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Born | Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England | 11 December 1977|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Position | Fullback | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 24 Aug 2024 |
Craig Lingard (born 11 December 1977) [3] is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is the head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Lingard played as a fullback for the Batley Bulldogs in the Championship, where he is the all-time leading try scorer. He has previously been head coach of the Bramley Buffaloes. He was assistant coach to John Kear at Batley before taking on the top job at the Keighley Cougars in RFL League 1. He returned to Batley as head coach for the 2020 season.
Lingard was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.
Lingard played as an amateur with Sharlston Rovers before turning professional. His professional playing career was at Batley Bulldogs, where he played from 1998 to 2008. [4] Playing at fullback, Lingard scored 142 tries and is Batley's all-time leading try scorer. [4] [5] In a tribute to this record, the club named one of the terraces at the Fox's Biscuits Stadium the Craig Lingard Terrace. [4]
After retiring from playing, Lingard joined the Bulldogs' coaching team and also worked as part of the Bradford Bulls coaching staff before being appointed head coach of National Conference League team, Bramley Buffaloes, in 2012. [6] After just one season at Bramley, Lingard left and rejoined Batley as assistant head coach to John Kear. [4] He continued in his Batley role until the end of the 2016 season.
In September 2016, Lingard was appointed head coach at Keighley Cougars on a two-year contract. [7] Lingard's contract was extended for a third year but in May 2019 he was sacked by Keighley. [8]
Lingard's return to the Batley Bulldogs was announced in September 2019, this time being appointed the role of head coach. [9]
In the 2022 Championship season, Lingard guided Batley to the Million Pound Game. Batley went on to be defeated by Leigh 44–12. [10]
In his final season in charge, Lingard led Batley to the 2023 RFL 1895 Cup final, the club's first match to be played at Wembley Stadium. [11] [12] The Bulldogs fell to a narrow 10–12 defeat against the Halifax Panthers. [13]
In May 2023, it was announced that Lingard had joined Castleford Tigers in the Super League, working as an assistant coach under Andy Last. [14] He was appointed on a two-and-a-half-year contract, although would continue as Batley's head coach for the remainder of the 2023 season. [15] In August, following Last's dismissal and with Castleford level on points at the bottom of the table, he was joined by a new short-term coaching staff of Danny Ward and Dane Dorahy and was tasked with securing Super League survival. [16] [17] The Tigers won two games to confirm their top flight status in the final six rounds, although Ward and Dorahy's departures meant that the head coach role was left vacant upon the season's completion. [18] [19]
On 17 October 2023, Castleford announced the appointment of Lingard as the new head coach on a two-year deal. [20] He said, "I am massively honoured. Something I've always aspired to be is a head coach in Super League and I've got that opportunity now." [21] He would be working alongside new assistant coach Danny McGuire, who was joining from Hull Kingston Rovers. [22]
Lingard's involvement with rugby league has always been part-time and away from the game he was previously a prison officer. While head coach at Bramley, Lingard was a competitor on British gameshow Countdown . [23]
The Batley Bulldogs are an English professional rugby league club in Batley, West Yorkshire, who play in the Championship. Batley were one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. They were League Champions in 1924 and have won three Challenge Cups.
Daniel Phillip McGuire is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is assistant coach for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in League One, the third tier of British rugby league.
Karl Harrison is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for both Great Britain and England, and at club level for Bramley, Featherstone Rovers, Hull FC and Halifax, as a prop. and has coached at representative level for England, and at club level for Halifax Blue Sox, the Keighley Cougars, the Bradford Bulls, the Salford City Reds, the Huddersfield Giants, the Batley Bulldogs and Halifax. Harrison is a Halifax Hall of Fame Inductee.
Rhys Lovegrove is an Australian rugby league coach who is the assistant coach at the London Broncos in the Betfred Championship and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s.
Daryl A. Powell is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer. He is the head coach of Wakefield Trinity who play in the RFL Championship.
Danny Ward is an English professional rugby league & rugby union coach who was until recently the head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Scott Murrell is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is assistant coach for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Barry Eaton is a Welsh former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for Wales, and at club level for Doncaster, Wakefield Trinity, Dewsbury Rams, Castleford Tigers, Widnes Vikings, Batley Bulldogs and the Keighley Cougars, as a stand-off, scrum-half or hooker, and coached at club level for Keighley Cougars and Hunslet Hawks.
Dane Dorahy is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer.
Stanley Rangers is an amateur rugby league club situated in the village of Stanley near Wakefield. They are in Division One of the National Conference League. Players range from 8-years old and receive training in all aspects of the sport. Many younger players have attended Paul Sculthorpe's training camps.
Jacob Miller is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a stand-off or scrum-half for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Will Maher is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a prop forward for Keighley Cougars in the RFL League 1, on season-long loan from Halifax Panthers in the RFL Championship.
Reiss Butterworth is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Dewsbury Rams in the RFL Championship, on short-term loan from Hull KR in the Super League.
Samy Kibula is a Congolese professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop forward for Featherstone Rovers in the RFL Championship, on a season-long loan from the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
Rowan Milnes is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a stand-off or scrum-half for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
The 2023 season was the Castleford Tigers' 98th season in the Rugby Football League and their 16th consecutive season in the top flight of English rugby league. The club competed in the 2023 Super League and the 2023 Challenge Cup.
Josh Hodson is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.
The 2024 season is the Castleford Tigers' 99th season in the Rugby Football League and their 17th consecutive season in the top flight of English rugby league. The club are competing in the 2024 Super League and the 2024 Challenge Cup.
George Hill is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a loose forward or hooker for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League.