Paco Craig (footballer)

Paco Gigi Craig (born 19 October 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender, most recently for Wycombe Wanderers. He is the son of Mikey Craig, bass player of the band Culture Club.[1]

Paco Craig
Craig playing for Louisville City in 2017
Personal information
Full name Paco Gigi Craig
Date of birth (1992-10-19) 19 October 1992
Place of birth London, England
Playing position(s) Defender
Youth career
West Ham United
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Young Harris Mountain Lions 57 (17)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Bishop's Stortford 22 (1)
2013 Rocket City United
2015 Ocala Stampede 14 (1)
2016–2019 Louisville City 85 (7)
2020 Wycombe Wanderers 0 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 October 2019

Early life

Personal

Paco Craig was born in London, England to Lilli and Mikey Craig and has two brothers as well as one half-brother and one half-sister.[2] At the urging of his father he played both football and as a drummer in a band with his brother.[3] He would attend secondary school at Dame Alice Owen where he would play rugby, football, and basketball and would be named captain of his football team.[4]

College and Youth

Craig would play in the West Ham United youth system from 2008[5] to 2011. Following his release he would go on trial with League Two side Gillingham before spending a season with National League North club Bishop's Stortford.[3]

Not wanting to play non-league football Craig would move to the US and play three years of college soccer at Young Harris College between 2013 and 2015. In each of Craig's three seasons with the team Young Harris College would win the Peach Belt Conference title as well as win the Peach Belt Conference Tournament twice. As a Freshman Craig would win the Conference's Freshman of the Year award and he would win the Conference's Player of the Year award as a Junior. Becoming only the second player to win both awards during his career. He would finish his career with 17 goals and 14 assists in 57 matches.[6]

While at college, Craig would play one season for National Premier Soccer League side Rocket City United and two seasons for the Ocala Stampede of the Premier Development League.[3] Over the course of his two seasons with Ocala he would appear in 26 matches and score three goals with one assist.[7] In both of his years with the Stampede they would win the PDL's Southeastern Conference and make the national semi-final with him being named to the All Conference team in 2015.[8]

Club career

Louisville City FC

2016 season

Craig signed his first professional contract with United Soccer League club Louisville City FC on March 14, 2016[9] and he made his professional debut on April 16 against FC Cincinnati.[10] He would go onto appear in 15 of Louisville's 28 regular season matches scoring one goal with one assist. He would also play in one of Louisville's two US Open Cup matches as well all three of Louisville's USL Cup matches.[8] In the Eastern Conference finals match against the New York Red Bulls II Craig would score Louisville's lone goal and would be sent off in extra time. Louisville would lose the match on penalties.[11]

2017 season

Craig missed the first game of the 2017 season while serving a suspension for being sent off in the Eastern Conference Finals match from the previous season.[12] He made his season debut on March 30 against Orlando City B and would go onto play in 21 of Louisville's 32 regular season matches.[8] He scored two goals which occurred in consecutive games on July 22[13] and 29th[14] against Saint Louis FC and New York Red Bulls II respectively as well as register two assists. In addition he'd appear in one of Louisville's US Open Cup matches and all four of their USL Cup matches. At the end of the season he would be named the USL All League First Team,[15] be second in USL Defender of the year voting,[16] and Louisville would go on to win the USL Cup Final against Swope Park.[17]

2018 season

Craig had his contract renewed with Louisville City FC[18] and he made his season debut on March 17 against USL expansion side Nashville SC.[19] He went onto appear in 32 of Louisville's 34 league matches, missing one match due to a suspension,[20] and scoring 2 goals. He also appeared in all five of Louisville's U.S. Open Cup matches scoring one goal as Louisville reached the quarter finals of the competition for the first time in its history.[21] This included a 3–2 victory over the New England Revolution of MLS; Louisville's first victory over an MLS side.[22] He also appeared in all four of Louisville's USL Cup playoff matches going goalless. Craig and Louisville went on to win the USL Cup Final for the second consecutive season. This time against Phoenix.[23] After the season he was again named to the USL All League First Team[24] and finished second in USL Defender of the year voting behind Forrest Lasso.[25]

Wycombe Wanderers

On 25 February 2020, Craig signed a one-month contract with Wycombe Wanderers. He played his first game against Hungerford Town on the same evening in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup.[26] However, he never made a league appearance for Wycombe due to his contract expiring during the COVID-19 situation.[27]

