Craig Faulconbridge

Name: Craig Faulconbridge

DOB: 20/03/78

POB: Nuneaton

Position: Striker

Clubs: Coventry City, Dunfermline Athetic, Hull
City, Wrexham, Wycombe Wanderers,
Wingate & Finchley, Maidenhead United, Oxford
City, Carshalton Athletic, Woking and Aylesbury.

International Caps: 0

Born in Nuneaton, Faulconbridge came up through the youth
system of Coventry
City at a time when the
Sky Blues were an English Premier League side. However the striker was unable
to bridge the gap between the youth and first team, and with players of the calibre
of Robbie Keane signed, Faulconbridge was loaned out.

In 1998 he moved up north to Dunfermline
on loan for two separate spells. But his record for the Pars was uninspiring,
especially for a striker, notching just the one goal 13 games. Yet that one
goal would be memorable, scoring against Celtic to deny the Hoops the chance to
win the league. But in essence it was only denying the inevitable as they won
it the weekend after.

The loan spell at East End
Park after the summer had no memorable
moments of note and he ended up at Hull
City for the remainder of
the 1998-1999 season. Goals would be hard to come by at the Humberside club and
he wasn’t kept on after the season had finished, by which time his contract at Coventry had run its
course.

After experiencing football in Scotland
and England Faulconbridge tried his hand in Wales with Wrexham who of course
play in the English leagues. At the Racecourse ground he enjoyed his most
prolific spell in front of goal, scoring at a rate of one every four games,
including an emphatic header against Wycombe Wanderers who he would join for
free in 2002.

He was a target of then Wycombe boss Lawrie Sanchez who had
waited over a year to sign, suggesting untapped potential as one of the reasons
for the signing. Speaking to the local press Faulconbridge was eager to repay
his new boss with goals: “If you give me half a chance in the box, in the air
or on the ground, nine times out of ten I will finish it off”.

The statistics would beg to differ; eight goals in three seasons
before a move to Wingate & Finchley. This is where he’d make the turn into
journeyman striker, taking in spells at Maidenhead United, Oxford City
(the rubbish Oxford), Carshalton Athletic and
then Woking and Didcot
Town.

During his spell at Woking he
was not paid by the club. Instead it was the manager, Graham Baker, who forked
out his own money to pay the striker. It could not be said that the money went
to waste due to a comical dive that won a penalty in a Woking win – there is a
video called ‘Faulconbridge wins an Oscar’ on Youtube.

Throughout his spells at Oxford,
Woking and Didcot he honed his coaching skills
with youth teams and then the first team at Didcot before becoming his own man
at Aylesbury.

Where is he now? Joining Aylesbury as a player in January of
this year Faulconbridge took up the reins as manager in May after the departure
of Steve Smith. He stated his intentions to continue playing at the age of 34
so takes up the infamous duel role of player/manager. Having lost their first three
Evostik League Southern Division 1 Central games, The Moles are now unbeaten in
five. If they continue on this road under Faulconbridge he might have the
success as a manager he failed to have as a player.

Show: We Lost To Chris Coleman’s Wales