Career

The defender owes much of his recognition to Eric Winstanley, a huge influence and early mentor of Cross. Unfortunately, Cross was plagued with injury early in his career but persevered at Barnsley until 1991 before moving to Hartlepool Football Club when the chairmanship was under financial scrutiny. Cross was joint Manager of Northern League club Crook Town between September 1997 and October 1998 alongside former Darlington team-mate Kevan Smith.

Cross has been a frequent radio commentator on Northern Derby matches between Darlington and Hartlepool, both teams he has played foreign

Achievements

• He progressed through the ranks of the youth side, finally achieving first team status under the management of local lad head-hunter, Allan Clarke.