Christopher Cadden (born 19 September 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Scottish Premiership club Hibernian. Cadden, who is a product of the Motherwell Academy, made his first full international appearance for Scotland in May 2018.
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Christopher Cadden[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1996-09-19) 19 September 1996 (age 26) | ||
Place of birth | Bellshill, Scotland | ||
Position(s) | Right-back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Hibernian | ||
Number | 12 | ||
Youth career | |||
2006–2014 | Motherwell | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2013–2019 | Motherwell | 115 | (6) |
2015 | → Albion Rovers (loan) | 10 | (2) |
2019–2020 | Columbus Crew | 8 | (0) |
2019–2020 | → Oxford United (loan) | 21 | (0) |
2021– | Hibernian | 41 | (2) |
National team‡ | |||
2016–2018 | Scotland U21 | 12 | (1) |
2018– | Scotland | 2 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 August 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 June 2018 |
Cadden made his Motherwell debut as a substitute in a 4–1 win against Hearts on 1 March 2014.[2] On 6 March 2015, Cadden joined Scottish League Two club Albion Rovers on loan until the end of the season.[3] Cadden scored his first career goal on 4 April 2015, as Albion Rovers beat Berwick Rangers 2–0,[4] and another in Albion Rovers' league-winning match against Clyde. His loan spell concluded with the club being promoted as divisional winners.[5] On 30 January 2016, Cadden scored his first goal for Motherwell in a 2–2 draw away to Dundee.[6] In March 2016, he signed a new contract with the club to run until the summer of 2018.[7] By now establishing himself in the first team, he also contributed to Motherwell's Under-20s winning the Scottish Youth Cup for the first time.[5][8] Cadden signed another contract with Motherwell in November 2016, extending its term by another year.[9] He played in the finals of the 2017–18[10] League Cup and the 2017–18 Scottish Cup,[11] both of which resulted in 2–0 defeats for Motherwell at the hands of Celtic.
On 23 July 2019, free agent Cadden signed for Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew SC; it was announced that he would be immediately loaned to English club Oxford United and would join the Crew in advance of the 2020 season.[12] Motherwell stated they would negotiate for a training compensation fee, due to no formal arrangement being in place with MLS in respect of clubs which had developed a young player receiving a payment when they left out of contract.[13]
Cadden made his Oxford debut in a 1–1 draw at Sunderland on the opening day of the 2019–20 season.[14] During Cadden's loan spell, he made 21 appearances for Oxford and was widely considered one of the best right backs in EFL League One.[15] Oxford manager Karl Robinson looked to make the loan permanent, but had its advances rejected by the Crew.[16]
Cadden started the 2020 season as depth at both the wing and wing-back positions, but was widely considered the successor to 33-year-old Ghanaian Harrison Afful.[17] Cadden made his debut for the Crew against New York City FC in the first game of the season.[18] He came on in the 87th minute for fellow debutante Lucas Zelarayán.[18] In December 2020 he was part of the squad that won the MLS Cup. In January, it was reported that Cadden would likely leave the club in a bid to gain more playing time; it was noted that his transition to America was made difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] Cadden was linked with a return to Great Britain with Hibernian, Aberdeen, and Oxford United.[20]
On 15 January 2021, Cadden returned home to Scotland, signing for Hibernian on a two-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee.[21]
In August 2016, Cadden was named in the Scotland under-21 squad for the first time ahead of the European Under-21 Championship qualifiers against Macedonia and Ukraine, receiving the call having initially been left out the squad.[22] He made his debut against Ukraine on 6 September 2016.[23]
On 17 May 2018, Cadden was called up to the Scotland squad for the first time ahead of their friendlies against Peru and Mexico;[24][25] he made his full Scotland debut on 29 May, in a 2–0 defeat to Peru.[26]
His twin brother, Nicky, is also a professional footballer playing for Barnsley FC in the EFL League One.[27] The brothers attended Our Lady's High School, Motherwell, one year group ahead of fellow footballer Kieran Tierney.[28][29] Their father Steve also won a lower division title with Albion Rovers[30][31] and appeared in a Youth Cup final for Motherwell.[5]
Club | Season | League | Domestic Cup[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] | League Cup[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5] | Continental | Other[lower-alpha 6] | Total | |||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Motherwell | 2013–14[32] | Scottish Premiership | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
2014–15[33] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
2015–16[34] | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 2 | ||||
2016–17[35] | 36 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 42 | 5 | ||||
2017–18[36] | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 4 | — | — | 45 | 4 | ||||
2018–19[37] | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | ||||
Total | 115 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 139 | 12 | ||
Albion Rovers (loan) | 2014–15[33] | Scottish League Two | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | |
Total | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | ||
Columbus Crew SC | 2019[38] | MLS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
2020[39] | 8 | 0 | —[lower-alpha 7] | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||||
Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
Oxford United (loan) | 2019–20[38] | League One | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |
Total | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
Hibernian | 2020–21[39] | Scottish Premiership | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
2021–22[40] | Scottish Premiership | 28 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 34 | 3 | ||
2022–23[41] | Scottish Premiership | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
Total | 41 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 53 | 3 | |||
Career total | 193 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 232 | 17 |
Scotland | ||
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Year | Apps | Goals |
2018 | 2 | 0 |
Total | 2 | 0 |
Hibernian F.C. – current squad | |
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