Craig Wighton

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Craig Wighton
Personal information
Full name Craig Wighton
Date of birth (1997-07-27) 27 July 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Dundee
Number 33
Youth career
2012–2013 Dundee
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013– Dundee 49 (5)
2014–2015 → Brechin City (loan) 4 (2)
2015–2016 → Raith Rovers (loan) 21 (1)
International career‡
2012 Scotland U15 1 (0)
2013 Scotland U16 3 (0)
2013–

[[Scotland national

under-17 football team|Scotland U17]]		 13 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 May 2016
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 May 2014

Craig Wighton (born 27 July 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.

Club career

Dundee

While attending Harris Academy, Wighton was snapped by Dundee under the management of Barry Smith, the team he supported as a boy.[1] He came through the same training clinic, run by Ian Cathro, as fellow Scottish prospects Ryan Gauld and John Souttar. Wighton revealed he turned down a move to local rivals Dundee United, as his family are Dundee supporters.[2] While growing up, Wighton initially played out wide before joining Dundee, who then moved him into the striker position.[3]

In the 2012–13 season, Manager John Brown said that if Wighton continued his form at youth level he could soon make the first team, which could mean becoming the club's youngest-ever first-team player, surpassing Andy Penman who held the record.[1] However, his first team debut for the club was delayed due to SPL rules.[4] Despite interest from elsewhere,[5] Wighton signed his first professional contract on his 16th birthday.[6] After signing a professional contract, he left school to concentrate on his football career.[7]

In the 2013–14 season, Wighton made his debut for the club, coming on as a substitute for Craig Beattie in the 81st minute, as Dundee beat Cowdenbeath 2–0 on 5 October 2013.[8] In his second appearance, Wighton set up two goals as Dundee beat Dumbarton 4–1 on 12 October 2013.[9] He then made his first start for the club, as Dundee beat Queen of the South 2–1 on 19 October 2013.[10]

He became the youngest-ever scorer in a competitive game for Dundee at the age of 16 years, three months and 13 days on 9 November 2013, beating the record held by Jocky Scott, scoring a goal in a 2–0 win against Raith Rovers.[11] His second goal came on 14 April 2014, when he scored after six minutes, as Dundee beat Cowdenbeath 4–0.[12] Throughout his debut season he regularly contributed in the Dundee first team, making a total of 14 appearances and scoring two goals for the club, in all competitions[13] as Dundee won the Scottish Championship. Throughout the season Wighton was linked with a move to Premier League clubs and Rangers.[14][15]

At the end of the 2013–14 season, the club's manager Paul Hartley said he may consider loaning out Wighton to gain first team experience with the hope he could "do a Stevie May," the striker who Hartley had on loan at Alloa Athletic from St Johnstone in 2011–12 and had gone on to be a first team regular in the Scottish Premiership, earning a move to Sheffield Wednesday.[16]

On 16 August 2014, Wighton scored his first Premiership goal as Dundee drew 1–1 with Partick Thistle,[17] although afterwards, Hartley said he didn't want to talk too much about Wighton, but did announce he had signed a new three-year contract.[18] As a result of his performance, the club decided not to send Wighton on loan.[19]

On 18 December 2014, Wighton moved on a short-term loan to Brechin City.[20] After making his debut as a substitute he went on to score two in three starting appearances.

On 23 June 2015, after much speculation it was finally confirmed that Wighton had joined Raith Rovers on a six-month loan deal.[21] On 3 January 2016, it was confirmed that following Wighton's loan spell at Raith Rovers he had returned to Dundee.[22] On the 2nd May 2016 Craig Wighton scored a 93rd minute Winner Over Rivals Dundee United at Dens Park in a 2-1 Dundee Derby Win, Which not only sealed Victory for Dundee but Relegated Dundee United in the 2015/2016 Season once again placing his name into the History Books.

Style of Play

His then team-mate at Dundee, Gavin Rae said Wighton's playing style reminds him of Aaron Ramsey, who Rae played alongside in his time at Cardiff City.[23] Then assistant Manager Ray Farningham described Wighton as "one of the top young prospects in the Scottish game."[24]

International career

Wighton represented the Scotland Under-15 side once and also played for the Under-16's.[25]

He was chosen to be part of the Scotland Under-17 squad for the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[26] On 34 September 2013, Wighton scored a hat-trick (the first in his professional career), as Scotland beat Slovenia Under-17 3–1.[27] Scotland made it through to the semi-final, however they were eliminated from the competition as they lost 5–0 to the Netherlands.[28]

Career statistics

As of 20 March 2016
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dundee 2013–14 13 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 14 2
2014–15 14 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 1
2015–16 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Total 32 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 36 3
Brechin City (loan) 2014–15 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
Raith Rovers (loan) 2015–16 16 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 21 1
Career total 52 5 3 0 4 0 2 0 59 5

Honours

Dundee

Winner

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Craig_Wighton&oldid=720225344"