Craig Noone joins Warrington Town

Warrington Town are pleased to welcome Craig Noone in a combined role as a player and as part of the coaching staff.

Noone, 37, played in the Premier League for Cardiff City during a playing career that started in non-league with Burscough, Southport and Skelmersdale United.

He went on to make more than 275 appearances in the Championship for Plymouth, Brighton and Bolton, and was part of the Cardiff team that won the title in 2012/13, earning promotion to the Premier League.

The Kirkby-born winger made 17 appearances in the top flight, scoring against Manchester City.

For the past five seasons, Noone has been based in Australia, playing for Melbourne City, where he won the Premiership title, and Macarthur FC in the A-League, before becoming head coach of the Macarthur Bulls academy team.

He returned to the UK before Christmas and now links up with the Yellows.

Manager Paul Carden said: “I’m delighted to bring Craig in. He has loads of experience in terms of playing. To go from non-league right up to the very top level in the game is an unbelievable achievement.

“He’s played a lot of football high up the leagues, mainly in the Championship, and moved for a lot of money between big clubs.

“He went to Australia and spent his last four or five years there playing and coaching, combining both, which is what his role will be for us.

“We know we need a bit of everything, we need improvements all over, and hopefully Craig will bring the enthusiasm he played with during his career.

“Once I found out he was back over here and looking to get back involved in football, I made sure we made contact.

"And after a couple of meetings and conversations, it was clear he was hungry to come in and be involved.

“He’s been involved at training this week and I’m looking forward to working with him.

“Hopefully he can bring the success he had as a player and give some guidance to some of our lads through non-league and inspire them to go on to bigger and better things, with his experience and knowledge of how he went through it."

Photo credit: Melbourne City