Jon Cullen

Cullen was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in 1973. He came through the youth system at Doncaster Rovers 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, but dropped out of contention. In 1992–93, he spent time on loan at Northern Premier League Premier Division club Bishop Auckland. After one more substitute appearance in August 1993, 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. 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. Under Tait's management, he emerged as what the Northern Echo called a cultured playmaker, and his developing goalscoring form in the 1997–98 season – 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. Despite leaving both club and division in January, Cullen remained Hartlepool's top scorer for the…

Peterborough United

Football League Third Division play-offs: 2000 Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1997–98 Third Division