1170 Matt Crooks

Biography

Experienced attacking midfielder Matt Crooks joined the Tigers in January 2025 on a two year contract and made his debut a few days later at Millwall when he came on for the last ten minutes and contributed to a well-earned 1-0 victory. A week later he netted a fine goal in his first start against Sheffield United, a strike that quickly endeared him to the City faithful.

Matt Davidson Rider Crooks was born in Leeds and rejoined the academy at Huddersfield Town at the age of 15 having had a spell in the academy setup at Manchester United. He was an unused first team substitute in a November 2010 FA Cup tie against Cambridge United and signed his first professional contract a year later in November 2011 – he was again an unused substitute in an FA Cup tie a few days later. He ended the 2011/12 season with a two month loan spell at National League North side FC Halifax Town where he scored once in 10 appearances. Around this time Crooks was diagnosed with epilepsy, sparking his work for epilepsy charities over subsequent years.

In December 2012 Crooks joined Northern Premier League side Radcliffe Borough on a two month loan and impressed enough to return to the Terriers’ first team bench three more times during February and March 2013. Matt missed much of the 2013/14 season with an ankle injury but after an impressive pre-season he finally made his Terriers’ first team debut against Bournemouth in August 2014 – his only senior appearance for the club. In October 2014 Crooks joined League Two side Hartlepool United on loan where he made 3 appearances, he returned to Huddersfield in mid-November 2014 and was immediately loaned out again to another League Two side Accrington Stanley where he made 6 appearances.

In February 2015 Huddersfield Town agreed to terminate Crooks’ contract and he signed a permanent contract with Accrington Stanley, adding 12 more appearances during the remainder of the season. Retained for the 2015/16 season, Crooks was a regular starter for Stanley and scored his first senior career goal in an August 2015 League Cup tie against Hull City. He scored eight goals in 35 appearances but missed the last two months of the season as Stanley reached the League Two play-offs, losing the semi-final to AFC Wimbledon.

After signing a pre-contract agreement in January 2016 Crooks signed for Scottish Premiership side Glasgow Rangers in July 2016 alongside his Accrington teammate Josh Windass, son of Hull City legend Dean Windass. Matt made his Rangers debut in a September 2016 Scottish League Cup tie against Queen of the South but made only 3 first team appearances ahead of a January 2017 half-season loan move to League One title challengers Scunthorpe United, where he scored three goals in 12 appearances but again missed the end-of-season play-off defeat to Millwall.

In July 2017 Matt’s short spell in Scotland drew to a close and he signed for League One side Northampton Town. At Sixfields Matt finally established himself as a first team regular, although the Cobblers dropped into League Two at the end of the 2017/18 season. By January 2019 Crooks had scored 10 goals for Northampton in 57 appearances, netting an October 2018 hattrick against Macclesfield Town. In January 2019 he signed for Championship side Rotherham United and added three goals in 16 appearances as the Millers ended the season with Matt’s second successive relegation. Rotherham bounced straight back in the 2019/20 season and won automatic promotion back to the Championship, Crooks was pivotal to that success with eleven goals. His form was maintained in the 2020/21 season as the Millers again slipped to relegation and by May 2021 Matt had scored 21 goals for Rotherham United in 97 appearances.

In July 2021 Crooks joined Championship side Middlesbrough and performed impressively as Boro just missed out on the play-off places after a slow start to the season. His form was maintained for another season and a half and he started both May 2023 play-off semi-finals that led to defeat to Coventry City – by January 2024 he had scored 23 goals for Middlesbrough in 115 appearances. In January 2024 Crooks accepted the chance to join US Major Soccer League side Real Salt Lake, he made his debut against St Louis City in February 2024 and by the end of the 2024 season he had scored three goals in 33 appearances ahead of his January 2025 transfer to Hull City.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 20 January 1994, Leeds
Hull City First Game: 18 January 2025, Millwall A (Championship), 30 years, 364 days old
Hull City Final Game: [current player]

Clubs

Huddersfield Town (2010-2015), FC Halifax Town (2012, loan), Radcliffe Borough (2012-2013, loan), Hartlepool United (2014, loan), Accrington Stanley (2014-2015, loan), Accrington Stanley (2015-2016), Glasgow Rangers (2016-2017), Scunthorpe United (2017, loan), Northampton Town (2017-2019), Rotherham United (2019-2021), Middlesbrough (2021-2024), Real Salt Lake (2024-2025), Hull City (2025-current)

Hull City Record

Career: 4 apps, 1 goals

Matt Crooks
SeasonLGE
App
LGE
Gls
FAC
App
FAC
Gls
FLC
App
FLC
Gls
EUR
App
EUR
Gls
OTH
App
OTH
Gls
2024/251 (3)1

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