Biography
Attacking midfielder Dan Crowley joined the Tigers in January 2021 on loan from Birmingham City and came off the bench to make an impressive debut against Accrington Stanley. After a handful of starts that coincided with a dip in City’s form, Crowley became Grant McCann’s go-to second-half substitute bought on to unlock weary League One defences, a role that he performed with some elan as he became a small but important part of City’s bounce-back promotion to the Championship in April 2021.
Daniel Patrick Crowley was born in Coventry but his football talents as a teenager were revered far and wide. Up to the age of 16 he was part of Aston Villa’s youth system and by the age of 15 he was appearing in Villa’s under-21 side. In 2013 he moved to Arsenal with Villa receiving a compensation payment, and he signed a professional contract for Arsenal on his seveneteenth birthday. Crowley was seen by manager Arsene Wenger as one of the Gunners most valued talents and he enjoyed loan spells at Barnsley, Oxford United and Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles – his time at Barnsley was cut short by manager Lee Johnson who praised his talent but suggested Dan was suffering from an excess of self-confidence. His loan at Oxford was also ended early when Crowley reacted poorly to being omitted from the Us’ first eleven. In 2017 Crowley signed for Dutch side Willem II but was slow to settle in new surroundings and was loaned to another Dutch side SC Cambuur. After 50 appearances and six goals for Willem II, Crowley signed for Birmingham City in July 2019 and in his first season at St Andrews he impressed with his attacking threat, making 41 appearances in all competitions. However at the start of the 2020/21 season Crowley was out of favour with new Birmingham boss Aitor Karanka and made only four appearances by January 2021, opening the door to Hull City to take him on loan.
Crowley was released by Birmingham City in May 2021 at the expiry of his contract and in October 2021 he was snapped up by Cheltenham Town on a short term deal. After 16 appearances for Cheltenham he left in January 2022 and a month later he signed an 18 month contract at Willem II, the Dutch side he had left two years previously. Dan spent a year in Tilburg as the club was relegated from the Eredivisie to the second flight, making 32 appearances and scoring one goal.
In January 2023 Crowley returned to England once more, signing a half-season deal with League One strugglers Morecambe. He scored two goals in 21 appearances as Morecambe were relegated to League 2 and left the club in May 2023. A month later he signed for newly promoted League Two side Notts County, slotting straight into the Magpies first team and scoring his first goal for the club in an August 2023 defeat of Grimsby Town. He quickly became a pivotal part of the Magpies’ attempts to win immediate promotion to League One, netting nine goals by the end of November 2023. The side’s form dropped once manager Luke Williams left Meadow Lane but Crowley remained a key part of the first team, playing in every league game and ending the season with 16 goals in 50 appearances.
Crowley qualified to play for England and Ireland, the latter through his grandparents. He played at under-16 and under-17 level for both countries then in 2015 he won four under-19 caps for England. He subsequently declared that he wished to play for Ireland at senior level.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 3 August 1997, Coventry
Hull City First Game: 19 January 2021, Accrington Stanley H (League One), 23 years, 169 days old
Hull City Final Game: 9 May 2021, Charlton Athletic A (League One), 23 years, 279 days old
Clubs
Arsenal (2014-2017), Barnsley (2015, loan), Oxford United (2016, loan), Go Ahead Eagles (2017, loan), Willem II (2017-2019), SC Cambuur (2018, loan), Birmingham City (2019-2021), Hull City (2021, loan), Cheltenham Town (2021-2022), Willem II (2022-2023), Morecambe (2023), Notts County (2023-current)
Hull City Record
Career: 23 apps, 0 goals
Dan Crowley| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 6 (16) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 (0) | 0 |