Honours

Club

Louisville City FC

Individual
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References
  1. "Hertford News, Sport & What's On in Hertford". Hertsandessexobserver.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  2. Merola, Marianne (January 4, 1999). "Culture Club—Frequently Asked Questions". pairsskating.tripod.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  3. Craig, Paco (January 12, 2017). "Interview with Paco Craig of Louisville City FC" (Interview). Interviewed by MLS ACES. MLS ACES. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  4. "Paco Craig". yhcathletics.com. Young Harris, GA: Young Harris College. 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  5. Lerner, Danielle (September 7, 2016). "Son of rock star, LouCity's Craig has own Club". www.courier-journal.com. Louisville, KY: Courier Journal. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  6. MacEachern, Michael (March 15, 2016). "Paco Craig signs pro contract with Louisville City FC". yhcathletics.com. Young Harris, GA: Young Harris College. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  7. "Player Stats". Uslpdl.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  8. "Paco Craig". www.louisvillecityfc.com. Louisville, KY: LCFC. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  9. Lintner, Jonathan (March 14, 2016). "LouCity signs Transy graduate, other trialists". www.courier-journal.com. Courier Journal. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  10. Didion, Phil (April 16, 2016). "PHOTOS: FC CINCINNATI HOSTS LOUISVILLE CITY FC". www.wcpo.com. Cincinnati, OH: WCPO. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  11. Corr, Charlie (16 October 2016). "Meara, NYRBII Bound for USL Cup Final". www.uslsoccer.com. Harrison, NJ: USL. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  12. Lerner, Danielle (October 17, 2016). "LouCity's Reynolds, Craig disciplined by USL". www.courier-journal.com. Louisville, KY: Courier Journal. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  13. Lee, Chris (July 22, 2017). "St Louis FC loses to Louisville City FC 4-1". www.stltoday.com. St Louis, MO: St Louis Today. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  14. Karell, Daniel (July 30, 2017). "Spencer header gives Louisville City FC crucial win over defending champions New York Red Bulls II". www.courier-journal.com. Louisville, KY: Courier Journal. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  15. "2017 USL All-League Teams Unveiled". www.uslsoccer.com. Tampa, FL: USL. November 9, 2017. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  16. "Ibeagha Named Defender of the Year". www.uslsoccer.com. Tampa, FL: USL. November 21, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2018. Ibeagha received 54 percent of the vote to claim the award, with Louisville City FC's Paco Craig earning 27 percent to finish second and FC Cincinnati's Harrison Delbridge recording 19 percent to finish third.
  17. Murray, Nicholas (November 14, 2017). "Louisville's Late Winner Claims USL Cup Victory". www.uslsoccer.com. USL. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  18. "Louisville City FC Announces Roster Changes". www.louisvillecityfc.com. Louisville, KY: LCFC. November 17, 2017. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  19. Bacharach, Erik (March 17, 2018). "Nashville SC opens inaugural USL season with loss at Louisville City FC". www.tennessean.com. Louisville, KY: Tennessean. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  20. "USL Discipline Report – Week 17". www.uslsoccer.com. Tampe, FL: USL. July 4, 2018. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  21. Lerner, Danielle (July 18, 2018). "Louisville City FC knocked out of Open Cup with loss to Chicago Fire". www.courier-journal.com. Bridgeview, IL: The Courier Journal. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  22. "RECAP: Revs eliminated from U.S. Open Cup with 3-2 loss to Louisville City FC". www.revolutionsoccer.net. Louisville, KY: New England Revolution. June 5, 2018. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  23. Arlia, John (November 8, 2018). "Spencer's Strike Leads Louisville to Second Straight USL Cup". www.uslsoccer.com. Louisville, KY: USL. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  24. "2018 USL All-League Teams Revealed". www.uslsoccer.com. Tampa, FL: USL. November 5, 2018. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  25. "Cincinnati's Lasso Earns Defender of the Year Honor". www.uslsoccer.com. Tampe, FL: USL. November 12, 2018. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  26. https://twitter.com/wwfcofficial/status/1232383471705874433
  27. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/02/footballer-signed-first-efl-contract-lockdown-paco-craig?CMP=share_btn_tw
  28. "USL Championship Announces 2019 All-League Teams". www.uslchampionship.com. Tampa, FL: USL. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
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