Anthony Steven Crane was born on 8 September 1982 and is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, midfielder and makeshift centre forward from 1999 to 2009.
19 Facts About Tony Crane
1.
2.
Tony Crane notably played as a professional for Sheffield Wednesday and Grimsby Town where he spent numerous seasons playing in the second and third tier of English football.
3.
Tony Crane left Grimsby in 2006 and dropped into playing Non-league football with Worksop Town and later Boston United before quitting football in 2008 for personal reasons one of which being his weight.
4.
Tony Crane briefly returned to play for Hallam in 2009, but left after a couple of months.
5.
Tony Crane started his career with Sheffield Wednesday in 1999, and was promoted from the club's youth academy into the squad that summer.
6.
Tony Crane would be used in three positions for the Wednesday.
7.
Tony Crane featured alongside Mike Edwards, Simon Ford or Player-Manager Paul Groves in the heart of the Grimsby defence during his first season with The Mariners.
8.
Tony Crane eventually returned very late on in the season, making 3 appearances in total.
9.
Tony Crane returned from injury but found his chances of first team football to be non-existent, despite the sale of Simon Ramsden too Rochdale, Tony Crane was constantly overlooked in the first team with manager Russell Slade preferring to name reserve Glen Downey as the defensive option on the bench.
10.
Tony Crane was made available for loan in October with Russell Slade slamming him for his poor fitness and his lack of enthusiasm to shed weight and in November 2005 fellow League Two side Wrexham made an approach to sign him, but this bid was rejected on the basis that Tony Crane didn't fancy a move to Wales.
11.
Also interested were Conference North outfit Worksop Town, and shortly afterwards Tony Crane joined the Nottinghamshire club on an initial three-month loan.
12.
Tony Crane would be one of the players who would see his Worksop career end in this fashion.
13.
Tony Crane slotted in at centre back for the club, and his never say die attitude, that made him popular at Grimsby, saw him become increasingly popular with United fans.
14.
Taylor stated that Tony Crane would find it a huge possibility to return to the professional game.
15.
Taylor, commented that his weight was the reason that Tony Crane received at least a yellow card in nearly every game he played in, mentioning that he was slow on challenging and his big frame would often be used against him when in a tussle with an opponent.
16.
Tony Crane continued to play week in week out for The Pilgrims, but continued to struggle to budge any weight, and carried on to put on more bulk as the season ran along.
17.
Tony Crane was present in the club's league game at Frickley Athletic and commented a return to United could be on the cards.
18.
On 23 October 2009, exactly 17 months after leaving Boston, Tony Crane returned to the sport, signing with non league side Hallam FC, who play in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division.
19.
Tony Crane now plays for Sheffield imperial league side, FDL Totley.