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| Full name | Jason Roy Critchley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1970-12-07)7 December 1970 (age 54) St Helens, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Wing, Centre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jason Critchley (born 7 December 1970) is an English former professionalrugby league andrugby union footballer who played the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. At club level for theCastleford Tigers,Keighley Cougars,Salford City Reds,Wakefield Trinity Wildcats,Whitehaven and theWidnes Vikings as awing orcentre,[1] and top level club level rugby union forNewport RFC,Leicester Tigers,Manchester (loan),US Dax andDe La Salle Palmerston.
He played representative rugby league for Great Britain at every age level from under 16's, 19's and 21's. He was also selected forEngland,Wales andGreat Britain on the tour to Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand in 1996.
Critchley was born inSt Helens,Lancashire, England.[4]
Critchley signed forWidnes Vikings from junior clubBlackbrook in August 1989.[5] In 1992, he was sold toSalford as part of an exchange deal forAdrian Hadley.[6] Critchley was Salford's top try scorer in the1993–94 season with 25 tries.
Critchley joinedKeighley Cougars in 1995. In August 1996, he scored six tries for Keighley Cougars in a match against Widnes Vikings, breaking a club record which had stood for 90 years for most tries in a single match.[7]
In May 1997, Critchley was signed byCastleford Tigers in exchange forAdrian Flynn and an undisclosed transfer fee.[8] Castleford were bottom of theSuper League, and hadn't won a single game when Critchley first arrived at the club, but he helped the club improve results during the rest of the season, and finished as the club's toptry scorer.
In 1998, Critchley switched codes and joinedrugby union sideNewport. He returned to league during the rugby union off-season to play forWakefield Trinity in 2000.[9]
Critchley was selected for the1996 Great Britain Lions tour, but did not play in any Test matches.
Following the relaxation of eligibility rules, Critchley qualified to play forWales. He was selected in the 40-man training squad for the1995 Rugby League World Cup, but did not make the final squad.[10] He made his debut a year later, and went on to win eightcaps for Wales between 1996 and 2001.[1] He was selected by Wales for the2000 Rugby League World Cup,[11] making five appearances during the tournament, and scoring a try in Wales' 22–8 win in the quarter final againstPapua New Guinea.[12]