he scored one of the goals in a 3–0 win over

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

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 ...

. Rangers also won the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

title in the 1971–72 campaign. He returned to

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

for a £5,000 fee in June 1975, having impressed manager

Roy Sproson Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Val ...

with his tally of 40 goals for Rangers in the 1974–75 campaign. The money went towards a new toilet block at

Marston Road Marston Road is a road in the east of Oxford, England. It links London Place, the junction of St Clement's, Oxford, St Clements, the foot of Headington Hill (Headington Road), and Morrell Avenue by South Park, Oxford, South Park to the south wi ...

Return to Port Vale

Cullerton marked the home debut of his second spell at Vale by scoring a hat-trick past

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

in the League Cup. With 21 goals he became the club's top scorer of the 1975–76 season, but severed a

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

in September 1976, an injury which put him out of action for five months.

Later career

Cullerton was given a free transfer to

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

in May 1978 and later re-signed with Stafford Rangers. He again helped Rangers to FA Trophy success in 1979, when Stafford beat

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Latimer Park. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in 1976, and have ...

2–0. He retired in 1980 due to his worsening asthma.

Style of play

Cullerton was a goalscorer with excellent finishing skills, able to curve the ball past goalkeepers easily. He was an excellent

passer ''Passer'' is a genus of Old World sparrow, sparrows, also known as the true sparrows. The genus contains 28 species and includes the house sparrow and the Eurasian tree sparrow, two of the most common birds in the world. They are small birds wi ...

of the ball. He was notorious for refusing to help in defence, though, and gave very little effort in training, which led to him being criticized for being idle. However, his asthma meant he had very poor natural stamina. He was also an extremely reliable penalty taker.

Personal and later life

Culleron arranged a successful sportsman's diner for Stafford Rangers in 1980 and was asked to stay on as the club's commercial manager. He went on to be offered the same position at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

but instead was appointed at Port Vale, where he worked between 1982 and 1985. He quit Vale Park after feeling he lacked support from the boardroom and, rejecting an offer from

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

chairman

Doug Ellis Sir Herbert Douglas Ellis, (3 January 1924 – 11 October 2018) was an English entrepreneur. He was the chairman of Aston Villa Football Club from 1968 to 1975, and again from 1982 until 2006. Ellis was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours ...

, he took up the same post at

. He stayed with Stoke for until 1996. He then worked as a commentator at

for 15 years, first covering Stoke City and then Port Vale games. He quit radio broadcasting after having a

cochlear implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted Neuroprosthetics, neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for imp ...

fitted. He married in 1972. He has two children: Jamie, a former captain of Leek Cricket Club and vice chairman/assistant manager of Leek CSOB, and Anna, a teacher.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup,

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

English Football League play-offs The English Football League (EFL) play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leag ...

and

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. T ...

Honours

Stafford Rangers *

: 1971–72 *

: 1972 & 1979

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullerton, Mick 1948 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Port Vale F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Eastwood Hanley F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players Scottish association football commentators Scottish football coaches Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff