Although David Artell will be managing outside of League Two for the first time this season, he can boast over 500 first-class games and international experience as a player. Cynics would point out that his 7 international caps came for Gibraltar, qualifying through his Gibraltar-born father, and that his first cap came at the age of 33. But winning an international cap is something that top club players like Mikel Arteta, Paolo Di Canio, Steve Bruce, Jimmy Case and Bert Trautmann never did. Experience is experience, the more the merrier.
David John Artell began his playing career with home town club Rotherham, making his debut in 1999 at the age of 18. It was a good time to be at Rotherham, as Ronnie Moore’s side won promotion in 1999-00 and 2000-01 to move from the fourth tier to the second in successive seasons. Although he made 40 appearances in the second of those promotions, he never appeared for them again, failing to be selected for a single game the following season in the First Division and spending the whole of the 2002-03 season on loan at Shrewsbury. It was a season that saw the highs and the lows: despite knocking Premier League side Everton out of the FA Cup, Shrewsbury finished bottom of the Football League after picking up just two points from their final thirteen games, and were relegated to the Conference.
Having been released by Rotherham at the end of his loan period at Gay Meadow, he joined Mansfield and helped the Stags to the League Two play-off final in 2003-04, where they lost to Lincoln’s semi-final conquerors Huddersfield. He started the following season in the side, but lost his place in November following the departure of manager Keith Curle and never played for Mansfield again.
Moving to League Two strugglers Chester City in July 2005 on a two-year deal, he made his debut for his new side in a 2-2 draw at home to Lincoln on the opening day of the 2005-06 season. He also ended his Chester career against Lincoln on the final day of the 2006-07 season, in a 2-0 defeat at Sincil Bank. It was a relatively undistinguished part of his career. Chester finished fifteenth and eighteenth in those two seasons, and would be relegated from the Football League two seasons after Artell’s departure.
Artell then joined Football League newcomers Morecambe in July 2007, appearing in the club’s first-ever Football League match against Barnet on 11 August 2007. He scored the winner in a 2-1 League Cup giant-killing at Championship neighbours Preston in the next match, and also appeared in the 3-1 win at Championship Wolves in the next round. Morecambe eventually finished a creditable eleventh that season, with Artell forming a solid defensive partnership with future Morecambe manager Jim Bentley. Morecambe finished eleventh again in 2008-09 after a poor start, and were also in the bottom three after five games of 2009-10. Form improved drastically, and a 1-0 win over Aldershot on the final day secured fourth place and a shot at the play-offs. The promotion dream vanished with a 6-0 first-leg defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge, although the meaningless second leg did carry some significance: it was the final game at Christie Park before the club’s move to the new Globe Arena. Therefore Artell had the distinction of playing in Morecambe’s first-ever Football League match, and the last match at their old ground. He also had the honour of scoring the last goal at the ground, in the 90th minute. He would not play at the new ground though, leaving the club at the end of his contract.
His first association with Crewe came in the summer of 2010 when he signed a two-year deal under legendary Alex manager Dario Gradi. Artell hardly missed a game for two seasons as he captained Crewe to promotion in 2011-12, beating Cheltenham 2-0 in the Wembley play-off final. Despite this achievement, he was released by Crewe the following week. He then had the unusual experience of joining Port Vale in July 2012 and leaving a month later without kicking a ball for them – he refused to agree a revised contract when Vale failed to exit administration on time. A short spell at Northampton followed before he dropped down to the Conference with Wrexham on loan from February 2013 to the end of the season. By a strange quirk of fate, both Wrexham and Northampton reached their respective play-off finals, with Artell appearing for Wrexham in their 2-0 final defeat to Newport at Wembley on 5 May 2013.
He signed a one-year deal with Wrexham in September 2013, but they unexpectedly struggled near the foot of the table. Out of the blue, he received an email saying he qualified to play international football for Gibraltar, who had recently been accepted into the FIFA family. His international debut for Gibraltar came on 1 March 2014 alongside former Premier League star Danny Higginbotham in a 4-1 home defeat by the Faroe Islands. Wrexham ended the season in seventeenth, and Artell departed when his contract expired in the summer of 2014.
