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CRAIG NOONE
Born: 17 November 1987
Came from: Southport Went to: Brighton & Hove Albion
First game: 30 August 2008 Last game: 28 December 2010
Appearances: 62 (26/36) Goals: 6
Noone, was born in Kirkby and began in the apprentice ranks at Wrexham, but was rejected as too light. Accepted by Skelmersdale United, he rose up from the youth side to the first team in his two years with the club, and then moved on to Burscough for a season before joining Southport. By this time he was a roofer by trade but attracting interest from several League clubs, and after only one game for Southport, agreed to join Argyle in August 2008 for a reported fee of £110,000.
He was mainly used as a substitute in his first two years at Home Park as a professional, slowly building a reputation as a potential game-changer when coming off the bench. After a successful six weeks on loan at Exeter City in 2009, he gradually established himself in Argyle's first team, showing glimpses of excellence as an exciting flair player. However, with the spectre of administration looming over the club, Noone was allowed to join Brighton & Hove Albion for an undoubtedly artificially low ‘undisclosed fee’ on the first day of 2011.
As at Home Park, he became a fans’ favourite at Brighton, alongside another former Pilgrim, Ashley Barnes, and helped the club rise from League One to the Championship, and from the confines of the Withdean Stadium to its impressive new Amex Stadium home. Having had a £500,000 bid from Cardiff City rejected, Noone signed a contract extension in March 2012 to keep him at the Amex until June 2015. However, the Welsh side returned and doubled their offer and Noone eventually moved to Cardiff in August 2012 on a four-year contract for a fee believed to be in the region of £1 million. In total he had played 64 times, scoring 5 goals for Brighton.
Following his move to the Welsh capital, he spent the next 5 seasons with Cardiff winning the Football League Championship, and promotion to the top-flight in 2012–13. Noone played and scored for Cardiff during their season in the Premier League.
In all he played 170 times and scored 19 goals across all competitions with the Bluebirds, before moving to play for Bolton Wanderers for two seasons (65 appearances, two goals) and then moving Down Under for the twilight of his career.
He played for two seasons with Melbourne City in Australia's A-League (55 games, 15 goals) before moving to newly-formed Sydney-based A-League side McArthur (46 games, 5 goals), and won titles with both clubs.
In October 2023, he announced his retirement from football after a career that spanned 12 seasons, over 450 games and over 50 goals - not bad for a roofer from Kirkby!
Staying down under, shortly after his retirement he was unveiled as the coach of McArthur's youth team, the Bulls FC Academy men’s team, having already completed his UEFA 'A' licence.
Noone always maintained a soft spot for the club that gave him his professional debut, and whilst at Brighton, turned up to join the Green Army at an away game against Barnet at Underhill in 2012.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
If you can add to this profile, perhaps with special memories, a favourite story or the results of your original research, please contribute here.
From Mike Curno in Plymouth on 19/03/2014 ...
Craig Noone joined Argyle from Southport, and before he joined Argyle there were five others who had come from Southport and played for Argyle. One was a goalkeeper and the other four were outfield players, and all four became Argyle captains:
From Merv Collins in Melbourne, Australia on 07/07/2020 ...
Craig Noone left Cardiff City at the end of the 2017 season and played for Bolton Wanderers in 2018 and 2019. In June 2019, he signed a two-year contract with Melbourne City in Australia. He had an immediate impact with his pace down the wing and his ability to cut inside and unleash a fine finish. He played regularly through the coronavirus interrupted season and contributed significantly to his team which is well-placed for a tilt at their first-ever championship trophy when the season is completed in August 2020.
APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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