Wikipedia

Jon Cullen

For the ice hockey player, see John Cullen.

David Jonathan Cullen (born 10 January 1973) is an English former professional footballer who made 126 appearances in the Football League in the 1990s and 2000s. A midfielder, he played League football for Doncaster Rovers, Hartlepool United, Sheffield United, Shrewsbury Town, Halifax Town, Peterborough United, Carlisle United and Darlington, and non-League football for a number of clubs in the north of England.

Jon Cullen
Personal information
Full name David Jonathan Cullen
Date of birth (1973-01-10) 10 January 1973 (age 51)[1]
Place of birth Bishop Auckland, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
19??–1991 Doncaster Rovers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Doncaster Rovers 9 (0)
1992–199? → Bishop Auckland (loan)
1993–1996 Spennymoor United
1996–1997 Morpeth Town
1997–1998 Hartlepool United 34 (12)
1998–2000 Sheffield United 4 (0)
1999 → Shrewsbury Town (loan) 10 (1)
1999 → Hartlepool United (loan) 0 (0)
1999–2000 → Halifax Town (loan) 11 (5)
2000–2002 Peterborough United 44 (5)
2001 → Carlisle United (loan) 11 (0)
2002 Darlington 3 (0)
2002–2003 Spennymoor United
2003 Morpeth Town
2003 Halifax Town 7 (0)
2003–2004 Spennymoor United
2004–2005 Washington Nissan
2005–2006 Newcastle Blue Star
2006–2008 Sunderland Nissan
2008 Morpeth Town
2008–2009 Horden Colliery Welfare
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

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Cullen was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in 1973.[1] He came through the youth system at Doncaster Rovers[3] and made his senior debut on 11 May 1991, in the starting eleven for the last Fourth Division match of the 1990–91 season, away to Gillingham. Doncaster lost 2–0. Cullen turned professional in September 1991, and made a handful of first-team appearances in the first half of that season,[4] but dropped out of contention. In 1992–93, he spent time on loan at Northern Premier League Premier Division club Bishop Auckland.[5] After one more substitute appearance in August 1993,[4] Doncaster released him and he joined another Northern Premier League club, Spennymoor United, where he spent three seasons before moving on to Morpeth Town of the Northern League.[4]

In March 1997, Cullen returned to the Football League when Hartlepool United manager Mick Tait signed him from Morpeth for a fee of £1,000 and a significant sell-on clause.[6] Under Tait's management, he emerged as what the Northern Echo called a cultured playmaker,[7] and his developing goalscoring form in the 1997–98 season[8] – 12 goals from 28 Third Division (fourth-tier) matches – earned him a move to First Division club Sheffield United. The club could not risk rejecting the £250,000 fee, of which £75,000 had to go to Morpeth, because he would have been able to leave at the end of the season for free under the Bosman ruling.[6][9] Despite leaving both club and division in January, Cullen remained Hartlepool's top scorer for the season and was named in the Third Division Team of the Year.[10]

Cullen did not reproduce his Hartlepool form at the higher level. He made just four substitute appearances in 18 months, and in the 1999–2000 season spent spells on loan to Shrewsbury Town and Halifax Town, both Third Division clubs, before joining Peterborough United for a £35,000 fee in March 2000.[11] He played regularly for what remained of the season, helped his team reach the play-offs, and played well in the final as Peterborough beat Darlington 1–0 to gain promotion to the Second Division.[12] He continued in the first team until injuries intervened, and after a cartilage operation he finished the season on loan at Carlisle United.[12] Cullen was released at the end of the 2001–02 season, during which he made 17 appearances, and he signed a one-month contract with Third Division Darlington.[13][14] After four matches, his deal was extended, but he was let go two weeks later,[13][15] and he returned to his former club of Spennymoor.[16]

