Craig Hignett

Craig Hignett
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-01-12) 12 January 1970
Place of birth Whiston, Lancashire, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Midfielder, Striker
Club information
Current team
 Hartlepool United (manager)
Youth career
1986–1988 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1992 Crewe Alexandra 121 (42)
1992–1998 Middlesbrough 155 (33)
1998 Aberdeen 13 (2)
1998–2000 Barnsley 66 (28)
2000–2003 Blackburn Rovers 53 (8)
2002 → Coventry City (loan) 8 (2)
2003–2004 Leicester City 13 (1)
2004 → Crewe Alexandra (loan) 15 (0)
2004 Leeds United 0 (0)
2004–2005 Darlington 19 (9)
2005–2006 Apollon Limassol 11 (0)
2006–2007 Spennymoor United 0 (0)
2007 Hartlepool United 2 (0)
2008–2009 Billingham Synthonia
Total 465 (125)
Teams managed
2016– Hartlepool United

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Craig Hignett (born 12 January 1970), is an English former professional footballer. He started his career as a striker but later moved into midfield.

Playing career

Born in Whiston, he began his career with Crewe Alexandra in 1988, before moving to Middlesbrough in 1992.[1]

After the club were relegated in his first season with Middlesbrough, he helped them back up two seasons later. In 1996–97 Hignett again suffered relegation with Middlesbrough and was part of the team that lost in the FA Cup final and League Cup final the same season. He had however made sure of a place in the club's history by scoring the first goal at the Riverside Stadium, their new ground, in a 2–0 win over Chelsea at the start of 1995–96 Season.[2]

Hignett also took a pay cut to stay at the club at one point, in stark contrast to the many big-name signings Middlesbrough were bringing in at the time.[2] In 1998 he left Middlesbrough to sign for Aberdeen on a free transfer, having made 194 appearances and 48 goals for Boro. His stay at Aberdeen was short lived, only lasting six months, before signing for Barnsley for £800,000 in 1999.

After suffering relegation from the Premiership, Barnsley were looking for a quick return to the top flight and Hignett's 20 goals in his second season at Oakwell helped them reach the play-off final of the 1999–2000 season. Hignett scored once in the final but Barnsley lost 4–2 to Ipswich Town.

Hignett left Barnsley in 2000 after 66 appearances and 35 goals for the club; he signed for Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £2.2. million. He helped Rovers regain their Premiership status and won a League Cup winners medal in 2002 when Blackburn beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 in the final, with Hignett coming off the bench.

However, in the 2002–03 season he only played three league games and one UEFA Cup game; Hignett was sent on loan to Coventry City halfway through the season but suffered a hairline fracture of his leg at Bramall Lane on 28 December 2002 which ended his loan spell. After returning, he scored on the final day of the season which was to prove to be his last appearance for Blackburn Rovers. He played 68 times and scored 14 goals for Rovers before being released.

In 2003 he signed for Leicester City but struggled to get in the side, making only 15 appearances before going on loan back to Crewe Alexandra at the end of the 2003–04 season and playing another 15 games. He only scored once during his time at Leicester but it was a memorable goal: a crucial injury time equaliser against Arsenal.[3]

In 2004 he had a brief stint at Leeds United before signing for Darlington, where he scored on his debut.

On 22 March 2007, Hartlepool United signed Hignett on a short-term contract. Hignett had been training with the club and had taken part in Reserve Team fixtures prior to signing up permanently.[4] He left the club in May 2007. He subsequently joined Billingham Synthonia, for whom he made four appearances during the 2008–09 season, scoring two goals.[5]

In September 2007 Hignett starred in Sky1's Premier League All Stars, in which he helped Middlesbrough beat Newcastle in the final.

Managerial career

As of April 2008 he was part of the Academy coaching staff at Middlesbrough. He was linked with the Darlington job after Colin Todd was sacked, he was again rumoured after Steve Staunton was sacked.[6] In May 2013, Hignett became assistant manager at Hartlepool United alongside Colin Cooper.

Hignett left his role as assistant to then Hartlepool United boss Colin Cooper in March 2014 to join Aitor Karanka’s revolution at Middlesbrough.[7] When he left, Pools were ninth in League Two and only five points outside the play-offs.[8] On 2 December 2014, Middlesbrough FC announced that Hignett had parted company with the club. The statement explained that, "Following discussions between Craig, Head Coach Aitor Karanka, and the club, all parties have agreed for Craig to leave his position with immediate effect."[9]

Hignett was widely praised for having a hugely influential role in the upturns of Boro’s fortunes, which has seen them challenging for promotion this season.

On 6 December 2014, Hartlepool manager Paul Murray and assistant Willie Donachie left their posts following the club's embarrassing 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Blyth Spartans.[10] Hignett quickly emerged as the favourite to take charge of the North East outfit. [8]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 4 December 2016
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
PWDLWin %
Hartlepool United 10 February 2016 Present 45 14 10 21 31.1 [11]
Total 45 14 10 21 31.1 —

Personal

In June 2014, Craig Hignett joined former footballer Colin Cooper and Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling and 12 other intrepid explorers to climb the 5,895m summit of Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise vital cash for the Finlay Cooper Fund in aid of children’s charities.[12]

Honours

Middlesbrough
Blackburn Rovers

References

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