Craig_Clay

Craig Clay

Craig Clay

English footballer

Craig William Clay (born 5 May 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for EFL League Two club Sutton United.

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...

He has previously had spells as a professional for Chesterfield, York City, Grimsby Town and Motherwell before a four-year spell with Leyton Orient where he won several promotions and was voted the player of the year in 2019. He has also played semi-professionally for Barrow, Alfreton Town, FC Halifax Town and Worksop Town. In 2016 he was capped once by England C.

Club career

Chesterfield

Clay was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.[5] He started his career with Chesterfield's youth system in 2008 and was part of the team that won the Youth League.[6][7] He was named Chesterfield's Young Player of the Year for the 2008–09 season.[8] His first involvement with the first team came as an unused substitute in a League Two match against Torquay United on 16 January 2010.[9] He made the bench on a number occasions through the rest of 2009–10, but did not make an appearance.[9]

He signed a two-year professional contract with Chesterfield in June 2010.[10] He made his debut for the club on 18 September 2010, in a 3–0 home win over Cheltenham Town, replacing Mark Allott in the 85th minute.[11] On 2 October 2010, he scored his first professional goal with a 25-yard shot during stoppage time to earn a 5–5 draw at home to Crewe Alexandra.[11][12] On 28 October 2010, Clay joined Conference Premier club Barrow on a one-month loan with Chesterfield teammate Tendayi Darikwa.[13] His only appearance for Barrow came two days later, in a 5–0 defeat away to Rushden & Diamonds.[14] He made four appearances and scored one goal for Chesterfield in 2010–11,[11] in which the club was promoted to League One as League Two champions.[15]

Clay was loaned out by Chesterfield for a second time on 20 January 2012, joining Conference Premier club Alfreton Town on a one-month loan.[16][17] Four days later, he scored Alfreton's third goal in a 3–0 win away to Bath City on his debut with a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 90th minute.[18][19] Clay finished the loan with one goal in four appearances.[20] He made one more appearance for Chesterfield before the end of 2011–12, which he finished with eight appearances[18] as the club was relegated to League Two in 22nd place.[21]

He signed a new one-year contract with Chesterfield in May 2012.[22] His only goal of 2012–13 came in a 6–1 win over League One team Hartlepool United in the FA Cup first round on 3 November 2012.[23] Clay had a double hernia operation in March 2013 and after returning made one more appearance before the end of the season, as an 89th-minute substitute in a 2–0 victory away to Barnet on 6 April.[23][24] He was released by Chesterfield on 29 April 2013[25] after making 23 appearances and scoring one goal in 2012–13.[23]

York City

Clay playing for York City in 2013

Clay signed for League Two club York City on 17 May 2013 on a two-year contract.[26][27] He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over Northampton Town on 3 August 2013, in the first match of 2013–14.[28] Having made 10 appearances for York,[28] Clay left the club by mutual consent on 13 January 2014, along with Jamal Fyfield.[29]

FC Halifax Town and Worksop Town

He signed for Conference Premier club FC Halifax Town on 16 January 2014 on a one-month contract[30][31] and made his debut two days later in a 1–1 home draw with Cambridge United.[20] After making four appearances for the club he was released on 24 February 2014.[32] Nearly a month later, Clay signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Worksop Town on 21 March 2014.[33] He made his debut the following day as an 84th-minute substitute for Shane Clarke in a 2–0 away win over Stafford Rangers.[34]

Grimsby Town

Clay signed for Conference Premier club Grimsby Town on 28 July 2014 on a one-year contract, having spent the pre-season on trial.[35] On 15 May 2016, he started for Grimsby as they beat Forest Green Rovers 3–1 at Wembley Stadium in the 2016 National League play-off final.[36] This meant Grimsby were promoted to League Two, after a six-year absence from the Football League.[36] Clay was released when his contract expired at the end of the 2015–16 season.[37]

Motherwell

Upon his release from Grimsby, Clay joined South African Premier Division club Bidvest Wits on trial.[38] Clay then joined Scottish Premiership club Motherwell on trial,[39] playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory over East Stirlingshire in the Scottish League Cup on 26 July 2016.[40] Clay made his league debut on 6 August 2016 in a 2–1 victory away to Kilmarnock,[41] before signing a two-year contract with the club on 10 August.[42] He scored his first goal for the club on 28 December 2016, in a 2–1 win away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[43]

Leyton Orient

Clay signed for newly relegated National League club Leyton Orient on 17 July 2017 on a two-year contract.[44] He went on to win both the National League and EFL League Two titles with the club over the 6 years he was with them. His contract was not renewed at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Sutton United

On 30 June 2023, Clay signed for EFL League Two side Sutton United.[45]

International career

Clay made his debut for the England C national team as a substitute in their 2–0 away win over Ukraine under-20s in the International Challenge Trophy on 22 March 2016.[46]

Career statistics

As of match played 2 April 2021
More information Club, Season ...
  1. Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. Includes League Cup, Scottish League Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  4. Three appearances in FA Trophy, three in Conference Premier play-offs
  5. Three appearances in FA Trophy, two in National League play-offs
  6. Appearances in FA Trophy

Honours

Grimsby Town

Leyton Orient

Individual

References

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    "Craig Clay". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
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    "Craig Clay". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
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    Kelly, Tony (24 May 2013). "Craig Clay plots to bring passion to York City's central midfield". The Press. York. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
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    "Player profile: Craig Clay". Chesterfield F.C. Archived from the original on 19 March 2013.
  8. [8]
    "Two awards for hotshot Jack". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  9. [9]
    "Chesterfield: Results/matches: 2009/10". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
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    "Contracts for five youngsters". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. 2 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
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    "Games played by Craig Clay in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
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    "Chesterfield 5–5 Crewe". BBC Sport. 2 October 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  13. [13]
    "Barrow sign Clay and Darikwa on loan from Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
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    Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2011). Non-League Club Directory 2012. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-1-869833-70-1.
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    "League Two: 2010/11: Latest table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
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    "Law adds Craig Clay on loan". Alfreton Town F.C. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
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    "Two more go out on loan". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
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    "Games played by Craig Clay in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
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    "Clay and Fyfield depart". York City F.C. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016.
  30. [30]
    "Duo sign for Shaymen". FC Halifax Town. 16 January 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016.
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    "Midfielder Clay released by Town". Halifax Courier. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  32. [32]
    "Craig Clay leaves FC Halifax Town". FC Halifax Town. 24 February 2014. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
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    "Grimsby Town snap up Jon-Paul Pittman and Craig Clay". Grimsby Telegraph. 21 July 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
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    Garry, Tom (15 May 2016). "Forest Green Rovers 1–3 Grimsby Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
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    Mullen, Scott (12 August 2016). "Craig Clay gamble pays off to land Motherwell contract". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  40. [40]
    Young, Chick (26 July 2016). "Motherwell 3–0 East Stirlingshire". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  41. [41]
    "Games played by Craig Clay in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  42. [42]
    "Craig Clay joins the Steelmen". Motherwell F.C. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  43. [43]
    "Inverness CT 1–2 Motherwell". Motherwell F.C. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  44. [44]
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  45. [45]
    "Matt makes double swoop". www.suttonunited.net. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  46. [46]
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  48. [48]
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  51. [51]
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    Alan Smith (22 May 2016). "Scott McManus strikes for Halifax to beat Grimsby in FA Trophy final". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
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