Stephen Daniel Crainey (born 22 June 1981) is a Scottish 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 ...

whose most recent job was as assistant manager for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. A

left 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 ...

, he made 319 appearances in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and

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 ...

, including 214 for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. In his 18-year-long playing career, Crainey has also previously played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

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, ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

and Fleetwood Town. He joined AFC Fylde in December 2015 for a brief spell. He also played for the Scotland national team on twelve occasions.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Crainey started his professional career with

in 1997. He made a total of 58 appearances for ''the Hoops''. He scored one goal when Celtic beat Hearts 5–2 in the quarter-final of the 2000–01 Scottish League Cup. On 18 March 2001 he helped Celtic win the League Cup at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

when they beat

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

3–0 in the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He then made 15 appearances as Celtic won the 2001–02 Scottish Premier League championship. Crainey started the 2003–04 season with Celtic, but on 6 February 2004 he moved to England when he signed for

side Southampton. He made his debut four days later as ''the Saints'' lost 2–0 away to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. However, he was to make a total of just five Premier League appearances for Southampton.

Leeds United

On 6 August 2004, he joined

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

side Leeds United, initially on loan before the move was made permanent four days later for a fee of £200,000. This was Leeds United's first cash signing since relegation from the Premier League in May 2004. He made his debut on 14 August in a 0–0 draw with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

at Molineux. He made a total of 11 appearances in the 2004–05 season. The following season he played a total of 30 games as Leeds United reached the Play-offs. However, Crainey was sent off in the 68th minute in the second leg of the semi-final, as ''the Whites'' beat

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

to reach the final, which they then lost 3–0 to Watford. Crainey was a regular at the start of the 2006–07 campaign under former manager

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English professional football manager, executive and former player who is currently the technical director of Ekstraklasa club Lechia Gdańsk. Playing career Blackwell was born in Luton an ...

, but played less following Blackwell's departure on 20 September 2006. Crainey featured in the heavy defeats that quickly ended John Carver's hopes of becoming the permanent Leeds manager. When new boss

Dennis Wise Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He spent the majority of his career at Chelsea, from 1990 to 2001. Beginning his career at Wimbledon, ...

took over, he dropped Crainey in favour of Eddie Lewis and, later, other options at left back. Crainey later regained his place, but then was dropped again before suffering an injury. Crainey's recovery coincided with the return to fitness of loan player

Robbie Elliott Robert James Elliott (born 25 December 1973) is an English football coach and former professional player, who is the strength coach for the United States U20 men's football team. As a player, he was a left-back and centre-half who notably pl ...

who was regarded as Dennis Wise's first choice left-back. Elliott featured on the bench for the game against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 13 March 2007, in his first outing since returning from injury, but Crainey was not even included in the squad as Wise chose to start

Armando Sá Armando Miguel Correia de Sá (born 16 September 1975) is a Mozambican football manager and former player who serves as assistant coach of Canadian club Pacific FC. As a player, he played mainly as a right back. He also held a Portuguese passpo ...

in that role. His last appearance was on 30 January 2007, in a 2–1 win over

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. Crainey was eventually released at the end of his Leeds contract on 15 May 2007 as ''the Whites'' were relegated to League One.

Blackpool

On 9 July 2007, Crainey signed for

in a one-year deal with an option for a further year. On 13 August 2007, he was named in the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

"Team of the Week". Crainey scored his first-ever league goal on 19 September 2007, in a 2–2 draw with

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

. On 3 December 2007, he was again named in the Press Association's Championship "Team of the Week". Crainey was also named in the Press Association's Championship "Team of the Week" on 4 February 2008. He made a total of 43 appearances (scoring one League goal) in the 2007–08 season as ''the Seasiders'' finished nineteenth in the Championship, the club's highest-place finish in the Football League in 27 years. In June 2008 newspaper reports linked Crainey with a £250,000 move to fellow Championship club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, but he instead signed a new contract with Blackpool. He missed the start of the 2008–09 season with a groin injury and Blackpool brought in Mohammed Camara on

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 ...

to cover for him. On 9 September the club confirmed that Crainey had undergone an operation the day before which would keep him out of action for a further four to six weeks. He made his comeback on 24 January 2009 as an 87th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. That season he made a total of 17 appearances. Crainey was named in the Championship "Team of the Week", along with teammates Matthew Gilks and Marcel Seip, following his performance in Blackpool's 0–0 draw with

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

on 24 October at the

Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium (; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated multi-use sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales, hosting both rugby union and football. The stadium opened in 2005 and was name ...

