Chris Lumsdon

Chris Lumsdon
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Lumsdon
Date of birth	15 December 1979 (age 44)
Place of birth	Newcastle, England
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1997–2001	Sunderland
2000	→ Blackpool (loan)
2000	→ Crewe Alexandra (loan)
2001	→ Barnsley (loan)
2001–2004	Barnsley
2004–2009	Carlisle United
2009–2010	Darlington
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christopher Lumsdon (born 15 December 1979 in

2005–06 Football League Two Championship title. A short spell at Darlington

followed, before he was forced to retire through injury in July 2010.

During his time at Sunderland, he was sent out on loan to Blackpool, Crewe Alexandra and Barnsley.

Club career

Sunderland AFC

Lumsdon began his career at

Wolverhampton Wanderers on 7 February 1998. In the same week, he signed a five-year professional contract, and was also called up to the England under-18 squad. He was part of the Sunderland squad that won the Championship title in the 1998–99 season under manager Peter Reid

.

After Sunderland were promoted to the

1999–2000 season against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge

. Lumsdon remained part of the first-team squad over the next three seasons, as Sunderland enjoyed consecutive 7th-place finishes.

A loan spell to Blackpool was arranged in 2000, in order that he gain first team experience. A successful sixteen-match loan at Crewe Alexandra in the Championship followed, with manager Dario Gradi submitting bids in the region of £500,000 for his services.

His final game for Sunderland was a League Cup encounter against Walsall on 14 September 1999. He played the full game in a 3–2 win.

Lumsdon was offered a new long-term contract by

Sunderland

, however, Chris stated he wanted to play more regularly and rejected the contract to pursue a move to the Championship.

Barnsley

Lumsdon signed for Championship side Barnsley for £500,000 in December 2001, with substantial add-on fees attached to the deal based on appearances. He went on to make 28 starts from October in his first season in the Championship, scoring 9 goals. He collected the Supporters' Player of the Year award after strong performances, especially against Wolves and Portsmouth and Newcastle United. However, although his form was good, his contract stipulated that Sunderland would receive a payment from Barnsley after Lumsdon made a certain number of appearances; as Barnsley were enduring financial difficulty, they could not afford to select Lumsdon on several occasions.

Carlisle United

In 2004, Lumsdon joined

Football League, winning sixteen man of the match awards at Brunton Park

, and collecting the Players' Player of the Year award as well as Paul Simpson's Manager's Player of the Year.

A year later, he was again another major part of the team who were runaway winners of the

Football League Trophy

final.

The 2007–08 season was a near miss for Carlisle and Lumsdon; he excelled on the pitch, but Carlisle were narrowly beaten by Leeds United in the play-off semi-finals through a late Jonny Howson goal. At the season's conclusion, he was rated the top midfielder in the Premier League and Football League by The Sunday Sun newspaper, beating Nicky Butt, Scott Parker and Julio Arca to this title.

In a pre-season match in the summer of 2008 against Partick Thistle, Lumsdon suffered a serious back injury; in his absence, Carlisle struggled in League One, but he managed to make six appearances towards the end of the 2008–09 season upon his return.

Lumsdon left Carlisle United in May 2009, when it was clear his back injury was causing him too much pain to play at the level required.

Darlington

Upon his release by Carlisle, Lumsdon joined Darlington in League Two, hoping dropping a division would help his injury recovery, however, after only three games, he had a recurrence of his previous back injury and required surgery.

In July 2010, Lumsdon retired from football at the age of 30 due to injury.

After football

Following his retirement from football, Lumsdon works for Radio Cumbria as part of their Carlisle United commentary team, and writes weekly articles for the News and Star publication for Cumbria. He has also been employed by Carlisle United as their club ambassador.

Chris started a new business venture in 2021 called Lumsdon Elite Coaching, which specialises in football coaching and mental health sessions.

Honours

Sunderland

1998–99

Carlisle United

2005–06
Conference National play-offs: 2005

Football League Trophy runner-up: 2005–06^[1]

Individual

Barnsley Supporters' Player of the Year: 2001–02
Carlisle United Manager's Player of the Year: 2005–06
Carlisle United Players' Player of the Year: 2005–06
Carlisle United Player of the Year: 2007–08

References

^ "Carlisle 1–2 Swansea". BBC Sport. 2 April 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2024.

External links

Chris Lumsdon at Soccerbase

[1] "Carlisle 1–2 Swansea". BBC Sport. 2 April 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2024.

[1]