Andrew Crofts (footballer)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew Lawrence Crofts | ||
| Date of birth | 29 May 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Chatham, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Charlton Athletic | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–2000 | Chelsea | ||
| 2000–2001 | Gillingham | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2009 | Gillingham | 174 | (17) |
| 2008–2009 | → Peterborough United (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2009 | → Wrexham (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 44 | (5) |
| 2010–2012 | Norwich City | 68 | (8) |
| 2012–2016 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 71 | (5) |
| 2016 | → Gillingham (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2016– | Charlton Athletic | 31 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002–2004 | Wales U19 | 8 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Wales U21 | 10 | (1) |
| 2005– | Wales | 28 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:22, 19 February 2017 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:00, 15 November 2016 (UTC) |
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Andrew Lawrence Crofts (born 29 May 1984) is a Wales international footballer.
He started his career with Gillingham, for whom he made his Football League debut at the age of 16, and made over 190 appearances for the Kent-based club. He had loans at Peterborough United and Wrexham during the 2008–09 season and joined Brighton & Hove Albion in 2009. After a successful season at Brighton he transferred to Norwich City in 2010, before moving back to the South Coast club in 2012.
A tough-tackling midfielder, Crofts represented Wales, where one of his grandparents was born, at under-19 and under-21 level and won his first senior cap in 2005. In 2008 he won his 12th cap, breaking the record for the most international caps received by a Gillingham player.
Crofts was born in Chatham, Kent, and began playing competitive football at the age of six for a club in nearby Rainham. Between the ages of 10 and 15 he attended weekly training sessions organised by Premier League club Chelsea. He also tried out on two occasions for the English Schools Football Association's national schoolboy team, but was unsuccessful.
In September 2000, Crofts joined Gillingham as a trainee and was a regular in the club's youth and reserve teams during the 2000–01 season. At the end of the season, shortly before his 17th birthday, he was a surprise inclusion in the first team squad for a match at home to Watford, and made his Football League debut as a late substitute, replacing Marlon King. The following season he suffered a broken leg during a reserve team match and missed several months of the season. Although he returned to action in early 2002, his next appearance for the first team did not come until October, when he came on as a substitute in a League Cup match against . This was to be his only senior appearance of the 2002–03 season. He finally secured a regular first team place towards the end of the following season, featuring regularly during March and April 2004.
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