Jody Craddock

Jody Craddock
Jody Craddock 2014
Personnel
Surname	Jody Darryl Craddock
birthday	July 25, 1975
place of birth	Redditch ,  England
position	Central defender
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1992-1993	Christchurch FC
1993-1997	Cambridge United	145 0(4)
1997-2003	Sunderland AFC	146 0(2)
1999	→  Sheffield United  (loan)	10 0(0)
2003-2013	Wolverhampton Wanderers	215 (14)
2008	→  Stoke City  (loan)	4 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Jody Darryl Craddock (born July 25, 1975 in Redditch ) is a former English football player . The center- back was under contract with Wolverhampton Wanderers between 2003 and 2013 , having previously played almost 150 league games for Cambridge United and Sunderland AFC . Aside from sports, Craddock made a name for himself as a painter .

Athletic career

Craddock began his sporting career outside of professional football at Christchurch FC before he joined the then third division Cambridge United in August 1993 at the age of 18 . He played his first professional game there on December 11, 1993 on the occasion of a goalless draw against Stockport County . The career of the central defender was initially without any particular highlights; nevertheless, the next step followed when he moved to the second division AFC Sunderland after four years for a transfer fee of 300,000 pounds . In the 1998/99 season, Craddock rose with his new club in the Premier League, but without contributing much to it - he was only able to book six league games on the credit side.

The wish for first division football was initially not fulfilled, as the "Black Cats" loaned it to the second division club Sheffield United between August and October 1999 . Only then did he make his debut in the English elite class on November 20, 1999 and from then on played more and more in the regular formation. In the following three Premier League years between 2000 and 2003 he completed a total of 90 championship games and was characterized by consistency, speed and good positional play. Still, his six-year stint at Sunderland AFC ended with a bitter relegation to the Football League Championship .

The fact that Craddock could continue to play first-class football, he owed the directly subsequent transfer to the newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers , who were primarily looking for a substitute for the permanently injured Joleon Lescott on the central defensive position for 1.75 million pounds . Although he suffered his second Premier League relegation there in a row as bottom of the table, Craddock quickly consolidated his status as a reliable central defender at the "Wolves" and at the beginning of the 2006/07 season, the new coach Mick McCarthy promoted him , under the Craddock already had worked at Sunderland AFC as the new team captain. At the beginning of the 2007/08 season he found himself on loan from second division rivals Stoke City . He stayed there between August and September 2007 and returned to his home club early, as the injured situation there had worsened.

In the second game of the 2008/09 season , Craddock suffered a metatarsal fracture and was out for several months. The club management thought about a new loan deal during the recovery period, before a weakness in form of the young Richard Stearman ensured that the more experienced "old master" found back in the team. In the crucial phase he helped so that the Wolves returned as second division champions in the Premier League. Not least in recognition of this achievement, his club provided him with a new one-year contract until 2010. This was extended in June 2010 after relegation for another year until the end of the 2010/11 season. After he was completely out of action due to an injury in the 2012/13 season, he ended his active career in June 2013 at the age of 37.

Art works ("Craddock Art")

Unusually for a professional footballer, the Craddock, who describes himself as shy, has devoted himself intensively to painting since early childhood. As a young footballer he was convinced that he could not make a living from sport, and so he spent a lot of time in his artistic training, which should secure his future. His works include portraits of prominent (ex) Premier League players such as Cristiano Ronaldo , Ruud van Nistelrooy , Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard , as well as rock and film stars such as Noel Gallagher , Paul McCartney , Jimi Hendrix and Al Pacino as well as landscape paintings, preferably exotic seascapes. The work has been exhibited in numerous galleries in the Midlands and Northeast England - the proceeds from his works start at £ 500 and up.

Web links

• Jody Craddock in the database of weltfussball.de
• Jody Craddock in the database of transfermarkt.de
• Jody Craddock in the soccerbase.com database
• Homepage of the artist Jody Craddock ("Craddock Art") (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Wolves sign Craddock" (BBC Sport)
2. ↑ "Craddock Called Back" ( memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Stoke City website)  
3. ^ "Craddock agrees new Wolves deal" (BBC Sport)
4. ↑ "Craddock's Contract Confirmed" ( Memento of the original dated August 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (wolves.co.uk)  
5. ↑ "Jody Craddock - the artist" (BBC Sport)