Billy Crellin

William Francis Crellin (born 30 June 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Fleetwood Town.

Club Career

Born in Blackpool, Crellin moved on loan from Fleetwood Town to FC United of Manchester in August 2018, but was recalled early in September 2018.

In July 2019 he was the subject of a failed transfer bid from Premier League club Everton. He moved on loan to Chorley in August 2019.

He signed on loan for Bolton Wanderers in August 2020. His debut came on 5 September in Bolton's first match of the season, a 1–2 home defeat against Bradford in the first round of the EFL Cup. On 28 September Crellin was defended by Bolton head coach Ian Evatt after being criticised for perceived errors in games. A month later however, Evatt criticised Crellin, stating that he needed to "man up" and that Bolton could not afford for their goalkeeper to keep making so many mistakes, after Crellin was at fault for two of Barrow's goals in a 3–3 draw and four days later scored an own goal in a 1–1 draw against Cambridge United. In the next match Crellin saved a penalty to help Bolton beat Bradford City 1–0 and was voted Man of the Match by the Bolton fans. Evatt praised Crellin for responding to the criticism by putting on the Man of the Match display. Crellin continued to make mistakes however and on 13 November he was dropped to the bench for Bolton's derby match against Salford City. He then spent the rest of the season as a back up goalkeeper, first to Matt Gilks, and then to both Gilks and January signing Lukas Jensen.