Richard Cresswell

Richard Paul Wesley Cresswell (born 20 September 1977) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the Premier League and Football League for York City, Mansfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City, Preston North End, Leeds United, Stoke City and Sheffield United.

Cresswell started his career with York City in their youth system, making his first-team debut in a Second Division match in 1996. Having scored 19 goals for York in the 1998–99 season, he signed for Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday in 1999. After their relegation the following year, Cresswell joined Leicester City of the Premier League, but was loaned to First Division club Preston North End in 2001 and played for them in the 2001 First Division play-off final. He signed for Preston permanently later that year. He had four full seasons with Preston, scoring a career best 21 goals in 2004–05, which culminated in defeat in the 2005 Championship play-off final. Cresswell signed for Preston's Championship rivals Leeds United in 2005, and endured a number of knee injuries while with them. He missed their defeat in the 2006 Championship play-off final through suspension.

Following Leeds' relegation into League One in 2007, he signed for Championship club Stoke City. He won promotion with them into the Premier League as Championship runners-up in 2007–08, with Cresswell scoring 12 goals. He spent one season in the Premier League with Stoke before joining Championship club Sheffield United on loan in 2009, signing permanently in 2010. United were relegated into League One in 2011, and Cresswell played in their defeat in the 2012 League One play-off final. He was made player-coach at the club in 2012 before rejoining his first club York in 2013, initially on loan. Cresswell retired from playing later that year, before joining York's backroom staff in 2014. He had a short spell as the club's caretaker manager in 2015, and resumed his playing career in non-League football with Tadcaster Albion the following year.

Early life Cresswell was born in Bridlington, Humberside, to George and Denise. He was raised in the town and attended Moorfield Junior School.

Club career York City

Cresswell started playing for Bridlington Rangers at the age of eight before joining the York City youth system aged 14 in 1991. Having been top scorer for the Northern Intermediate League team for three consecutive seasons, he signed a professional contract on 15 November 1995.

Cresswell admitted he had not made the impact he had hoped to in the York first team, but ahead of 1998–99 said "I've had some stick from a small number of fans, but hopefully I can prove them wrong. I will prove them wrong. This a big season for me. I want to do it for York City. I want to do it for myself." Manager Alan Little claimed some clubs were making illegal approaches for the player, and that this was having a detrimental effect on his performances. Preston North End manager David Moyes claimed his club had a bid of more than £500,000 for Cresswell rejected, while York chairman Douglas Craig rejected this, saying a formal offer had not been received from any club. He was York's top scorer in 1998–99 with 19 goals from 42 appearances. On his transfer, Cresswell said: "This move is no disrespect to York, it's just that I have always wanted to play at a much bigger club and as high as possible". His debut came in Wednesday's 2–1 home defeat to Coventry City on 3 April 1999, before scoring his first goal with an 87th-minute winner at home to Liverpool in a 1–0 win on 8 May.

Leicester City Cresswell struggled to establish himself at Wednesday under manager Paul Jewell early in 2000–01, before he resumed playing in the Premier League after signing for Leicester City on 1 September 2000 for a fee of £750,000.

Preston North End Cresswell joined First Division club Preston North End on loan for the remainder of 2000–01 on 10 March 2001 and scored five minutes into his debut, a 2–0 win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) on 14 March.

Cresswell was Preston's top scorer in his first two permanent seasons with Preston, scoring 15 goals in 44 appearances in 2001–02 and scoring 16 in 46 appearances in 2002–03. He was also named Preston's Player of the Year for 2001–02. He received the first red card of his career in Preston's 4–1 defeat away to Coventry on 17 March 2004 after he was judged to have kicked out at opponent player Calum Davenport, although both managers later admitted David Healy was the culprit. He scored three goals in 47 appearances in 2003–04. He enjoyed his best goal return in 2004–05, top scoring for Preston with 21 goals in 52 appearances.

