Christopher Dagnall (born 15 April 1986) is an English footballer who plays for side Hanley Town.
He began his career at Tranmere Rovers, where he debuted age 17 in 2003. In January 2006 he was loaned to Rochdale, where he moved permanently in the summer. He scored 60 goals across all competitions for the Dale, leaving for Scunthorpe United in 2010 after helping them achieve promotion to League One. In January 2012, he signed for Barnsley, where he struggled and was loaned to Bradford City and Coventry City. He spent 18 months scoring more frequently at Leyton Orient, before moving in 2015 to Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League, leaving after one season to join Hibernian. Two years at Crewe Alexandra then followed, before he linked up with Bury in the summer of 2018. In January 2019, he rejoined his first club Tranmere Rovers.
Career
Tranmere Rovers
Dagnall was born in Liverpool and played for Tranmere Rovers from the age of 13 as a trainee. On 13 September 2003, at the age of 17, he was included in a matchday squad for the first time by manager Ray Mathias, coming on as a late substitute for Ryan Taylor in a goalless Second Division match against Peterborough United at Prenton Park, and had a 20-yard shot saved by their goalkeeper Mark Tyler. He went on to make 10 league appearances and one League Cup appearance, and scored his first career goal by equalising in a 3–1 away defeat to Luton Town on 6 October. Tranmere narrowly missed out on the play-offs, finishing in eighth place.
He started the next season on 10 August 2004 by scoring his first Prenton Park goal in a 2–1 home win against Hartlepool United, where he was shown a second yellow card and was sent off for jumping into the crowd. He began to score more frequently finishing the season with six goals, with Tranmere winning every game in which he scored. Tranmere finished the season in third place, however they lost to Hartlepool in the play-offs.
He made several appearances at the start of the following season including his FA Cup debut which was a 2–1 loss away to future club Bradford City. On 13 January 2006 he went on loan to Rochdale of League Two, originally on a temporary basis. He spent the rest of the season at Spotland and scored three goals in 21 appearances, including a last-minute equaliser for a 1–1 draw at Rushden & Diamonds on 15 April.
Rochdale
In July 2006, Rochdale made the move permanent for an initial fee of £25,000, with manager Steve Parkin seeing Dagnall as a replacement for top scorer Grant Holt, who had signed for Nottingham Forest for £300,000. He made his second debut for Rochdale in a 1–0 loss at home to Walsall, coming on as a late substitute. He scored regularly for Rochdale including braces against Boston United, Wrexham and Peterborough. He scored his first hat-trick in a 5–0 win at Spotland against Macclesfield Town on 21 April 2007. He ended the season with 17 league goals, finishing joint fourth top scorer in the league.
In the following season he received an injury after playing just eight games, which led to a lengthy lay-off. He did not play from September 2007 until March 2008, where he marked his return with a hat-trick in a 4–1 win against Rotherham United in his first game back. In May, he scored in three consecutive games which included a draw at home to Shrewsbury, and in both play-off semi-final legs against Darlington, losing the first game and winning the second a week later. The tie went to penalties which Rochdale won 5–4. However Rochdale lost 3–2 in the final at Wembley to Stockport County. He finished the season with nine league goals, despite only playing 17 games.
His first goal of the 2008–09 season came in a 3–1 home win against Barnet. On 21 October 2008 he scored his third career hat-trick in a 6–1 home win against Chester. On 3 March 2009 Dagnall received the second red card of his career, coming in a 2–1 away defeat to Barnet. He finished the season with 10 goals, helping Rochdale to another play-off semi-final, where they were beaten by Gillingham.
Dagnall scored six goals in the first 10 league games at the start of the 2009–10 season, including a brace against Torquay United on 12 September 2009. On 27 March 2010 he scored another hat-trick, this time in a 4–1 win against Grimsby Town. On 17 April 2010 Rochdale beat Northampton Town 1–0 at home to secure their first promotion for 41 years. He finished the season with 20 goals, his highest ever total.