. On 22 January 2011, in a home defeat to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, Crainey suffered an ankle injury that saw him miss part of Blackpool's debut season in the

. With Blackpool relegated back to the

, Crainey put pen to paper on a new two-year contract, Blackpool putting in a 'big offer' to help Crainey snub the interest of Premier League side

. On 26 November 2011, Crainey scored his second League goal for Blackpool in a draw against Birmingham City at Bloomfield Road. On 11 February 2012, Crainey scored his third League goal for Blackpool in a draw against Portsmouth with a free kick into the top right hand corner. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Crainey rejected a new contract from Blackpool.

Later career

Crainey signed a one-year deal with

in June 2013. He left the club at the end of June 2014 when his contract expired. He then signed for Fleetwood Town. After leaving Fleetwood, Crainey trained with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

before signing for

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

in December 2015 for a short spell. Crainey retired from playing in 2016.

International career

Crainey was capped by Scotland at under-21 level, then made his full international debut for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 27 March 2002 as they lost a friendly 5–0 to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in Paris. He made a total of four appearances for Scotland in 2002, playing in the 1–2 friendly defeat to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Pittodrie Stadium Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, from which the surrounding residential area has taken its name, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for Association football, football, it has been the home ground o ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 17 April and another friendly defeat on 21 August, 0–1 to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, Glasgow. He then made his competitive debut in the

UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Group 5 Standings and results for Group 5 of the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying tournament. Group 5 consisted of Faroe Islands, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania and Scotland. Group winners were Germany, who finished four points clear of second-placed team Scotland ...

2–2 draw with the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Svangaskarð Svangaskarð (pronounced ), also referred to as Tofta Leikvøllur, is a multi-purpose stadium in Toftir, Faroe Islands with two football fields and a sports arena for athletics around the lower field. It is currently used mostly for football matc ...

Toftir Toftir () is a village in Nes Municipality on the island of Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands. It is part of a chain of villages stretching over a distance of 10 kilometers on the east side of Skálafjørður (fjord) on Eysturoy island. The highest ...

on 7 September. His next international appearances came in 2004 in two more friendly defeats. On 31 March, 1–2 to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at Hampden Park and 0–1 to Denmark on 28 April at

Parken Stadium Parken, currently known as Parken - Connected by 3 for sponsorship reasons, and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from ...

, Copenhagen. On 16 November 2010 Crainey made a return to the Scotland set up under

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone. During his playing c ...

for a friendly against the

at Pittodrie to claim his seventh cap.

Coaching career

After his retirement from playing in 2016, Crainey rejoined Fleetwood Town as a youth team coach. He became their first team caretaker manager on 21 November 2021, and a month later he was appointed manager until the end of the 2021–22 season. Despite a 4–2 defeat to

on the final day of the season, Fleetwood survived relegation on goal difference. He returned to his U-23's team role on 4 May 2022. Crainey moved to

in November 2022, becoming a youth team coach. Crainey was appointed as joint assistant manager at

in June 2024, joining existing assistant Peter Atherton. On 22 January 2025, manager Ian Evatt left by mutual consent — with Crainey leaving his role as well.

Career statistics

Honours

Blackpool *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

: 2009–10 Individual *

Player of the Season: 2007–08

References

External links

*
Stephen Crainey profile
at blackpoolfc.co.uk *
BBC Sport profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crainey, Stephen 1981 births Footballers from Glasgow Living people Men's association football defenders Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Celtic F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Premier League players English Football League players People educated at St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch Scotland men's B international footballers Fleetwood Town F.C. players AFC Fylde players Scottish football managers Fleetwood Town F.C. non-playing staff Fleetwood Town F.C. managers English Football League managers Wigan Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century Scottish sportsmen