David Cross (footballer)

For other people named David Cross, see David Cross (disambiguation).

David Cross

Personal information
Date of birth	8 December 1950 (1950-12-08) (age 60)
Place of birth	Heywood, England
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
–	Rochdale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1969–1971	Rochdale	59	(20)
1971–1973	Norwich City	84	(21)
1973–1976	Coventry City	91	(30)
1976–1977	West Bromwich Albion	38	(18)
1977–1982	West Ham United	179	(77)
1982–1983	Manchester City	31	(12)
1983	Vancouver Whitecaps	26	(19)
1983–1984	Oldham Athletic	22	(6)
1984	Vancouver Whitecaps	20	(10)
1984–1985	West Bromwich Albion	16	(2)
1985–1986	Bolton Wanderers	20	(8)
1985–1986	→ Bury (loan)	13	(0)
1986–1987	AEL Limassol
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

David Cross (born 8 December 1950) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He scored 223 goals in 599 appearances in the Football League and the North American Soccer League.^[1] Cross was born in Heywood, Lancashire.^[2]

Football career

Cross played for Rochdale, Norwich City (with whom he won the second division championship in 1972), and Coventry City. He is remembered as being the only Coventry City player to ever score hatricks on the opening and closing days of a campaign. He joined West Bromwich Albion for £150,000 in November 1976. He made his Albion debut against Manchester City. Cross then moved on to West Ham United for £180,000 on 9 December 1977. He made his debut a week later, against West Brom.

Cross scored 9 goals in 21 league games during his initial season at the club, but this wasn't enough to prevent relegation to Division Two. His first full season brought 18 goals, with 12 the following season.

Cross played as the lone striker during the 1980 FA Cup Final win against Arsenal. He scored 22 goals with the side that won Division Two in 1980–81, ensuring the club's promotion back to Division One. Cross was awarded the 1980–81 golden boot after scoring 34 goals.

Following promotion, Cross again became the club's top scorer for the 1981–82 season, with 16 goals. He scored four goals in a game on two occasions, against Grimsby Town on 11 April 1981, and against Tottenham Hotspur on 2 September 1981.

Cross played his last game for the east London club on 15 May 1982, scoring against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. He went on to play for Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and spent the summers of 1983 and 1984 with Vancouver Whitecaps (46 appearances 29 goals) before rejoining West Brom for the 1984–85 season. He signed for Bolton Wanderers in 1985–86, and ended his playing career in England on loan to Bury at the end of the campaign. He then had a brief spell with AEL Limassol of Cyprus before retiring.

After retirement, and a period selling pensions, Cross joined the coaching staff at Oldham, moving up to assistant manager in 2002. He later became a scout for West Ham.

Honours

Norwich City

• Second Division champions: 1972

West Ham United

• FA Cup winner: 1980
• Second Division champions: 1981

Personal life

Cross has three children, a boy, Robert and two girls, Jennifer and Kathryn, who have all achieved success in sport. Robert played Second XI cricket for Derbyshire and Lancashire for many years,^[3] and acted as twelfth man for Lancashire First XI on several occasions. Jennifer played Netball Superleague for Northern Thunder^[4] and Leeds Met Carnegie, and has appeared in the Lancashire Women's Cricket set-up.^[5] Kathryn, the youngest, played cricket for Lancashire Women's First XI at the age of 13; at 15 she was the first girl to be named in the Lancashire County Academy, and progressed to the England Women's Academy and Development Squad.^[6] Having impressed for England women’s academy in 2010, Kathryn was called up to England women’s tour of Australia in January 2011 following injuries to Claire Taylor and Beth Morgan.^[7]

References

General

• Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 56. ISBN 1 903135 50 8. 
• Davage, Mark; Eastwood, John & Platt, Kevin (2001). Canary Citizens. Jarrold Publishing. ISBN 0-7117-2020-7. 

Specific

1. ^ "David Cross". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player1/davidcross.htm. Retrieved 17 September 2009. 
2. ^ "David Cross". West Ham United Statistics. http://www.westhamstats.info/westham.php?west=2&ham=161&united=David_Cross. Retrieved 17 September 2009. 
3. ^ "Teams played for by Robert Cross". Cricket Archive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/44/44892/all_teams.html. Retrieved 17 September 2009. 
4. ^ "Netball SuperLeague 2006–2007". Netball Online. http://www.netballonline.com/Comps/UKNetballSuperleague/200607/tabid/106/Default.aspx. Retrieved 17 September 2009. 
5. ^ "Lancs women go global". England and Wales Cricket Board. 30 October 2007. http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/womens/domestic-womens-cricket/u19-women-get-global-opportunity,15451,EN.html. Retrieved 17 September 2009. 
6. ^ Thompson, Jenny (September 2007). "Katie Cross". Cricinfo. http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/297085.html. Retrieved 17 September 2009. 
7. ^ "Kate Cross". ECB. http://www.ecb.co.uk/stats/player-profiles/kate-cross,776,PP.html?statsType=2. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 

External links

• David Cross at westhamstats.info

Persondata
Name	Cross, David
Alternative names
Short description	Professional footballer
Date of birth	8 December 1950
Place of birth	Heywood, Lancashire, England
Date of death
Place of death