Crainey, Stephen

C | Player Pics | A-Z of Players

Personal

Fullname: Stephen Daniel Crainey
aka: Stephen Crainey
Born: 22 June 1981
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 3 July 1997
Left: 6 Feb 2004
Position: Left-back
Debut: Celtic 4-1 St Johnstone, League, 11 Mar 2000
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 12
International Goals: 0

Biog

A product of the Celtic youth system Stephen Crainey was viewed as being one of the few positives to emerge during the mainly disastrous reign of John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish.

The full-back made just a handful of appearances during that mostly ill fated season but had shown enough to hint that he had a bright future ahead. He was very proud of his debut match, as he put it:

“My debut came right out of the blue. I was training with the Youth team and somebody said, “Tommy Burns is looking for you”. I was like, “What have I done wrong”? I went to go and see him and he said, “you’re in the squad tomorrow”. I said, “are you serious”, he said, “yes you are”. At this point I was thinking, I could do something here that I’ve dreamt about since I started walking. I couldn’t sleep the night before with lots of different scenarios going through my head.”

Niggling injuries and a new manager in Martin O’Neill meant Crainey’s career was then somewhat sidelined but he fought his way back into first team recognition and during the 2001-02 season he put in some fine performances against Rangers and Valencia to help earn him a Scotland call-up. He scored his only goal when Celtic beat Hearts 5–2 in the quarter-final of the 2000–01 Scottish League Cup.

He never managed to win a long run, and in seasons 2001/02 and the great 2002/03 season that saw Celtic reach the UEFA Cup final, he played in 19 games in both seasons, either coming on as a sub or in as a fill-in. So showed some faith in him from the management team.

He even managed a couple of appearances in the matches against minnows FK Suduva on the ‘Road to Seville’, which in the bigger scheme of things is a memory to treasure when you look back on what was achieved that season. He was a regular for the first half of the 2002/03 season (domestically), and Celtic never lost a game he played in that season.

However it seemed that Crainey never really convinced O’Neill for a permanent First XI place. After a lack of first team starts it was no surprise when he finally departed Parkhead in February 2004 to sign for Premiership Southampton in a £500,000 deal. In some ways a disappointing decision as left-back has been a difficult position to fill, and the very able Ulrik Laursen was chosen ahead of Stephen Crainey, although Crainey has said that Martin O’Neill did want him to remain.

His last match was a 2-1 defeat to Hibs in the league cup, and really he deserved better than that for his final note in the first team, it was his first loss with Celtic for two seasons, and actually this was his only loss domestically with Celtic (the other defeat was to Valencia in the UEFA Cup).

He had managed to play for Celtic in a CIS Cup final (the League Cup final of 2000/01) when Celtic beat Kilmarnock 3-0 in the final so won a medal by playing in the final match which he more than fully deserved (having come on as a sub for Bobby Petta).

He was going to leave Celtic with an excellent record to look back on, and many great memories.

We wished him the best.

Post-Celtic
After a disappointing spell on the south coast with Southampton, the six times capped defender moved on to a struggling Leeds side and after being released from Elland Road he then joined Blackpool in July 2007. It was a great move for him, and he swept the board at the Lancashire club’s POTY awards in his first season and helped them win an unlikely promotion to the English Premier League in 2009-10. He was to become a firm favourite at Blackpool and stuck with them even after they went back down to the second tier.

Following his success down south, he was given a second birth on the international stage, and played a handful of games around 2010-11 for Scotland, which is a great measure of his success and ability.

He later played for Wigan then various smaller sides in England before wrapping his playing career up around 2015.

He then moved into coaching, and at time of writing (2018) was a coach at Fleetwood Town with the youth.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League

• 2000-01, 2001-02, 2003-04

• 2000-01

Pictures

• Player Pics

From Not the View

A six figure sum for – let’s be honest – a peripheral first team player that we paid nowt for anyway? Sold!

I suppose that’s one of the reasons the youth set up exists. One of Crainey’s big selling points was the fact that he was a naturally left-footed defender, traditionally a problem position for us. During the 80s we had Graeme Sinclair, Brain Whittaker and Anton. The 90s dealt us the skilful but diffident Wdowcyzk followed by the dire Lee Martin. Of course Boyd was there, but he isn’t left sided, and moved to central defence in any case. Tosh McKinlay couldn’t really defend but could deliver a mean cross, while Mahe got very mean if you crossed him, and sported a bizarre Mohawk haircut for a while.

Hardly a hall of fame.

The first time most Celtic fans clapped eyes on Crainey was grainy black and white footage of him weaving in and out of milk bottles pretending to be the young Jimmy Johnstone in a mock up flash back sequence for the Jinky video. But let’s face it you can’t make a serious judgement of a player’s ability based on that, so let’s move on.

Crainey first appeared, like so many of our young players, at the tail-end of season 1999-2000 as Kenny Dalglish tried to stir up some interest in the string of meaningless games that we were playing. Tall, reasonable pace and a decent tackler he didn’t look too bad at all. He could also hit a decent free kick, as Hibs found out.

The following season under OFM he found himself used mostly in the CIS Cup, scoring a cracking equaliser at Tynecastle and eventually gaining a winners medal having replaced the bludgeoned Petta after about 5 minutes of the final against Kilmarnock.

His big chance came the following season in Valencia. Due to injury and family illness we found our squad somewhat stretched prior to game in Spain. Crainey was drafted in and certainly didn’t let anyone down in an extremely tough game.

He featured in a fair number of league games after that, making his Old Firm debut in a 1:1 draw at Ibrox in Spring 2002, but to be truthful many fans had already arrived at the opinion that Crainey wasn’t going to be a serious long term player for us. As long as people are trying to get down the wing he’s fine; as soon as they cut inside him he’s nowhere. Last season at Dens Park even Mark Burchill did it to him, and scored.

On the plus side, he’s good in the air, still quite quick, and hits a pretty decent pass. Wee Strachan signed him, but now he has no idea who will be picking the side at St. Mary’s.

We wish him well.
AB MURDOCH

‘Seville was something special,’ Stephen Crainey, my pride in playing for Celtic

https://thecelticstar.com/seville-something-special-stephen-crainey-pride-playing-celtic/
By Editor — 19 April, 2018

Stephen was at Celtic for seven years and was part of the squad in that memorable season that saw us reach that UEFA Cup Final in Seville.

Stephen grew up as a Celtic fan so to wear the Hoops was for himself, his family and his friends, something that they are all immensely proud of.

You can follow Stephen on Twitter @crainzo

As ever, The Celtic Star reporter Scotty Alcroft asks the questions…

You started out at Celtic in the Youth setup. What was that like for you and what players came through with you at that time that went on to have good careers?

The Youth team that I came through in was an excellent side. We used to play all the English sides at that time and beat them all convincingly. I think in part it was down to the tempo we had in training and that helped me. We had some great players but the names that spring to mind are, Mark Burchill, Jamie Smith, Colin Healy and Liam Miller. The grounding we had at Celtic would certainly help us as our careers progressed. This was certainly the case for me.

How did the step up to the first team happen and how did it feel knowing that you were going to play for Celtic?

My debut came right out of the blue. I was training with the Youth team and somebody said, “Tommy Burns is looking for you”. I was like, “What have I done wrong”? I went to go and see him and he said, “you’re in the squad tomorrow”. I said, “are you serious”, he said, “yes you are”. At this point I was thinking, I could do something here that I’ve dreamt about since I started walking. I couldn’t sleep the night before with lots of different scenarios going through my head.

Who was your biggest influence at Celtic?

My biggest influence was Tommy Burns. The standards he set in training were nothing short of 100%. He demanded that in everything we did and that stuck with me throughout the rest of my career. One day I went in to training and Tommy shook my hand and said “good morning”. I replied to him the same back to which he grabbed my hand and said, “shake my hand as if you mean it like a proper man”.
You can imagine how I shook his hand the next day.

Who were the characters in the dressing room at Celtic?

That squad that won the treble under Martin O’Neill was incredibly strong and full of characters so it’s difficult to single out one player. The way Paul Lambert treated me as a kid coming through was great. He made you feel really relaxed, especially before games. He would say stuff like, “Stephen, just play your normal game” just to make me feel at ease. On Friday’s if we had a game on the Saturday, we would play a older players against the younger ones in a small sided game. You’d think the older ones would go easy on us but that certainly wasn’t the case. They would go full on at times which I loved.

They wouldn’t hold back but that was me learning about the demands that were at Celtic and that second best wasn’t going to be tolerated. It was a great test of character for young players coming through. I remember big John Hartson who is a complete gentleman by the way, giving me an elbow in training and I was like, “WTF are you doing”? to which he replied, “you’re getting it again” to which I replied, “come on then”!! I’m laughing now thinking about it. I think now looking back that it was just the senior players testing out our mentality possibly. Young versus old at Celtic were the best sessions I ever done in training throughout my career.

