Lance Cronin (born 11 September 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made seven international appearances for the England C national team. In 2016 he was assistant manager at Whitehawk, the last club he played for.

Lance Cronin
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-09-11) 11 September 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Brighton, England
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Brighton & Hove Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2005 Crystal Palace 0 (0)
2005Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 1 (0)
2005–2006 Oldham Athletic 0 (0)
2006 Shrewsbury Town 0 (0)
2006–2010 Ebbsfleet United 176 (0)
2010–2011 Gillingham 7 (0)
2011–2012 Bristol Rovers 1 (0)
2012Ebbsfleet United (loan) 10 (0)
2012–2013 Macclesfield Town 28 (0)
2014–2015 Whitehawk 2 (0)
Total 225 (0)
International career
2006–2015 England C 7 (0)
Managerial career
2016 Whitehawk (assistant manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

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Cronin was born in Brighton. He came up through the youth system at Crystal Palace.[1] He joined Wycombe Wanderers on loan during the 2004–05 season, where he made one appearance for the club in League Two.[2] He was released by Crystal Palace at the end of the 2004–05 without playing for the first-team and joined Oldham Athletic on a non-contract basis in November 2005 to provide cover for an FA Cup tie against Chasetown,[3] in which he made a substitute appearance.[1] He then joined Shrewsbury Town on non-contract terms in February 2006 to provide cover for regular goalkeeper Joe Hart.[1] Cronin left Shrewsbury in April 2006,[4] and after a trial with Grimsby Town,[5] joined Gravesend and Northfleet (now Ebbsfleet United) to cover a long-term injury to regular goalkeeper Craig Holloway.[6]

After a good start to his first season at Ebbsfleet, Cronin was called up for the England National Game XI (now the England C team) squad for the first time in November 2006,[7] and made his debut against Holland as a substitute nine minutes from time as England won the European Challenge Trophy.[8] Cronin collected a winner's medal when Ebbsfleet won the FA Trophy at Wembley Stadium in May 2008.[9]

In July 2010, he joined Gillingham on a free transfer after a successful trial.[10] He made his debut in a 1–1 draw away to Morecambe on 28 August. Cronin was released from his contract at the end of the 2010–11 season, joining recently relegated Bristol Rovers.[11] He made his Rovers debut in the New Year's Eve match against Crewe Alexandra replacing Scott Bevan at half-time who had conceded four goals in the first half. In February 2012, Cronin re-joined Ebbsfleet United on a month's loan,[12] which was later extended until the end of April 2012.[13] In June 2012, he joined Macclesfield Town having been told he was surplus to requirements at Bristol Rovers.[14] He left the club in May 2013.[15]

In May 2014, he followed his former manager at Macclesfield Town Steve King to Whitehawk, having taken a year out of football to set up his own business.[16] Cronin was appointed Assistant Manager at Whitehawk under Pablo Asensio after King was sacked in January 2016.[17] He left after two games of the 2016–17 season, for personal reasons.

Personal life

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In 2012, Cronin set up Repainted, a painting and property maintenance company.[18]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Shrewsbury snap up keeper Cronin". BBC Sport. 9 February 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Games played by Lance Cronin in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  3. ^ "Oldham sign up goalkeeper Cronin". BBC Sport. 3 November 2005. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  4. ^ "Whitehead agrees to leave Shrews". BBC Sport. 14 April 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  5. ^ "Grimsby boss offers trials to duo". BBC Sport. 19 April 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  6. ^ "Gravesend sign ex-Shrews keeper". BBC Sport. 9 August 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Cronin shock at England call-up". BBC Sport. 17 November 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  8. ^ Bradbury, Jamie (29 November 2006). "England take the trophy". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Ebbsfleet 1-0 Torquay". BBC Sport. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  10. ^ Gillingham F.C. website Archived 20 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "NEW KEEPER ON BOARD". Bristol Rovers. 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  12. ^ "Cronin back to plug the gap". Ebbsfleet United Official Website. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  13. ^ "Darlington 0 Fleet 2".
  14. ^ "Boro lose Winn to Silkmen". Sky Sports. 10 June 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  15. ^ "We'll get it right, says Macclesfield Town chief executive". Macclesfield Express. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  16. ^ "King stays and makes Cronin first signing". The Argus. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  17. ^ Ed Miller (3 May 2016). "Hawks on the horizon". Ebbsfleet F.C. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  18. ^ Walker, Jamie (8 August 2019). "Former Crystal Palace player Lance Cronin paints Benfield Primary School". The Argus. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
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