Gary Croft
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gary Croft | ||
| Date of birth | 17 February 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Burton upon Trent, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Left Back, Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1989–1992 | Grimsby Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1996 | Grimsby Town | 172 | (4) |
| 1996–1999 | Blackburn Rovers | 52 | (1) |
| 1999–2002 | Ipswich Town | 37 | (1) |
| 2002 | → Wigan Athletic (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Cardiff City (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| 2002–2005 | Cardiff City | 80 | (2) |
| 2005–2007 | Grimsby Town | 61 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Lincoln City | 20 | (0) |
| 2015 | Grimsby Borough | 6 | (0) |
| Total | 431 | (9) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1995 | England U21 | 4 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:03, 10 May 2008 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:40, 24 October 2006 (UTC) |
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Gary Croft (born 17 February 1974) is an English former professional footballer who initially played as a left back from 1992 until 2008, as well as briefly coming out of retirement in 2015.
He notably played for Grimsby Town, Blackburn Rovers and Ipswich Town, having also had spells with Wigan Athletic, Cardiff City, Lincoln City and Grimsby Borough. He is most famous nationwide for being the first footballer to play whilst wearing an electronic tag, when playing for Ipswich Town. Croft made his England under-21s debut against Brazil under-21s on 6 June 1995, David Beckham also made his debut in the same match.
Gary Croft graduated from the Grimsby Town youth setup in 1992, and was handed his first team debut by Alan Buckley shortly afterwards. Croft started as a left-back, but also filled in as a makeshift right back in John McDermott's absence, as well as also being known to cover central midfield, left midfield, right midfield and even as a support striker. Croft became an integral part of the Blundell Park setup and was one of a number of successful professional footballers in the mid nineties who came from the club, others included the likes of Jack Lester, Danny Butterfield and John Oster. His performances in the second tier of English football had attracted interest for a number of Premier League teams. His versatility and composure on the ball led to interest from Blackburn Rovers in 1996 who had won the Premier League title in the previous season.
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