Not a lot of Celtic fans will know this but I remember it well, you played a young Jimmy Johnstone once, tell us about that Stephen.

Yes that’s right!! I played the part of Jimmy Johnstone as a kid for his video. I was just sitting in my Mum’s house one night and the phone goes. I answered and it went along the lines of, “hi this is such and such, would you like to play the part of Jinky as a kid”? Before they had finished I said yes. Myself and my sister Pauline then went to Jinky’s house in Uddingston where I met him and his family. They set milk bottles up in his living room and I had to dribble through them, just like he did as a kid. We then went to the local junior park where he used to practice balancing on the railings there and I’d dribble on the pitch etc. It was a great honour not only to meet the great man but to be asked to play that part. LEGEND

What is your proudest achievement from your time at Celtic?

My proudest achievement was making my debut at Paradise. I had been a fan like many other children and my dream was to play for Celtic at 18 and it was like a dream come true. We beat St Johnstone that day 4-2 at Parkhead where I came on as a second half substitute. After the game I can remember going back to my Mum and Dad’s and all my family and friends were there. I walked in and they all started cheering to which I just burst out crying with the emotion. I then opened a bottle of Champagne to spray in my Mum’s kitchen. You can imagine what she was saying to me whilst shouting at me as well haha.

You played your part in the “Road To Seville” with a couple of games against FK Suduva. What was it like to be a part of that famous squad?

To be involved in that squad that got to Seville was something special. I played in a couple of games in the earlier rounds. To get to the final and lose in the manner in which we we did was heartbreaking. Looking back now though, it was a magnificent achievement by all connected with the club. I’ve never witnessed scenes like it!! On the way to the Stadium, the roads were just full of Green and White. People were sleeping in the street and travelling for days just to be there. We’re not the best fans in the World for nothing!!

How did your departure from Celtic come about? Was MON honest with you and tell you that you weren’t in his plans?

It was the toughest decision of my life when I left the club that I’ve always loved and still love. Martin phoned me one night and said, “Stephen, Southampton have made a bid for you”. I said, “Do you want me to leave”? He said,”nope but I thought I’d phone and tell you”. The more I thought about it, I’d played a few games with Pughy being a regular, I didn’t want my heart to rule my head. I didn’t want to be a bit part player so I decided for my career that it was best for me to move on, which I did. I then went on to play for Southampton, Leeds, Blackpool, Wigan and Fleetwood. When I look back and ask myself, did I make the right choice? Yes I did, but what a tough decision it was.

We have a young man at Celtic at the minute that plays in your old position. Just how highly do you rate KT?

Kieran Tierney for me is one of the best young full backs around!! He can defend, tackle, get forward to score and also create goals. Myself being a selfish fan, I hope that we can keep him for many more years to come. There will be big teams wanting him but as Celtic are the biggest club in the world, he can go on and become a legend of the club. He has a great relationship with the fans, the possibility of us getting that magical #10IAR and hopefully we can keep him here along with our great manager. A top, top player!!

Finally Stephen, what do you think of the job Brendan Rodgers is doing and what’s your thoughts on this current Celtic side?

Brendan has done wonders at Celtic and this squad he has built can do something special in my eyes. Back to back trebles can be won for the first time in our History. The philosophy he believes in is great to watch. It’s the proper Celtic way. I hope he stays for many more years to come and keeps creating history which as a Celtic family, we all love doing. HH

Scotty Says…

Stephen that was outstanding and truly from the heart. Your love for the club is there for all to see. It’s amazing how many of my guests have mentioned Tommy Burns. His example has been followed by so many and it just shows how great a man he truly was. That Jinky story is a cracker too. Another legend of our club who is missed hugely as well. You’re spot on about Seville. I was lucky enough to be inside the Stadium that night and it was the biggest emotional rollercoaster of my life and still is to this day. The stories that I could tell also haha. An incredible experience and just devastated still that we didn’t manage to pull it off that night. Thanks very much for doing this and we at “The Celtic Star” wish you all the best for the future and hopefully we’ll all see you at Celtic Park soon to watch the Bhoys. HH

Interview by Scotty Alcroft for The Celtic Star
@Scotty10IAR on Twitter
#10IAR