Combative midfielder signs long term deal
Carlisle United have today signed former-Doncaster, Orient and Port Vale midfielder Anthony Griffith on an 18-month deal which keeps him at Brunton Park until the summer of 2016.
Griffith, 28, started his career as a youngster with Halifax Town and earned his first professional deal with Doncaster Rovers in 2005 after catching the eye at non league level. He enjoyed loan spells with Oxford, Darlington and Stafford as he continued his football development and also made a welcome return to Halifax during his time at the Keepmoat.
A four-year move to Port Vale followed, where he made over 200 appearances, but he left the Valiants to join Leyton Orient in 2012. He returned for another season with Port Vale in 2013 and has also had spells at Harrogate Town and. Most recently, with Shrewsbury.
A Montserrat international, he made two appearances as team captain during the 2011 World Cup qualifying campaign.
“We got the opportunity to bring him in and I’ve been speaking to him for about ten days now,” manager Keith Curle said. “There’s a level of maturity about him that I like. When you start talking football there’s an understanding of the role he will play in the team.
“We need somebody to do the horrible side of the game. We’ve got a lot of people at the club who can play between lines, and in holes, but sometimes you need people to dig holes. Anthony is a digger and he’ll give us a foundation to build from.”
“There are people more pleasing on the eye who will go and win you the game but, with where we are at the moment, you need a solidity and a backbone,” he added. “That typifies what he is about and what he will bring to this football club.
“He’s a competitor and you don’t take that out of anyone’s game. I want people who can see a tackle and who will commit to it. You will be slightly off on occasions, because of the tempo of the game, but I’ll accept that. There obviously needs to be an element of discipline in his play and a realisation that you can’t win every ball.
“He’s a player who likes to tackle and that’s something I like. He wants to win the ball and there’s a spring in his step when he does.
"You win games in the midfield area in this division, and we want to be more competitive so we can allow other players to play on the break and with good possession. He's going to help us with all of that.”
Griffith will wear squad number 34.
