# Ian Cranson

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ian_Cranson
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ian_Cranson.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Cranson
> Source revision: 1350468814
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

English footballer

Ian Cranson Personal information Full name Ian Cranson[1] Date of birth (1964-07-02) 2 July 1964 (age 62)[1] Place of birth Easington, England [1] Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] Position Defender Youth career Ipswich Town Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1982–1988 Ipswich Town 131 (5) 1988–1989 Sheffield Wednesday 30 (0) 1989–1996 Stoke City 223 (9) Total 384 (14) International career 1984–1986 England U21 5 (1) * Club domestic league appearances and goals

**Ian Cranson** (born 2 July 1964) is an English former professional [footballer](/source/Association_football) for played for [Ipswich Town](/source/Ipswich_Town_F.C.), [Sheffield Wednesday](/source/Sheffield_Wednesday_F.C.) and [Stoke City](/source/Stoke_City_F.C.).[1]

## Playing career

Born in [Easington, County Durham](/source/Easington%2C_County_Durham), Cranson began his career with [Ipswich Town](/source/Ipswich_Town_F.C.) and made his professional debut away at [Aston Villa](/source/Aston_Villa_F.C.) in [1983–84](/source/1983%E2%80%9384_in_English_football). He soon became a regular at [Portman Road](/source/Portman_Road) under the management of [Bobby Ferguson](/source/Bobby_Ferguson_(footballer_born_1938)) and was ever present in [1985–86](/source/1985%E2%80%9386_in_English_football) as Ipswich suffered relegation from the [First Division](/source/Football_League_First_Division). He played 39 games in [1986–87](/source/1986%E2%80%9387_in_English_football) and 35 in [1987–88](/source/1987%E2%80%9388_in_English_football) before he joined [Sheffield Wednesday](/source/Sheffield_Wednesday_F.C.) in March 1988. Cranson was a regular in Wednesday's side until manager [Howard Wilkinson](/source/Howard_Wilkinson) was replaced by [Ron Atkinson](/source/Ron_Atkinson) and he lost his place in the side. In the summer of 1989 he joined former Ipswich Town teammate [Mick Mills](/source/Mick_Mills) at [Stoke City](/source/Stoke_City_F.C.) for a club record fee of £480,000. He was one of a number of expensive signings that summer as Stoke looked to mount a push for promotion.[1] However the new signings never gelled and Stoke ended up being relegated and Mills being replaced by [Alan Ball](/source/Alan_Ball%2C_Jr.).[1] Cranson made 19 appearances in [1989–90](/source/1989%E2%80%9390_Stoke_City_F.C._season) missing most of the campaign due to a knee injury. He had surgery to rebuild his knee in the summer of 1990 only for the problem to flare up again in [1990–91](/source/1990%E2%80%9391_Stoke_City_F.C._season) and he managed only 13 appearances.[1]

Cranson finally recovered from his injury in 1991 and new manager [Lou Macari](/source/Lou_Macari) decided to use him as a sweeper and he became a consistent performer for the Potters.[1] He played in 57 matches in [1991–92](/source/1991%E2%80%9392_Stoke_City_F.C._season) helping Stoke to reach the play-offs where they lost to [Stockport County](/source/Stockport_County_F.C.) although they did beat County in the [1992 Football League Trophy Final](/source/1992_Football_League_Trophy_Final).[1] He played 55 times in [1992–93](/source/1992%E2%80%9393_Stoke_City_F.C._season) missing just one match as City claimed the Second Division title. He missed just two in [1993–94](/source/1993%E2%80%9394_Stoke_City_F.C._season) and his performances were rewarded with the [player of the year award](/source/Stoke_City_F.C._Player_of_the_Year).[1] He made 47 appearances in [1994–95](/source/1994%E2%80%9395_Stoke_City_F.C._season) and played 27 times in [1995–96](/source/1995%E2%80%9396_Stoke_City_F.C._season) helping Stoke reach the play-offs. However Cranson injured his knee again and missed the play-offs as Stoke lost to [Leicester City](/source/Leicester_City_F.C.). He was made captain for the [1996–97](/source/1996%E2%80%9397_Stoke_City_F.C._season) but injured his knee for a fourth time against [Barnsley](/source/Barnsley_F.C.) in September and retired on the advice of doctors. He was granted a [testimonial](/source/Testimonial_match) at the [Victoria Ground](/source/Victoria_Ground) against [Everton](/source/Everton_F.C.).[1]

## After retirement

After retiring in 1996 Cranson took a year out of the sport before returning to Stoke to work as a coach at the [Stoke City Academy](/source/Stoke_City_F.C._Reserves_and_Academy) before becoming reserve team manager a position he held until he left in 2003. As of November 2010 Cranson is a self-employed coach working for the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy, for Stafford Borough Council and for the City of Stoke Sixth-Form College at Fenton.[2]

Cranson is currently the head coach of the men's senior football team at [Staffordshire University](/source/Staffordshire_University).

## Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[3] Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Ipswich Town 1983–84 First Division 8 0 0 0 0 0 — 8 0 1984–85 First Division 20 1 5 0 6 0 — 31 1 1985–86 First Division 42 1 5 0 5 0 0 0 52 1 1986–87 Second Division 32 2 1 0 1 0 5[a] 0 39 2 1987–88 Second Division 29 1 1 0 3 0 2[a] 0 35 1 Total 131 5 12 0 15 0 7 0 165 5 Sheffield Wednesday 1987–88 First Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1988–89 First Division 26 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 31 0 Total 30 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 35 0 Stoke City 1989–90 Second Division 17 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 19 2 1990–91 Third Division 9 0 3 0 0 0 1[b] 0 13 0 1991–92 Third Division 41 2 2 0 4 1 10[c] 0 57 3 1992–93 Second Division 45 3 2 0 4 0 4[b] 0 55 3 1993–94 First Division 44 0 4 1 3 0 6[d] 1 57 2 1994–95 First Division 37 1 2 0 3 0 5[d] 0 47 1 1995–96 First Division 24 1 1 0 1 0 1[d] 0 27 1 1996–97 First Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 0 Total 223 9 14 1 17 1 27 1 281 12 Career total 384 14 28 1 34 1 35 1 481 17

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FMC_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FMC_4-1) Appearances in [Full Members' Cup](/source/Full_Members'_Cup)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FLT_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FLT_5-1) Appearances in [Football League Trophy](/source/EFL_Trophy)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Eight appearances in [Football League Trophy](/source/EFL_Trophy) and two in [Third Division play-offs](/source/EFL_League_One_play-offs)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AIC_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AIC_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-AIC_7-2) Appearances in [Anglo-Italian Cup](/source/Anglo-Italian_Cup)

## Honours

### Club

**Stoke City**

- [Football League Trophy](/source/Football_League_Trophy): [1991–92](/source/1992_Football_League_Trophy_Final)

- [Football League Second Division](/source/Football_League_Second_Division): [1992–93](/source/1992%E2%80%9393_Football_League#Second_Division)

### Individual

- [Stoke City Player of the Year](/source/Stoke_City_F.C._Player_of_the_Year): [1993–94](/source/1993%E2%80%9394_Stoke_City_F.C._season)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-10) [***l***](#cite_ref-101_greats_1-11) *Stoke City 101 Golden Greats*. Desert Islands Books. 2002. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-874287554](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-874287554).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Legend Ian Cranson puts Stoke on Baggies alert"](http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Stoke-City-Legend-Cranson-puts-Stoke-Baggies-alert/story-12548138-detail/story.html). *The Sentinel*. Retrieved 22 October 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Ian Cranson](https://www.enfa.co.uk) at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

## External links

- [Ian Cranson](https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=1738) at Soccerbase

v t e Stoke City F.C. – Player of the Year 1978: Kendall 1979: Doyle 1980: Dodd 1981: Fox 1982: Fox 1983: M. Thomas 1984: Bould 1985: McIlroy 1986: Bertschin 1987: Dixon 1988: Parkin 1989: Kamara 1990: Fox 1991: M. Thomas 1992: Biggins 1993: Stein 1994: Cranson 1995: Sigurðsson 1996: Wallace & Prudhoe 1997: Griffin 1998: Whittle 1999: Keen 2000: O'Connor 2001: Gunnarsson 2002: W. Thomas 2003: Shtanuk 2004: Akinbiyi 2005: Hill 2006: Hoefkens 2007: Higginbotham 2008: Lawrence 2009: Faye 2010: Etherington 2011: Huth 2012: Crouch 2013: Begović 2014: Shawcross 2015: Nzonzi 2016: Butland 2017: Grant 2018: Allen 2019: Butland 2020: McClean 2021: Powell 2022: Brown 2023: Wilmot 2024: Bae Jun-ho 2025: Johansson 2026: S. Thomas

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ian Cranson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Cranson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Cranson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.