Nottingham Forest Crichton started his career as a trainee at
Nottingham Forest club, turning professional in May 1986. While at
Forest he was loaned out to six different clubs to gain experience, although he was never given an opportunity at Forest. The first of these loans, was with neighbours
Notts County, which gave Crichton his league debut in September 1986. This was followed by further loans to
Darlington in (January) and
Peterborough United in (March). In September 1987 he rejoined
Darlington, with further loans at
Swindon Town in December 1987, and
Rotherham United in March 1988. He joined
Torquay United on loan in August 1988, playing 13 games at the start of the season, keeping
Ken Veysey out of the side. He played well enough to attract attention from other clubs, and moved from Forest to
Peterborough United in November on a
free transfer.
Doncaster Rovers He was released at the end of the following season and joined
Doncaster Rovers in August 1990. On 15 September that year in a game against
Rochdale at
Spotland, Crichton achieved a rare if not unique feat by saving the same penalty three times. The referee had insisted it be retaken twice. Rovers went on to win 3–0. He appeared in 90 league and cup games for Doncaster.
Burnley He then joined
Burnley on loan in August 1998, playing just once, in the opening game of the season, before being recalled to
the Hawthorns after just 3 days. He returned to
Burnley in a permanent move on 19 November 1998, costing the Clarets £100,000 and quickly established himself in the Burnley side. He was an ever-present in the 1999–2000 season, as Burnley won promotion to Division One, but the following season lost his place to Greek international goalkeeper
Nikolaos Michopoulos. His spell at Burnley may be remembered for his part in one of Burnley's worst ever spells in football. In February 1999, Burnley played
Gillingham at
Turf Moor, Gillingham won 5–0 with
Robert Taylor scoring all 5 goals (at the time it was a post-war record for number of goals scored by one person on an away ground). Things went from bad to worst in the following fixture, again at home, this time to
Manchester City as City won 6–0. Crichton was in goal for both games, and although the defence was perhaps more to blame than him, it was the most goals he had conceded in two games.
Latter career On 22 June 2001
Norwich City paid £150,000 to sign him from Burnley. He was signed as a back-up goalkeeper, however, and spent his time playing understudy to
Robert Green. After only 6 appearances in three seasons, Crichton joined
York City on a free transfer in 2004, although he ended his final season at Norwich with a first division championship medal after the Canaries won promotion to the Premiership. However, he was sacked by York in September 2004 after an incident with a supporter, and joined
Gainsborough Trinity. Later that month he joined
Stafford Rangers, playing twice before leaving to seek a move to a club nearer his
Norwich home. However, in early October 2004 he joined
Leigh RMI, for whom he played five times before joining
Accrington Stanley in November 2004. It was from Accrington, and following almost twenty appearances, that Crichton returned to league football, joining
Gillingham at the beginning of the
2005–06 season. Crichton was signed as back up to
Jason Brown, but was also given his first official coaching role. His one appearance that season came in the home game against
Yeovil Town, where he kept a
clean sheet in a 0–0 draw. ==Coaching career==