A trial with Malaysian club Selangor in February yielded nothing,[17] and Cullen made a brief return to another former club, Morpeth Town,[18] before trying his luck equally fruitlessly in the United States with the Chicago Fire and the Long Island Rough Riders in March and April. He finished the season back at Morpeth,[19] played seven Conference matches for Halifax Town at the start of the 2003–04 season,[2][20] before another spell with Spennymoor, during which he scored a hat-trick of penalties.[21] He then played Northern League football for Washington Nissan,[22] Newcastle Blue Star,[23] further spells with the renamed Sunderland Nissan and with Morpeth Town,[24] and Horden Colliery Welfare.[25]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Doncaster Rovers 1991–92[4] Fourth Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1992–93[4] Fourth Division 8 0 1 0 2 1 1[a] 0 12 1
1993–94[4] Third Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1994–95[4] Third Division 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 9 0 1 0 3 1 1 0 14 1
Hartlepool United 1996–97[26] Third Division 6 0 — — — 6 0
1997–98[27] Third Division 28 12 1 0 2 0 2[a] 0 33 12
Total 34 12 1 0 2 0 2 0 39 12
Sheffield United 1997–98[27] First Division 2 0 — — — 2 0
1998–99[28] First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
1999–2000[11] First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 4 0
Shrewsbury Town (loan) 1999–2000[11] Third Division 10 1 — — — 10 1
Halifax Town (loan) 1999–2000[11] Third Division 11 5 — — — 11 5
Peterborough United 1999–2000[4] Third Division 13 3 — — 1[b] 0 14 3
2000–01[29] Second Division 18 1 1 0 1 0 2[a] 1 22 2
2001–02[13] Second Division 13 1 2 0 1 0 1[a] 0 17 1
Total 44 5 3 0 2 0 4 1 53 6
Carlisle United (loan) 2000–01[29] Third Division 11 0 — — — 11 0
Darlington 2002–03[30] Third Division 3 0 — 1 0 — 4 0
Halifax Town 2003–04[2] Conference 7 0 — — — 7 0
Total 133 23 5 0 8 1 7 1 153 25
  1. ^ a b c d Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Appearance in Football League play-offs

Honours

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Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b "Jon Cullen". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Games played by Jon Cullen in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Alumni". Doncaster Rovers F.C. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Player search: Cullen, DJ (Jon)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Bay's chance for revenge". The Journal. Newcastle. 3 October 1992. p. 59 – via Newspapers.com. Bishop Auckland have signed midfield player Jon Cullen from Doncaster Rovers on loan, and he makes his debut at home to Winsford United in the HFS premier division today.
  6. ^ a b Ashton, John (12 April 2019). "Terrace Thoughts 26". Hartlepool United Supporters' Trust. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Midgley looks on". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 19 June 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Sunderland fan Cullen hoping to get one over arch-rivals". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 27 January 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  9. ^ Critchley, Lynne (9 February 1998). "Hartlepool held up by double strike from Roberts". The Times. London. p. 31.
  10. ^ "Hartlepool squad details 1997/98". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
    "Football: Bergkamp aims to finish in England". The Independent. London. 7 April 1998. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d "Games played by Jon Cullen in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  12. ^ a b "England: Jon Cullen". ESPNsoccernet. 15 March 2001. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "Games played by Jon Cullen in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Quakers hand midfielders short contracts". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 16 August 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Quakers look to get back on track". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 17 September 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
    "Taylor's top-ten failure". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 3 October 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Unibond League: Bishops on road to safety". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 21 October 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  17. ^ Naimi, Azrul (14 February 2003). "Cullen is the man for Giants". The Star. Malaysia. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  18. ^ "The Albany Northern League Today: Terriers return to top spot after rivals slip up". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 24 February 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Chicago Fire Weekly Release. Fire preseason training update" (Press release). Chicago Fire. 24 March 2003. Archived from the original on 8 June 2003.
    "Town hit Consett for six". Morpeth Herald. 16 April 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via Gale OneFile.
  20. ^ "Halifax sign duo". BBC Sport. 8 July 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Unibond League". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
    "The Unibond League: Quarter 'given' to Bishop". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 9 January 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  22. ^ "West pile on misery for poor Tow Law in five-goal thumping". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 4 October 2004. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Blue Star march on to maintain record". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 5 September 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Albany Northern League". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 12 August 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
    "Soccer In Brief: Cullen back". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle. 5 February 2008. p. 47. Retrieved 25 May 2020 – via Gale OneFile.
  25. ^ "Non-league preview". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 27 December 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  26. ^ "Games played by Jon Cullen in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  27. ^ a b "Games played by Jon Cullen in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  28. ^ "Games played by Jon Cullen in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  29. ^ a b "Games played by Jon Cullen in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  30. ^ "Games played by Jon Cullen in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  31. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1998). The 1998–99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-85291-588-9.
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