John Roland Craven was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player. He played as a defender

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

, but also played as a centre-forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 on occasion.

Career

Craven made his professional debut at left-back in Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

's 4–0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

 on August 27, 1965. At first, he teamed up with skipper Jimmy Armfield

Jimmy Armfield

James Christopher "Jimmy" Armfield, CBE, DL is an English former professional football player and manager who currently works as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at Blackpool, usually at right back...

, but after failing to displace Tommy Thompson, he switched to half-back. After a period in the forward line alongside Gerry Ingram

Gerry Ingram

Gerald "Gerry" Ingram is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Active in both England and the United States between 1966 and 1980, Ingram made nearly 500 professional league career appearances, scoring nearly 200 goals.-Career:Born in Beverley, Ingram began his career...

 and Alan Skirton

Alan Skirton

Alan Frederick Graham Skirton is an English former footballer.-Playing career:Skirton started out as a player with West Twerton Youth Club in his home city of Bath before joining Bristol City as an amateur. However, they did not retain him and he then joined hometown club Bath City in the Southern...

, he was put back in the heart of defence by Ron Suart

Ron Suart

Ronald Suart is an English former football player and manager.-Playing days:Suart was a full-back at Blackpool, playing alongside fellow defenders George Farrow and Harry Johnston in a team which also included Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen. Blackpool reached the 1948 FA Cup Final, but Suart...

.

It was Les Shannon

Les Shannon

Leslie "Les" Shannon was an English football player and manager.-Playing career:Shannon was born in Liverpool; a centre-forward, he started his playing career with his hometown club of Liverpool in November 1944...

 who converted Craven to the forward line on a permanent basis, and it was his partnerships with Fred Pickering

Fred Pickering

Frederick "Fred" Pickering is an English former professional footballer. He played as a forward.-Domestic career:...

 and Mickey Burns

Mickey Burns

Michael Edward "Mickey" Burns is an English former professional footballer.-Career:A former England amateur international, Burns was signed to Blackpool from the very successful amateur side Skelmersdale United in 1969 by Les Shannon...

 that helped Blackpool to promotion in 1969–70

Blackpool F.C. season 1969-70

The 1969-70 season was Blackpool F.C.s 63rd season in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division Two, then the second tier of English football, finishing second...

.

During the 1970–71

Blackpool F.C. season 1970-71

The 1970–71 season was Blackpool F.C.s 64th season in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division One, then the top tier of English football, finishing bottom...

 season, during which Jimmy Armfield's appearances became sporadic as his playing career wound down, Bob Stokoe

Bob Stokoe

Robert "Bob" Stokoe was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east rivalry between the region's footballing giants, Newcastle United and Sunderland....

 gave Craven the captain's armband.

Craven led Blackpool to success in the Anglo-Italian Cup

Anglo-Italian Cup

The Anglo-Italian Cup is a defunct European football competition that was played intermittently between 1970 and 1996 between clubs from England and Italy. Founded by Gigi Peronace in 1970, following the success of the Anglo-Italian League Cup, it was played as a professional tournament until 1973...

 Final, scoring the equalising goal as they went on to beat Bologna

Bologna F.C. 1909

Bologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian Football League club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1993. The club are nicknamed the rossoblù because of the red and blue striped shirts they wear. Red and Blue are the official colours of the town.During its history...

 in the Italian city.

In 1971, Craven was voted Blackpool's Player of the Year, but that September he asked for a transfer and moved to Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

.

After two years with Palace, he went on to play for Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 and Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

 before moving to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps

Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL)

The original Vancouver Whitecaps were founded on December 11, 1973 and during the 1970s and 1980s played in the North American Soccer League . The Whitecaps achieved success, winning the 1979 Soccer Bowl. The Whitecaps of that era included international players such as Alan Ball, but also "home...

. He finished his career with California Surf

California Surf

The California Surf were a soccer club based in Anaheim, California who played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1981. Their home field was Anaheim Stadium.They originally were the St. Louis Stars...

in 1981.