Hull City
Born:
Joined the Tigers:
11th December 1982, Birmingham
28th February 2005, from Colchester United
7th March 2008, from Derby County (loan)
3rd July 2008, from Derby County (permanent)
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Fagan was a fiercely competitive and hard working striker signed from Colchester to add extra firepower to City's quest for elevation to the Championship. Made an immediate impact by scoring within five minutes of his introduction to the black and amber fray, during the pivotal win at Tranmere that consolidated the Tigers promotion push. At that level he scared defenders to death with his pace, touch and work rate - and had an edgy side that wound up opponents as well, a good asset when its someone on your team!
Despite these qualities he was too often too inconsistent, although he found a rich vein of form during the latter months of 2006, which encouraged Derby County to pay £750,000 for him in the January 2007 transfer window - a tremendous deal for a player with only 6 months left on his contract. After half a season of not scoring in the Premiership Fagan was back at the KC, signed on loan to cover for Caleb Folan's three match suspension in March 2008, a return that was made permanent the following summer after City's elevation to the Premiership. Craig was the victim of a malicious kick from Newcastle's Danny Guthrie that broke his leg, and he missed the middle third of the season but returned in May to score the vital goal at Bolton that kept City up and, pleasingly, sent Guthrie's Newcastle down.
In his second Premier League season he continued to demonstrate his chippy attitude while rarely troubling the scorers. But his work rate was turned to by Iain Dowie when the springtime relegation survival charge was in full swing.