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David Cross (footballer, born 1950)

David Cross (born 8 December 1950) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He scored 223 goals in 599 appearances in the Football League and the North American Soccer League.[1] Cross was born in Heywood, Lancashire.[2]

David Cross
Personal information
Date of birth (1950-12-08) 8 December 1950 (age 73)
Place of birth Heywood, England
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Rochdale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1971 Rochdale 59 (21)
1971–1973 Norwich City 84 (21)
1973–1976 Coventry City 91 (29)
1976–1977 West Bromwich Albion 38 (18)
1977–1982 West Ham United 179 (78)
1982–1983 Manchester City 31 (12)
1983 Vancouver Whitecaps 26 (19)
1983–1984 Oldham Athletic 22 (6)
1984 Vancouver Whitecaps 20 (10)
1984–1985 West Bromwich Albion 16 (2)
1985–1986 Bolton Wanderers 20 (8)
1985–1986 → Bury (loan) 13 (0)
1986–1987 Aris Limassol
Blackpool
Total 599 (224)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Football career

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Cross played for Third Division club Rochdale, where he scored against top-flight Coventry City in a third-round FA Cup game in 1971.[3] He moved to Norwich City, with whom he won the Second Division championship in 1972.[4] He joined Coventry City for £150,000, then a club record.[5] In 1975–76, Cross scored hat-tricks on the opening and closing days the season,[6] the only Coventry City player to do so in a league campaign.[citation needed] He joined West Bromwich Albion for £150,000 in November 1976,[7] and made his Albion debut against Manchester City.[8]

West Ham United also broke their club record for Cross when they paid for £180,000 for his services on 9 December 1977.[9][10] He made his debut a week later, against West Brom. Cross scored 9 goals in 21 league games during his initial season at the club, but this wasn't enough to prevent relegation to the Second Division. His first full season brought 18 goals, with 12 the following season.[11]

Cross was asked to play as the lone striker during the 1980 FA Cup Final win against Arsenal.[3][11] He scored 22 goals with the side that won the Second Division in 1980–81, winning the division's Golden Boot and ensuring the club's promotion back to the First Division.[11][12]

On 1 October 1980, Cross scored West Ham United's first, and to date only, hat-trick in European competition in a 5–1 win against Castilla.[13]

Following promotion, Cross again became the club's top scorer for the 1981–82 season, with 16 goals. He scored four goals in a game on two occasions, against Grimsby Town on 11 April 1981, and against Tottenham Hotspur on 2 September 1981.[11] Cross was the last player to score four goals in a single league match for West Ham for almost 40 years until Michail Antonio also achieved this in a match against Norwich City on 11 July 2020.[14][15]

Cross played his last game for the east London club on 15 May 1982, scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. He went on to play for Manchester City and Oldham Athletic, and spent the summers of 1983 and 1984 with Vancouver Whitecaps (where he totalled 46 appearances and 29 goals),[1][16] before rejoining West Brom for the 1984–85 season. He signed for Bolton Wanderers in 1985–86, but a fractured skull helped to end his professional career in England and he ended the season with a loan spell at Bury.[11] He then had a brief spell with Aris Limassol of Cyprus,[17] and finished his career at Blackpool.[7][18]

After retirement, Cross spent nine years in the insurance industry,[11] and scouted for Watford.[19] He joined the coaching staff at Oldham Athletic in 1997.[11] He coached the reserves and youth-team before moving up to assistant manager to Iain Dowie in 2002. In February 2003, he was released from his contract with the club in serious financial difficulties.[20] He later became a scout for West Ham.[21] Cross also worked on opposition analysis for Blackburn Rovers, leaving the post in 2016.[16]

Honours

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Club

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Norwich City

  • Second Division champions: 1972

West Ham United

  • FA Cup winner: 1980
  • Second Division champions: 1981

Individual

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  • Second Division Golden Boot: 1980–81 (34 goals)
  • NASL All-Star: 1983[22] (honorable mention)

Personal life

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Cross has three children who have achieved some success in sport. Robert played Second XI cricket for Lancashire for many years,[23] and acted as twelfth man for Lancashire First XI on several occasions. He is captain of Heywood Cricket Club of the Central Lancashire League and is the club's highest ever run scorer having amassed over 14000 runs to date, including 18 centuries. Jennifer played Netball Superleague for Northern Thunder[24] and Leeds Met Carnegie, and has appeared in the Lancashire Women's Cricket set-up.[25] Kathryn, the youngest, played cricket for Lancashire Women's First XI at the age of 13; at 15 she was the first girl to be named in the Lancashire County Boys Academy, and progressed to the England Women's Academy and Development Squad.[26] Having impressed for England women's academy in 2010, Kathryn was called up to England women's tour of Australia in January 2011 following injuries to Claire Taylor and Beth Morgan.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b "David Cross". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  2. ^ "David Cross". West Ham United Statistics. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  3. ^ a b Turner, Andy (23 January 2003). "The Day Cross Was Too Much to Bear for City". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  4. ^ Denton, Graham (10 April 2017). Odd Man Out: The Fascinating Story of Ron Saunders' Reign at Aston Villa. Pitch Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-78531-333-2.
  5. ^ Brown, Jim (28 August 2004). "Sky Blues: Where Are They Now? Game On". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  6. ^ Turner, Andy (22 August 2008). "Down the Sky Blue Decades: The 70s". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b Matthews, Tony (2013). Manchester City Player by Player. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-4456-1737-4.
  8. ^ "David CROSS - League appearances for WBA". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  9. ^ Struthers, Greg (4 January 2004). "SportsFile: Caught in Time: League Cup final, 1981". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  10. ^ "David Cross". westhamstats.info. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 56. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
  12. ^ @thecentretunnel (17 March 2017). "1980/81 Adidas Golden Boot winners" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Hillier, Roger. "Castilla Ghost Match". theyflysohigh. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  14. ^ "Norwich City 0-4 West Ham United: Michail Antonio scores four to send Canaries down". BBC. 11 July 2020.
  15. ^ Browning, Oliver (11 July 2020). "Norwich City relegated from Premier League as West Ham's Michail Antonio scores FOUR goals". GiveMeSport.
  16. ^ a b Figueroa, Rafael (8 June 2017). "Former Whitecaps striker David Cross returns to BC Place for first time in 33 years". MLS. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  17. ^ Hans, Gursimran (4 March 2018). "In Conversation with David Cross Part 2". The National Student. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  18. ^ "David Cross and Marcus Hall here for the Bluebirds". Coventry City Former Players Association. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Cross so keen for happy return". Manchester Evening News. 10 August 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Cross laid off by Oldham". BBC Sport. 19 February 2003. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  21. ^ "David Cross at the Ricoh". Coventry City Former Players Association. 22 March 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  22. ^ "1983 All-Stars". United Press International. 18 September 1983. Retrieved 13 January 2017 – via UPI Archives.
  23. ^ "Teams played for by Robert Cross". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  24. ^ "Netball SuperLeague 2006–2007". Netball Online. Archived from the original on 30 July 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  25. ^ "Lancs women go global". England and Wales Cricket Board. 30 October 2007. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  26. ^ Thompson, Jenny (September 2007). "Katie Cross". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  27. ^ "Kate Cross". European Central Bank. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2011.

Bibliography

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  • Davage, Mark; Eastwood, John & Platt, Kevin (2001). Canary Citizens. Jarrold Publishing. ISBN 0-7117-2020-7.
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