Craig Maskell

Craig Dell Maskell (born 10 April 1968) is an English former footballer who played as a centre forward for a variety of clubs, including Southampton, Huddersfield Town, Reading, Swindon Town and Brighton & Hove Albion.[3]

Craig Maskell
Personal information
Full name Craig Dell Maskell[1]
Date of birth (1968-04-10) 10 April 1968[1]
Place of birth Aldershot,[1] England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1988 Southampton 6 (1)
1987 → Swindon Town (loan) 0 (0)
1988–1990 Huddersfield Town 87 (43)
1990–1992 Reading 72 (26)
1992–1994 Swindon Town 47 (22)
1994–1996 Southampton 17 (1)
1995 → Bristol City (loan) 5 (1)
1996–1997 Brighton & Hove Albion 64 (20)
1997–1998 Happy Valley
1998–1999 Leyton Orient 31 (3)
1999–2002 Hampton & Richmond Borough 141 (66)
2002–2003 Aylesbury United
2003–2012 Staines Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Craig Maskell began his professional football career at Southampton where he'd previously signed as an apprentice. After playing a handful of games for the club, he was loaned to Swindon Town before his eventual transfer to Huddersfield Town.

A prolific goalscorer for the team, Maskell was later included in The Fans' Favourites, a book which lists the 100 Huddersfield Town players voted by the fans as their favourite players at the time of their centennial in 2008.

A spell at Reading was followed by his move to Swindon Town, under Glenn Hoddle; he scored at Wembley in the 1993 Division One Play-off Final to promote Swindon to the Premier League.[4]

Following a poor season with the club in 1993–94, when they were relegated from the Premier League with only five wins all season, he was sold back to Southampton for £250,000, but his return to The Dell was not a success. He managed 17 Premier League appearances in two seasons, scoring just once, and unable to break up the three-man attack of Matthew Le Tissier, Neil Shipperley and Gordon Watson. He also faced competition for a place on the bench from the likes of Ronnie Ekelund and Neil Heaney.

He then played for Bristol City, Brighton and Hong Kong teams Happy Valley AA before arriving at Leyton Orient. His role at Brighton was distinguished by a shot that curled around the keeper and hit the post for Robbie Reinelt to score the rebound goal against Hereford that kept the Albion in the Football League.

His 18 months at Orient ended when, as part of the losing team in the 1999 Division Three play-off final, he walked off the pitch at the end of the game vowing never to play for the team again. "I turned to one of my team-mates and said 'that's enough', I'd spent too much time away from my family and too little time on the pitch at Orient."[5]

Leyton Orient released him at the start of the 1999–00 season and he became assistant coach under manager Steve Cordery at Hampton & Richmond Borough. Maskell was leading goalscorer for the team at the end of the 1999–00 season and had helped the Isthmian League Premier Division club to reach the first round of the FA Cup for the first time.[5]

Maskell and Cordery moved to Aylesbury in Summer 2002 and he was again amongst the Premier Division's top marksmen with 26 league and cup goals for the team.

The pair took over at Staines Town in 2003, where they continued to play and manage the team until April 2012.[3]

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References
  1. "Craig Maskell". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
  4. "My favourite game: Swindon reach the promised land – thank Hod". The Guardian. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  5. "Craig Maskell – Interview". The Times. UK. 2000. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2007.
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