James Craigen (footballer)

James Craigen (born 28 March 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Spartans in Scottish League Two. He started his career at Preston North End, where he spent 10 years as a youth player. He was also part of the Edinburgh University team; the university which he was a student at. He then made the leap from non-league football to Scotland's second tier, joining Scottish First Division club Partick Thistle where, against Greenock Morton, he scored the decisive goal that sealed Thistle's promotion to the Scottish Premiership. He has also spent time on loan at Forfar Athletic, and after leaving Partick Thistle, played with Raith Rovers, Falkirk, Dunfermline Athletic, Arbroath and Edinburgh.

For the former British politician, see James Craigen (politician).

James Craigen
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-03-28) 28 March 1991
Place of birth Preston, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 The Spartans
Number 28
Youth career
1999–2009 Preston North End
2009–2012 Edinburgh University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Partick Thistle 76 (4)
2012–2013 → Forfar Athletic (loan) 10 (2)
2015–2016 Raith Rovers 34 (9)
2016–2018 Falkirk 37 (3)
2018–2019 Dunfermline Athletic 48 (2)
2019–2020 AFC Fylde 15 (0)
2020 → Arbroath (loan) 4 (0)
2020–2022 Arbroath 59 (5)
2022–2023 Edinburgh 31 (3)
2023– The Spartans 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:38, 12 July 2023

Career

Youth

Craigen played for the Edinburgh University football side, while concentrating on his academic studies. He also turned out for the Scottish University side when they won the BUCS Home Nations Tournament. Craigen was selected for the Great Britain University side at the 2011 Student Games in Japan, where the team finished runners-up.[2]

Partick Thistle

Craigen signed for Partick Thistle at the start of the 2012–13 Season, whilst also completing his final year at university.[3] He joined Forfar Athletic on loan in October 2012, and returned to Thistle in early 2013. He scored twice during his loan period.[4]

On his return to Partick Thistle, Craigen established himself in the starting eleven during the title run-in. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory at home to Morton in April 2013, a victory that essentially secured the league title for Partick Thistle.[5]

In May 2015, Craigen was named as one of the players that would be released by Partick Thistle at the end of the 2014–15 season.[6]

Raith Rovers

Craigen signed for Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers on 26 June 2015.[7]

Falkirk

On 10 March 2016, Craigen signed a pre contract deal with fellow Scottish Championship side Falkirk.[8] In his first season with the club, Craigen helped Falkirk to a second-place finish in the league, playing 27 matches and scoring 3 goals.[9] He scored a further two goals in each of the Scottish Premiership semi-final play-offs against Dundee United, although the Bairns fell short of reaching the final after losing 3–4 on aggregate.[10][11]

Craigen was a bit-part player in his second season at the club, and was subsequently released in January 2018, after a year and a half with the club.[12][13]

Dunfermline Athletic

Craigen subsequently signed for Scottish Championship and Falkirk-rivals Dunfermline Athletic on 19 January 2018, on a deal that would keep him at the club until summer 2018.[14][15] Craigen's contract was renewed until May 2019, after which point it was announced that he would be leaving the club in order to seek a fresh challenge.[16][17]

Career statistics
As of 21 May 2019[18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Partick Thistle 2012–13[19] Scottish First Division 19200202[lower-alpha 1]0232
2013–14[20] Scottish Premiership 3101020—340
2014–15[21] 2622030—312
Total 764307020884
Forfar Athletic (loan) 2012–13[19] Scottish Second Division 102100000112
Raith Rovers 2015–16[22] Scottish Championship 34920303[lower-alpha 2]0429
Falkirk 2016–17[9] Scottish Championship 27310402[lower-alpha 3]2345
2017–18[23] 10000413[lower-alpha 1]1172
Total 373108153517
Dunfermline Athletic 2017–18[23] Scottish Championship 15110002[lower-alpha 4]0181
2018–19[24] 331105020411
Total 482205040592
Career total 205209023114325124
  1. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
  2. One appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup and two in the Scottish Premiership play-offs
  3. Appearances in the Scottish Premiership play-offs
  4. Appearances in the Scottish Premiership play-offs

References
  1. "James Craigen". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  2. Partick Thistle FC. "James Craigen". Partick Thistle FC. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  3. Gordon Parks (20 April 2013). "Student James Craigen on brink of dream journey from obscurity to SPL - Daily Record". dailyrecord.
  4. Partick Thistle FC. "James Craigen Heads Out on Loan". Partick Thistle FC. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012.
  5. "Partick Thistle 1 - 0 Morton: Jags have one foot in SPL". scotsman.com.
  6. "Partick Thistle: James Craigen among five Firhill exits". BBC Sport. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  7. "New Signing Added As A Familiar Face Returns". www.raithrovers.net. Raith Rovers Football Club. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  8. Collin, Iain (25 March 2016). "James Craigen eager to go out on high at Raith Rovers ahead of summer Falkirk move". Deadline News. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  9. "Games played by James Craigen in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  10. Crawford, Kenny (16 May 2017). "Dundee United 2–2 Falkirk". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  11. Crawford, Kenny (19 May 2017). "Falkirk 1–2 Dundee United". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  12. "James Craigen departs". Falkirk FC. 17 January 2018. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  13. "Falkirk: James Craigen and Lee Miller exit as clear-out continues". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  14. "Craigen signs". Dunfermline Athletic FC. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  15. "James Craigen signs as Pars complete first January transfer window deal". Dunfermline Press. Newsquest. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  16. "Player update 20/05/2019". Dunfermline Athletic FC. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  17. "uSwitch Craigen has energy for change". Dunfermline Athletic FC. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  18. James Craigen at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  19. "Games played by James Craigen in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  20. "Games played by James Craigen in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  21. "Games played by James Craigen in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  22. "Games played by James Craigen in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  23. "Games played by James Craigen in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  24. "Games played by James Craigen in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
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