Andrew Crofts (footballer)

Did You Know?

• Crofts was born in Chatham, Kent, and began playing competitive football at age six for a club in Rainham.
• Between ages 10 and 15 he attended weekly training sessions organised by Chelsea.
• He once shared a flat with Chelsea's future captain John Terry.

Club career

Crofts joined Gillingham as a trainee in September 2000 and was a regular in the youth and reserve teams during the 2000–01 season. Shortly before his 17th birthday, he made his Football League debut as a late substitute against Watford. The following season he broke a leg in a reserve match and missed several months, returning in early 2002 but not appearing for the first team again until October 2002 in a League Cup match against Stockport County.

He secured a regular place toward the end of the 2003–04 season, featuring regularly in March and April 2004. In the 2004–05 season he made 27 league appearances and scored his first senior goal against Brighton & Hove Albion on 26 December. He signed a new contract in January 2005 to keep him at the club until 2009. After being omitted for most of March and April, he was recalled for the final match of the season, a draw with Nottingham Forest that saw Gillingham relegated from the Championship.

In 2005–06 he made the most appearances of any Gillingham player, missing only one league match, and scored the winning goal against Premier League side Portsmouth in the League Cup. The following season he made over 40 appearances and scored eight goals, his best seasonal total, and made his 100th start for the club on 18 December 2006 against AFC Bournemouth, scoring on the occasion. At the end of that season he won four awards at the club's Player of the Year event and was dubbed Mr Gillingham by manager Ronnie Jepson.

He became team captain in 2007–08, but the team was relegated from League One. In October of the following season he was stripped of the captaincy, which was given to Barry Fuller.

International career

Crofts was eligible for Wales through a grandparent born there. He represented Wales at under-19 level, making his debut in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland in 2002, though an ankle injury forced him home after the first match. He made eight under-19 appearances in total, including a second Milk Cup in 2003. He moved up to under-21 level, debuting against Germany in February 2005, and earned 12 caps at that level, scoring one goal.

His senior debut came on 12 October 2005 against Azerbaijan, replacing Carl Fletcher as a substitute. Under manager John Toshack's youth policy, he gained two further caps as a substitute in 2005–06 against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago, and also played an unofficial match against a Basque Country XI. He started his first full international on 26 August 2007 against Bulgaria, playing the entire match. He was back on the bench for the Euro 2008 qualifier against Germany the following month.

He became a regular squad member during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying tournament. In 2008 he won his 12th cap, breaking the record for most international caps received by a Gillingham player.

Coaching career

Crofts spent the 2020–21 season as a player-coach in Brighton's academy and became head coach of the academy on 5 June 2021, ending his playing career. His first professional match as a manager was a 1–0 away loss to Walsall in the EFL Trophy on 14 September 2021, and his first competitive victory came on 2 November 2021, a 2–1 away win at Northampton Town in the same competition. On 8 September 2022 he was appointed interim head coach of Brighton's first team after Graham Potter's departure. After Roberto De Zerbi was appointed head coach, Crofts joined the first-team coaching staff. He was promoted to assistant head coach on 23 August 2024 under Fabian Hürzeler. On 21 July 2026 he joined Tottenham Hotspur as assistant head coach, reuniting with Roberto de Zerbi. In August 2024 he was appointed assistant coach to Wales national team manager Craig Bellamy.