Richard Cresswell

Richard Paul Wesley Cresswell (born 20 September 1977) is an English football coach and former professional player 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 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.

This proved to be his only goal in the 1995–96 season, in which he made 17 appearances.

Cresswell started his career with York City in their youth system, making his first-team debut in a Second Division match in 1996.

Cresswell made his first-team debut away to Brentford in a 2–0 defeat in the Second Division on 20 January 1996.

He first scored for York with the second goal of a 2–2 draw away to Bradford City on 2 March 1996.

Having failed to score in 22 appearances for York in 1996–97, Cresswell joined Third Division club Mansfield Town on loan on 27 March 1997, making his debut in a 0–0 draw away to Exeter City on 29 March.

He scored his first and only goal for Mansfield in a 1–0 win away to Rochdale on 5 April 1997, before finishing the loan with five appearances.

He scored four goals in 30 appearances for York in 1997–98, and during this season he was barracked by a small section of the York support.

Having scored 19 goals for York in the 1998–99 season, he signed for Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday in 1999.

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."

After a positive start to the season, Cresswell attracted attention from other clubs, with a number of scouts attending matches to watch him play.

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.

He finished 1998–99 with one goal in seven appearances for Wednesday.

He moved to Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday on a four-year contract on 25 March 1999, with the £950,000 fee being the highest received for a York player.

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".

Manager Danny Wilson described Cresswell as "one for the future" after admitting the player "is not the striker people may perceive as the big one we were chasing".

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.

Cresswell completed 1999–2000 with two goals in 25 appearances, having been given few opportunities in the team, as Wednesday were relegated into the First Division.

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.

Leicester were managed by Peter Taylor, who previously worked with Cresswell previously in the England national under-21 team.

He made his debut in their 1–1 draw at home to Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Cup on 14 September 2000.

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.

Cresswell was born in Bridlington, Humberside, to George and Denise.

He was raised in the town and attended Moorfield Junior School.