Craig Fagan

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Craig Fagan
Personal information
Full name	Craig Anthony Fagan
Date of birth	February 11, 1982 (1982-02-11) (age 26)
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Derby County
Number	11
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2004 2003 2003–2004 2004–2005 2005–2007 2007– 2008–	Birmingham City → Bristol City (loan) → Colchester United (loan) Colchester United Hull City Derby County → Hull City (loan)	01 0(0) 06 0(1) 31 0(5) 32 (12) 80 (15) 39 0(1) 08 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:52, 4 June 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Craig Anthony Fagan (born December 11, 1982) is a professional footballer currently playing for Derby County in England's Coca Cola Championship. His preferred position is striker, but he can also play on the wing.

Contents 1 Early Career 2 Hull City 3 Derby County 4 Hull City return 5 International career 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early Career

Fagan's career began at his hometown club, Birmingham City, from whom he moved to Colchester United on a free transfer in 2004, after a successful loan spell.

[edit] Hull City

Fagan joined Hull City on February 28, 2005 for an undisclosed six-figure transfer fee (believed to be around £125,000). Five days later he scored on his debut in a 3-1 victory over Tranmere Rovers. He was reunited with his former Colchester boss, Phil Parkinson, when Parkinson was appointed Hull City manager in the summer of 2006 - Parkinson's tenure however did not last long. Under Parkinson, Fagan was played on the right wing, whereas previously he had played as a striker. Following Parkinson's departure, Hull changed from a 4-4-2 formation to 4-3-3, and Fagan flourished in his role on the right hand side of the front three.

His good form led to interest from other clubs and speculation around his future arose when he was dropped from the squad for the FA Cup Third Round tie against Middlesbrough on January 6th 2007. Finally, on January 9th, top of the table Derby County confirmed the signing of Fagan for a fee of £750,000, rising to £1,000,000 dependent on Derby's promotion to the Premiership.

Despite leaving halfway through the season, Fagan led the assists chart for Hull in 2006-07, ^[1] as he had the previous campaign.^[2]

[edit] Derby County

Upon joining Derby Fagan quickly worked his way into the first team and made his debut in a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday F.C. on January 13, 2007, ironically he had made his final appearance for Hull against the same opponents 12 days previously, a game which Fagan was also on the winning side. Fagan was mostly employed as a wide player, rather than his preferred role as striker, whilst at Derby, with boss Billy Davies preferring to employ Steve Howard in the lone striker role. He made 17 league and 1 FA Cup appearances, scoring once, in a 1-1 draw away to Leicester City^[3], as Derby's form faltered and they fell into the playoffs, finishing in 3rd. Fagan then went on to play in all three matches in Derby's successfull playoff campaign, including the 1-0 win over West Brom in the 2007 Championship Playoff Final.

Whilst Derby's return to the Premiership proved to be a difficult one, as they found themselves bottom of the table for the majority of the season, Fagan himself was consistently involved in the first team and, alongside Stephen Pearson, was top of the club's appearance chart on March 1, 2008 with 25 league and cup appearances. It may have been more had not he been banned twice, once for four matches for a stamp on Liverpool F.C.'s Alvaro Arbeloa in a 6-0 defeat at Anfield and then for one match after reaching five yellow cards. Despite regular appearances Fagan couldn't win over the majority of Derby fans ^[4], failed to score in the Premier League and was never assured of a first team place. As part of new manager Paul Jewell's clearout upon his arrival at the club following the departure of Billy Davies, Fagan moved on loan to Hull City, with a view to a permanent deal, on March 7, 2008^[5].

[edit] Hull City return

Fagan made his second debut for Hull in a 2-0 win over Scunthorpe United on 8 March 2008 and was part of the side which eventually secured the club's first ever season in the top flight of English football, following a 1-0 win over Bristol City at Wembley in the 2008 Championship Playoff Final, in which Fagan appeared as a 67th minute substitute. It was Fagan's second consecutive appearance in the Championship Playoff final following playing for Derby there the previous year.

It is expected that Fagan will rejoin Hull on a permanent deal in the 2008 close season for a fee of around £750k.

[edit] International career

• Craig Fagan is eligible for both England and Jamaica.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Craig Fagan career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Derby County F.C. – current squad 1 Price • 3 Camara • 4 McEveley • 5 Leacock • 7 Jones • 8 Stubbs • 9 Villa • 11 Fagan • 15 Lewis • 16 Teale • 17 Todd • 19 Davis • 21 Sterjovski • 22 Feilhaber • 23 Moore • 24 Mears • 25 Pearson • 28 Barnes • 30 Nyatanga • 31 Carroll • 32 Addison • 33 Hanson • 34 Richards • 35 Beardsley • 41 Simmons • 43 Bywater • 44 Savage • –– Commons • –– Connolly • –– Davies • –– Ellington • –– Green • –– Stewart • –– Zadkovich • Manager: Jewell