In July 2014 he returned to Crewe as Academy Operations Manager, and chose to combine the day job with short spells playing part-time football with Bala Town, Port Talbot Town, Kidsgrove Athletic and Droylsden. His brief international career came to an end in 2015, his final appearance being in a 6-1 European Championship qualifying defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park in March 2015.
In January 2017 he was appointed to the Gresty Road hot seat following the departure of manager Steve Davis, with Crewe sitting just 7 points above the League Two relegation zone. Winning just 1 point from his first 4 games, the gap at the bottom had slipped to 4 points by the time Crewe thrashed Grimsby 5-0 with four goals in the opening 29 minutes. Form continued to be inconsistent, but following an interesting warning to his players that they were heading for Conference North for £200 per week wages, Crewe eventually struggled up the table to finish 9 points clear of relegated Hartlepool.
At the start of 2017-18 – his first full season in management – he warned his players that seventeenth would not be good enough. It appeared for much of the season that the players had not been listening, as Crewe sat third from bottom in the middle of February. An impressive run of twenty-three points from their remaining fourteen games carried them to safety, although the final position of fifteenth was hardly what Artell intended at the start of the season. Some excitement was generated in the FA Cup second round tie away to League One high-flyers Blackburn. Three goals down after twenty minutes, Crewe managed to force an unlikely replay; unfortunately, they lost that by a single goal.
The 2018-19 season seemed to be following an identical pattern, with Crewe eighteenth at the midway stage. A 2-1 win over champions-elect Lincoln on Boxing Day kick-started the season, and eleven more wins and four draws saw them finish twelfth. That form was equivalent to play-off standard, and it augured well for the 2019-20 season. However, Crewe got off to a miserable start with a 3-0 home defeat by Plymouth, which proved to be the joint heaviest defeat of the season. Three wins took them to the top of the League Two table before the end of August, and the rest of the curtailed season saw them challenge strongly for the title. The points-per-game calculation confirmed promotion in second place behind Swindon, and David Artell had his first promotion. Crewe also pulled off a shock in the League Cup, winning on penalties at Championship side Middlesbrough before the run was ended by a 6-1 home defeat by Aston Villa. The season ended with Artell being named League Two Manager of the Year. It also gave him the unusual double of winning promotion as a player and as a manager with the same club.
Crewe are renowned for manager loyalty, so Artell should be relatively secure regardless of how his side performs back in League One. But if things do not work out in football in the longer term, he should be perfectly comfortable in the outside world: he is one of that rare breed of educated footballers, holding a degree in forensic biology, a post-graduate certificate in biomedical sciences, and a degree in forensic and analytical science.
Key:
P = Promoted; R = Relegated; SF = Lost in play-off semi-final; F = Lost in play-off final; PO = Won play-off final; D = Demoted.
Figures are league games only; cup matches and play-offs are not included.
League position shown is either the position at the end of the season or the position at the time of departure.
Writer: Scotimp
If you haven’t already had a go at our quizzes, this is a great way to learn some random information about the Football Club, as well as helping us generate much-needed page views: Quiz No.1, Quiz No.2, Quiz No.3, Quiz No.4, Quiz No.5, Quiz No.6, Quiz No.7, Quiz No.8, Quiz No.9, Quiz No.10, Quiz No.11, Quiz No.12, Quiz No.13, Quiz No.14, Quiz No.15, Quiz No.16, Quiz No.17, Quiz No.18, Quiz No.19, Quiz No.20, Quiz No.21, Quiz No.22, Quiz No.23, Quiz No.24, Quiz No.25, Quiz No.26, Quiz No.27, Quiz No.28, Quiz No.29 and Quiz No.30.
Who Are The League One Managers?
No.7: David Artell (@CreweAlexFC):https://t.co/nNDMuZ2KeQ#Crewe #CreweAlex pic.twitter.com/8HU1QVmDlk
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