This is a good article. Click here for more information.

Craig McAllister

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Craig McAllister
McAllister, Craig.jpg
McAllister in 2011
Personal information
Full name Craig McAllister[1]
Date of birth (1980-06-28) 28 June 1980 (age 44)[1]
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Sutton United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Eastleigh
2002–2004 Basingstoke Town
2004–2005 Stevenage Borough 6 (0)
2004 Eastleigh (loan)
2004–2005 Gravesend & Northfleet (loan) 5 (2)
2005–2007 Woking 83 (23)
2007–2008 Grays Athletic 9 (1)
2007–2008 Rushden & Diamonds (loan) 8 (1)
2008 Oxford United 17 (2)
2008–2010 Exeter City 34 (7)
2009 Barnet (loan) 5 (0)
2010 Rotherham United (loan) 8 (0)
2010–2011 Crawley Town 41 (12)
2011–2012 Newport County 25 (0)
2012 Luton Town (loan) 14 (1)
2012–2015 Eastleigh 115 (40)
2015– Sutton United 10 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:50, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

Craig McAllister (born 28 June 1980) is a Scottish semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker for National League South club Sutton United.

McAllister started his career with Eastleigh as a youth player. He moved to Basingstoke Town towards the end of 2001–02, making his debut in March 2002. McAllister spent three seasons there, making 112 appearances, scoring 66 goals before moving up the national league system to Conference National club Stevenage Borough where he made six appearances, having loan spells at Eastleigh in 2004 and Gravesend & Northfleet in 2004–05. He joined Woking in 2005, spending two full seasons there, and making over 100 appearances. He had a short spell with Grays Athletic, being sent out on loan to Rushden & Diamonds and then another short spell at Oxford United, all during the 2007–08 season. After leaving Oxford in 2008, he took a step up to the Football League for the first time in his career, signing for Exeter City. He went on to score seven goals in his first season, but was loaned out to Barnet and Rotherham United in his second and was eventually released by the club in May 2010. McAllister then dropped back down to non-League football, joining Crawley Town where he played at Old Trafford; his team was defeated 1–0 by Manchester United in their FA Cup fifth round tie. He rejected a new contract from Crawley at the end of the 2010–11 season, subsequently joining Newport County.

McAllister won his first major honour in 2011, helping Crawley Town win the Conference Premier for the first time in their history.

Career

Non-League

Born in Glasgow,[1] McAllister started his career in non-League football at Eastleigh in 2001.[2] He later moved to Basingstoke Town.[3] He made his debut in March 2002, scoring in a 1–1 draw with Hampton & Richmond Borough.[4] He played ten games in the 2001–02 season, scoring three goals.[5] He started the 2002–03 season with a goal on the opening day, as Basingstoke drew 2–2 with Aylesbury United.[6] In November, McAllister scored two hat-tricks in two games, the first of which helped Basingstoke to a 3–1 win over Bishops Stortford,[7] and the second helped his side to a 3–0 win over Braintree Town.[8] He finished 2002–03 with 35 goals from 47 games.[9] McAllister's success continued into 2003–04, where he scored another 28 goals in 35 appearances.[10] This success earned him a trial with Queens Park Rangers in the Football League Championship, just one level down from the Premier League.[11]

After scoring 66 times in 112 games for Basingstoke Town,[3] he moved to the Conference National outfit Stevenage on a bosman transfer in May 2004.[3] He made his debut for Stevenage as a substitute, as they beat Crawley Town, 1–0.[12] After struggling to get in the starting line-up for Stevenage, he was sent out on loan to his former club, Eastleigh,[13] where he scored six goals in four games.[14] In December 2004, he was loaned out for the second time in that season, moving to Gravesend & Northfleet, where he made debut in a 1–0 defeat by Hereford United.[15] In the second minute of Gravesend's 1–1 draw with Crawley Town, he scored the first goal of this loan.[16] He scored his second and last goal of this loan just two days later, which helped his team to a 2–2 draw with Accrington Stanley,[17] before he returned to his parent club, Stevenage, in January 2005.[18] At the end of 2004–05, he left Stevenage having only played 11 games in all competitions, with one goal.[13]

Before the start of 2005–06 he signed for Woking on a permanent deal.[14] He made his debut in August 2005, starting in a 2–1 defeat by Kidderminster Harriers.[19] McAllister finished his debut season with thirteen goals, eight of which were in the league.[20] McAllister scored his first brace for Woking in September 2006, as he helped his side to overcome Forest Green Rovers, 3–2, away from home.[21] After scoring 18 goals in 2006–07,[14] he attracted interest from several Conference sides and in May 2007 he signed for Grays Athletic.[14] After making his debut for Grays Athletic in a 0–0 draw with Torquay United in August 2007,[22] he played only another eight times, scoring one goal against Droylsden,[23] before being sent out on loan to league rivals Rushden & Diamonds in October.[24] He returned from the loan in January 2008, having only scored one goal, against Oxford United,[24] who he then signed for on his return to Grays.[25] Having joined Oxford on a contract until the end of the 2007–08 season, McAllister made his debut for the club in a 4–0 win over Altrincham; he scored 22 minutes into the game.[26] He made another 16 appearances, scoring one more goal, before leaving at the end of the season.[14]