Leeds United

Cresswell was bought by Preston's Championship rivals Leeds United on a four-year contract on 24 August 2005 for a fee of £1.15 million, after rivals Sheffield United had a £1 million bid accepted. After the signing was completed, manager Kevin Blackwell said "To get a player of Cresswell's quality is amazing", while Cresswell cited his desire to win promotion with Leeds. This injury kept Cresswell out of action for seven weeks, making his return in Leeds' 1–0 defeat away to Wolves on 17 December 2005, and scoring in his second match back against Coventry City in a 3–1 home win on 26 December. However, he was sent off in the 2–0 win in the second leg, meaning he was suspended for the 2006 Championship play-off final, which Leeds lost 3–0 to Watford at the Millennium Stadium. He finished 2005–06 with 21 appearances and seven goals for Leeds. making his first appearance in Leeds' 4–0 home defeat to Stoke City on 14 October 2006. after scoring his first goal of the season in Leeds' 3–0 home win over Colchester United on 11 November. He made his debut in a 1–0 win at Cardiff City on 11 August 2007, before scoring in his second appearance with an equaliser during stoppage time of extra time in a 2–2 draw away to Rochdale in the League Cup first round on 14 August, although Stoke lost 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out. Cresswell made 46 appearances for Stoke in 2007–08, scoring 12 goals, He was regularly used on the left wing by Stoke manager Tony Pulis, even though his natural position is as a striker. He was quoted as saying he enjoyed playing as a winger, saying "I do my best, and I am quite a fit lad so I get through quite a bit of mileage". featuring in 34 matches and scoring one goal. finishing 2009–10 as top scorer with 14 goals. He was rewarded with a new three-year contract with the club in June 2010. He scored five goals in 36 appearances in 2010–11 as United were relegated into League One. Towards the end of the transfer window however United agreed a revised deal to change his role to that of player-coach and as such he would be remaining at Bramall Lane for the foreseeable future. On his return to the team, Cresswell came on as a substitute and scored a header in United's 5–3 victory over AFC Bournemouth on 1 September 2012. He marked his second York debut by scoring a 73rd minute penalty kick on 23 March 2013 away to Torquay United in a 2–1 defeat. scoring twice in five appearances, In July 2013, new United manager David Weir stated that Cresswell would be leaving the club, before he signed for York permanently on a one-year contract on 16 July 2013. His first appearance after signing permanently came in the first match of 2013–14, a 1–0 home win over Northampton Town on 3 August 2013. He made eight appearances for York in 2013–14. He continued to play for the under-21s after joining Wednesday, and scored his first goal for them in a 3–0 home win over Sweden in a 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match on 4 June 1999. Cresswell finished his under-21 career with four caps and one goal. In May 2015, Cresswell resumed his role as Head of Football Operations, while continuing to coach the first team. He took over as caretaker manager on 26 October 2015 after Wilcox's dismissal, and was assisted by youth team coach Jonathan Greening and goalkeeping coach Andy Leaning. He was in charge for the 1–0 away defeat to Crawley Town on 31 October 2015, before ceasing his caretaker duties upon the appointment of Jackie McNamara as manager on 4 November. Cresswell left York by mutual consent on 16 December 2015.

He resumed his playing career aged 38 when signing for Northern Counties East League Premier Division club Tadcaster Albion on 7 April 2016. A week later, he made his only appearance for Tadcaster in 2015–16, when starting their 3–1 away win over Knaresborough Town. In May 2017, Cresswell was appointed technical director at i2i Sports, a player management company, and in this role would work with the management team at Tadcaster.

Cresswell joined Leeds United as Head of Academy Coaching in June 2018, working across age groups from primary school age to under-23 level, and overseeing the implementation of training methods which would align each squad together. He resigned his role and left the club on 9 August 2019. He participated in a 170-mile bike ride during 2012 to raise money for a charity which helps children with Dravet's syndrome, after his twin nieces were diagnosed with the disorder.

His two sons are also footballers; Charlie played for his former club Leeds United, Second Division

1996–97 Second Division

1997–98 Second Division

1998–99 Second Division

Mansfield Town (loan) 1996–97 Third Division

1998–99 Premier League

1999–2000 Premier League

2000–01 Premier League

Preston North End (loan) 2000–01 First Division

2002–03 First Division

2003–04 First Division

2004–05 Championship

2005–06 Championship

2006–07 Championship

2007–08 Championship

2008–09 Premier League

2009–10 Championship

2010–11 Championship

2011–12 League One

2012–13 League One

York City (loan) 2012–13 League Two

2015–16 Northern Counties East LeaguePremier Division

2016–17 Northern Premier LeagueDivision One North

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordYork City (caretaker)26 October 20154 November 2015Total

Honours Stoke City Football League Championship runner-up: 2007–08

Individual Preston North End Player of the Year: 2001–02