| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1950-12-08)8 December 1950 (age 74) | ||
| Place of birth | Heywood, England | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rochdale | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1969–1971 | Rochdale | 59 | (21) |
| 1971–1973 | Norwich City | 84 | (21) |
| 1973–1976 | Coventry City | 91 | (29) |
| 1976–1977 | West Bromwich Albion | 38 | (18) |
| 1977–1982 | West Ham United | 179 | (78) |
| 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 | Aris Limassol | ||
| Blackpool | |||
| Total | 599 | (224) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
David Cross (born 8 December 1950) is an English formerfootballer who played as astriker. He scored 223 goals in 599 appearances inthe Football League and theNorth American Soccer League.[1] Cross was born inHeywood, Lancashire.[2]
Cross played forThird Division clubRochdale, where he scored against top-flightCoventry City in a third-roundFA Cup game in 1971.[3] He moved toNorwich City, with whom he won the Second Division championship in 1972.[4] He joinedCoventry City for £150,000, then a club record.[5] In1975–76, Cross scoredhat-tricks on the opening and closing days the season,[6] the only Coventry City player to do so in a league campaign.[citation needed] He joinedWest Bromwich Albion for £150,000 in November 1976,[7] and made his Albion debut againstManchester City.[8]
West Ham United also broke their club record for Cross when they paid for £180,000 for his services on 9 December 1977.[9][10] 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 preventrelegation to theSecond Division. His first full season brought 18 goals, with 12 the following season.[11]
Cross was asked to play as the lone striker during the1980 FA Cup Final win againstArsenal.[3][11] He scored 22 goals with the side that won the Second Division in1980–81, winning the division's Golden Boot and ensuring the club's promotion back to theFirst Division.[11][12]
On 1 October 1980, Cross scored West Ham United's first, and to date only, hat-trick in European competition in a 5–1 win againstCastilla.[13]
Following promotion, Cross again became the club's top scorer for the1981–82 season, with 16 goals. He scored four goals in a game on two occasions, againstGrimsby Town on 11 April 1981, and againstTottenham Hotspur on 2 September 1981.[11] Cross was the last player to score four goals in a single league match for West Ham for almost 40 years untilMichail Antonio also achieved this in a match against Norwich City on 11 July 2020.[14][15]
Cross played his last game for the east London club on 15 May 1982, scoring againstWolverhampton Wanderers atMolineux. He went on to play for Manchester City andOldham Athletic, and spent the summers of 1983 and 1984 withVancouver Whitecaps (where he totalled 46 appearances and 29 goals),[1][16] before rejoining West Brom for the1984–85 season. He signed forBolton Wanderers in1985–86, but a fractured skull helped to end his professional career in England and he ended the season with a loan spell atBury.[11] He then had a brief spell withAris Limassol of Cyprus,[17] and finished his career atBlackpool.[7][18]
After retirement, Cross spent nine years in the insurance industry,[11] andscouted forWatford.[19] He joined the coaching staff at Oldham Athletic in 1997.[11] He coached the reserves and youth-team before moving up to assistant manager toIain Dowie in 2002. In February 2003, he was released from his contract with the club in serious financial difficulties.[20] He later became ascout for West Ham.[21] Cross also worked on opposition analysis forBlackburn Rovers, leaving the post in 2016.[16]
Norwich City
West Ham United
Cross has three children who have achieved some success in sport. Robert playedSecond XI cricket forLancashire for many years,[23] and acted astwelfth man for Lancashire First XI on several occasions. He is captain of Heywood Cricket Club of the Central Lancashire League and is the club's highest ever run scorer having amassed over 14000 runs to date, including 18 centuries. Jennifer playedNetball Superleague for Northern Thunder[24] and Leeds Met Carnegie, and has appeared in the Lancashire Women's Cricket set-up.[25]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 Boys Academy, and progressed to the England Women's Academy and Development Squad.[26] 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.[27]