Exeter City

He completed a move to Football League Two side Exeter City in summer 2008, signing for the first time for a club in the Football League.[27] He made his first team debut in August 2008, in a home match against Southampton, in the League Cup. Exeter lost the game 3–1.[28] It took until December for McAllister to score his first competitive for the club, when he scored to help Exeter to a 2–1 win over Lincoln City.[29] He then scored another two goals later that month, in a 4–1 win over north-west club Rochdale.[30] He added just another two goals to his tally in January 2009, both in Exeter's 2–1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge.[31] The remainder of the 2008–09 season saw him only add two more goals, against Macclesfield Town and Darlington, both in the space of a month.[32][33] After only making five appearances for Exeter in 2009–10, he joined Barnet on loan in November 2009.[34] McAllister, still without a goal in 2009–10, couldn't get on the scoresheet in the three games he played for Barnet,[35] and he returned to Exeter in January.[36] In March, still having not played for Exeter since his return from Barnet, he signed an emergency one-month loan deal at Rotherham United.[37] He made his debut for Rotherham in their 1–0 away win over Dagenham & Redbridge.[38] After another seven games and still no goals, he returned to Exeter only to be released in May, along with eight other team-mates.[39]

Return to non-League

McAllister (left, white shirt) playing for Crawley Town in 2011

Following his release from Exeter City, McAllister moved back to non-League, signing for Conference Premier outfit Crawley Town on a one-year contract, in June 2008.[40] He made his debut in August, when his side lost 1–0 to Grimsby Town.[41] Ten days later he scored his first goal in a Crawley shirt, scoring the second in a 2–1 win over newly promoted Bath City.[42] Just four days later, he scored two goals as Crawley beat Hayes & Yeading United, 3–0, away from home.[43] In February 2011, McAllister started in Crawley Town's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford, which Crawley 1–0.[44] At the end of the 2010–11 season, after Crawley gained promotion to the Football League, McAllister was released after he rejected a new deal.[45]

McAllister signed for Newport County in May 2011, deciding to stay in non-League football.[46] He signed for Newport after their manager, Anthony Hudson, had earlier stated, "We are on the verge of two massive additions to the squad, who will take the club in the direction that we want to go."[47]

After failing to find the net in 26 games for Newport County he joined Conference rivals Luton Town on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season.[48] He scored his first goal in over a year against Ebbsfleet United on 17 April 2012.[49] In June 2012 McAllister rejoined Eastleigh.[50]

Style of play

McAllister plays as a striker,[51] he is "an explosive front man",[52] and is described as a "targetman" because of his height.[53] His time at Basingstoke Town was described as "prolific" due to the number of goals he scored.[13] While at Exeter City, manager Paul Tisdale described him as "excellent",[54] and said that McAllister and fellow Exeter City striker Richard Logan had a good partnership together after McAllister scored a hat-trick for the reserve team.[54]

On signing for Luton Town manager Gary Brabin described McAllister as "adaptable in any role...he works hard, he's strong and he chips in with his fair share of goals."[48]

Personal life

After his move to Oxford United in January 2008, he stated that the reason for the move was so that he could be closer to his family home in Southampton.[51] On his arrival at Exeter City in July 2008, he moved into a house with fellow Exeter forward, Ben Watson. McAllister stated that it would make a huge difference living near the training ground, instead of travelling long distances to get to training and matches.[27]

Career statistics

As of 23 May 2012.
Club Season League[A] FA Cup League Cup Other[B] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Basingstoke Town 2001–02[55] 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 3
2002–03[56] 41 30 1 0 0 0 5 4 47 34
2003–04[57] 45 20 1 1 0 0 9 7 55 28
Total 96 53 2 1 0 0 14 11 112 65
Stevenage Borough 2004–05[58] 6 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Eastleigh (loan) 2004–05[14] 4 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 6
Gravesend & Northfleet 2004–05[58] 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 2
Woking 2005–06[59] 39 8 4 1 0 0 11 4 54 13
2006–07[60] 44 15 1 1 0 0 2 1 47 17
Total 83 23 5 2 0 0 13 5 101 30
Grays Athletic 2007–08[61] 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1
Rushden & Diamonds (loan) 2007–08[61] 8 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 12 1
Oxford United 2007–08[61] 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 2
Exeter City 2008–09[62] 30 7 0 0 1 0 1 0 32 7
2009–10[63] 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
Total 34 7 0 0 2 0 1 0 37 7
Barnet (loan) 2009–10[63] 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Rotherham United (loan) 2009–10[63] 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Crawley Town 2010–11[64] 41 12 6 1 0 0 0 0 53 13
Newport County 2011–12 25 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 26 0
Luton Town (loan) 2011–12 14 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 17 1
Career totals 353 108 20 4 2 0 33 16 408 128

Honours

Crawley Town

Footnotes

A. ^ The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League, Football Conference and Lower.
B. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Conference League Cup, FA Trophy, Football League Trophy, play-offs and Regional/County cups.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  10. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Player_Guide_-_Craig_McAllister" defined multiple times with different content
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Craig_McAllister:_Profile" defined multiple times with different content
  15. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. 24.0 24.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. 27.0 27.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. 48.0 48.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Luton_Town_sign_Newport_County.27s_Craig_McAllister_on_loan" defined multiple times with different content
  49. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/football/newportcounty/9784282.Craig_McAllister_signs_for_Eastleigh/
  51. 51.0 51.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. 54.0 54.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  56. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  57. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  58. 58.0 58.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. 61.0 61.1 61.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. 63.0 63.1 63.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links