An in-depth look into Sutton’s third signing of the summer, Kane Crichlow.
Hailing from the North Atlantic, Kane Crichlow was born and raised in Warwick Parish, Bermuda, but was bound for Europe at the age of 12 as he looked to forge a career in football.
Indeed, Crichlow made the bold and brave decision to leave his homeland before his teenage years even began, making the move across the ocean to join Spanish side UE Cornellà, and went on to spend six years in the Catalan-based outfit’s academy.
In what proved to be a good life experience for what was a young boy at the time, Kane has credited his time in Barcelona as something which helped him develop his style of play, as well as equipping him with not only the skillset, but also the mindset to succeed away from home, and saw him catch the attention of a number of scouts, primarily due to his maturity in the middle of the park. Playing against players up to seven years older than himself, the young midfielder dictated the tempo of games and created several goals for his teammates, impressing a number of potential suitors early on in his career.
This saw him make the switch to AFC Wimbledon in 2018, spending a season with the Wombles where he developed tenacity, dedication, effort and enthusiasm, and despite being released by the club in 2019, got to continue his development with Premier League side Watford.
Having impressed in a trial with the Hornets, Kane scored twice and set up another against Crystal Palace’s academy and was rewarded with a two-year deal at Vicarage Road, allowing him to call Hertfordshire his home for the foreseeable future. He subsequently became a central figure in the club’s Under-23 squad and even broke into first team training under Nigel Pearson, before seeing his progression curtailed by a broken ankle sustained in training.
Kane subsequently developed close relationships with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah and Pafos midfielder Domingos Quina during his rehabilitation, and after making a full recovery ahead of the 2020/21 campaign, was named on the bench a number of times during the Hornets’ promotion-winning season in 2020/21.
While a difficult campaign across the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it did bring Crichlow’s senior debut for the club when he came off the bench in an EFL Cup defeat against Newport County under Vladimir Ivić, and he ended the season by signing his first professional deal with the Hornets having trained throughout the year with the first team.
However, the club opted against renewing his expiring deal at the end of the 2021/22 season, having been unable to break into the first team under Xisco Muñoz, Claudio Ranieri and Roy Hodgson, and with the club now back in the Championship following relegation, this saw a whole host of change at Vicarage Road which included a departure for the midfielder.
In search of pastures new, Crichlow made the move across Europe, joining Greek Super League 2 side Episkopi where he appeared 15 times in all competitions across a little over a season, before returning to England midway though the 2023/24 campaign, having been unable to help the Rethymno-based outfit avoid relegation to Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of Greek football.
A return to Hertfordshire saw Kane join Bishop’s Stortford, and he notably scored an injury time equaliser on his Blues’ debut to force penalties in an FA Trophy Third Round tie against Ebbsfleet United, before netting his spot-kick in the ensuing shootout as they overcame their higher ranked counterparts. This was then followed by perhaps his shining light in his career so far, scoring five goals in a single game against Aldershot Town in the following round to help secure a spot in the last 16, with a 6-1 win over Tommy Widdrington’s side.
He proved to be a real handful for many National League South defences during his stint at Woodside Park, and later at Chelmsford City, with Crichlow making the move across Essex after just seven months with Bishop’s Stortford. A successful trial led to him moving to the Clarets permanently ahead of the 2024/25 season, and he quickly become a key part of the team that finished 11th in the sixth tier last term, becoming the club’s joint-top scorer with 13 goals alongside Charlie Ruff.
Meanwhile, on the international stage, Crichlow has represented Bermuda at Under-15, Under-17 and Under-20 levels, captaining the island for the former two, before being called up by Bermuda’s senior squad for their CONCACAF Group B qualifiers against Canada and Aruba in March 2021. He went on to make his senior international his debut at the age of 20 in a World Cup qualifier against Canada and scored his team’s only goal in a 5–1 defeat against the Canucks. He has since gone on to receive 22 caps for Bermuda, scoring 11 goals.
