Richard Cresswell

York City

Cresswell started playing for Bridlington Rangers at the age of eight before joining the York City youth system aged 14 in 1991. Having been top scorer for the Northern Intermediate League team for three consecutive seasons, he signed a professional contract on 15 November 1995. Cresswell made his first-team debut away to Brentford in a 2–0 defeat in the Second Division on 20 January 1996. He first scored for York with the second goal of a 2–2 draw away to Bradford City on 2 March 1996. This proved to be his only goal in the 1995–96 season, in which he made 17 appearances. Having failed to score in 22 appearances for York in 1996–97, Cresswell joined Third Division club Mansfield Town on loan on 27 March 1997, making his debut in a 0–0 draw away to Exeter City on 29 March. He scored his first and only goal for Mansfield in a 1–0 win away to Rochdale on 5 April 1997, before finishing the loan with five appearances. He scored four goals in 30 appearances for York in 1997–98, and during this season he was barracked by a small section of the York support. Cresswell admitted he had not made the impact he had hoped to in the York first team, but ahead of 1998–99 said "I've had some stick from a small number of fans, but hopefully I can prove them wrong. I will prove them wrong. This a big season for me. I want to do it for York City. I want to do it for myself." After a positive start to the season, Cresswell attracted attention from other clubs, with a number…

Cresswell was called up to the England under-21 team while with York, making his debut in a 2–1 home victory over France in a friendly on 9 February 1999. He continued to play for the under-21s after joining Wednesday, and scored his first goal for them in a 3–0 home win over Sweden in a 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match on 4 June 1999. Cresswell finished his under-21 career with four caps and one goal.

Cresswell returned to York as a commercial, academy and community development consultant in April 2014, having previously intended to pursue a career in coaching. He took on the position of Head of Football Operations, before being appointed as first-team coach to manager Russ Wilcox in March 2015. In May 2015, Cresswell resumed his role as Head of Football Operations, while continuing to coach the first team. He took over as caretaker manager on 26 October 2015 after Wilcox's dismissal, and was assisted by youth team coach Jonathan Greening and goalkeeping coach Andy Leaning. He was in charge for the 1–0 away defeat to Crawley Town on 31 October 2015, before ceasing his caretaker duties upon the appointment of Jackie McNamara as manager on 4 November. Cresswell left York by mutual consent on 16 December 2015. He resumed his playing career aged 38 when signing for Northern Counties East League Premier Division club Tadcaster Albion on 7 April 2016. A week later, he made his only appearance for Tadcaster in 2015–16, when starting their 3–1 away win over Knaresborough Town. He recorded an assist to help them reach the Northern Counties East League League Cup semi-final. In May 2017, Cresswell was appointed technical director at i2i Sports, a player management company, and in this role would work with the management team at Tadcaster. Cresswell joined Leeds United as Head of Academy Coaching in June 2018, working across age groups from primary school age to under-23 level, and…

Cresswell was born in Bridlington, Humberside, to George and Denise. He was raised in the town and attended Moorfield Junior School.