Ali Crawford

Ali Crawford
Personal information
Full name Alister Crawford[1]
Date of birth (1991-07-30) 30 July 1991[2][3]
Place of birth Lanark, Scotland[3]
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[4]
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Greenock Morton
Number 11
Youth career
1995–2000 Carluke Milton Rovers
2000–2006 Heart of Midlothian
2006–2009 Hamilton Academical
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2018 Hamilton Academical 227 (31)
2010 → Bo'ness United (loan)
2018–2019 Doncaster Rovers 36 (3)
2019–2022 Bolton Wanderers 33 (1)
2021 → Tranmere Rovers (loan) 9 (0)
2021–2022 → St Johnstone (loan) 14 (1)
2022–2024 St Johnstone 30 (4)
2023 → Greenock Morton (loan) 12 (0)
2024– Greenock Morton 32 (3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 May 2026

Alister Crawford (born 30 July 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton.

Career

Hamilton Academical

Born in Lanark and brought up in nearby Carluke, Crawford played as a child with local club Milton Rovers[5] before joining the youth setup at Heart of Midlothian, but he was released in 2006 due to concerns over his slight build.[4] Picked up by Hamilton Academical, he progressed to the first team and made his league debut aged 18 on 13 January 2010 against Dundee United,[6] and spent a loan spell at Bo'ness United during the first half of the 2010–11 season. In May 2011, he signed a new two-year contract with Hamilton despite the club suffering relegation.[7][8]

In June 2012, Crawford announced that he was willing to prove his worth at the club following a spell of injury.[9] On 28 August 2012, Crawford scored the only goal of the game as Hamilton beat Partick Thistle 1–0 in extra time in the 2012–13 Scottish League Cup,[10] and he later spoke of his desire to help "kick-start" the season.[11] Crawford signed a new two-year contract in July 2013.[12] At the start of the 2013–14 season, Crawford publicly stated that the new synthetic pitch at New Douglas Park would give Hamilton an advantage over their opponents.[13]

In April 2014 he was selected to the 2013–14 Championship PFA Scotland Team of the Year, alongside teammates Ziggy Gordon and Anthony Andreu.[14] A month later, Crawford was part of the Hamilton team which won promotion back to the Premiership by defeating Hibernian in the play-off final.[15] In October 2014 he signed a new contract with the club, to last until the summer of 2018.[16] In August 2015, he scored a late winning goal against Hearts in the first match he had played against his former youth club.[17]

In September 2016 it was suggested by Hamilton manager Martin Canning that Crawford should play for the Scotland national team.[18] In November 2016 club captain Michael Devlin said that the team hoped that Crawford would not leave the club in the January 2017 transfer window.[19] In December 2016, Canning said they wished to keep Crawford until the end of the 2016–17 season.[20]

Crawford was one of seven first-team players who left Hamilton at the end of the 2017–18 season;[21] he stated that his preference was to play in England.[22]

Doncaster Rovers

On 10 July 2018, Crawford signed for League One side Doncaster Rovers on a two-year contract.[23]

Bolton Wanderers

On 2 September 2019, Crawford signed for fellow League One side Bolton Wanderers on a contract until the end of the season, after terminating his contract with Doncaster Rovers.[24] He made his debut on 14 September, starting against Rotherham United in a 6-1 defeat.[25] He scored his first goal for the club in the EFL Trophy game at Rochdale on 1 October, a game Bolton eventually lost on penalties.[26] On 26 June it was announced Crawford would be one of 14 senior players released at the end of his contract on 30 June,[27] but he returned to the club a few days later after signing a new two-year contract,[28] turning down League One teams in order to return.[29]

Tranmere Rovers (loan)

On 1 February 2021, he signed on loan for Tranmere Rovers until the end of the season.[30]

St Johnstone

On 31 August 2021, Crawford returned to Scotland to join St Johnstone on a six-month loan deal until January 2022.[31][32]

On 3 January 2022, Crawford signed a permanent deal with St Johnstone until 2024.[33]

Greenock Morton

On 24 February 2023, Crawford joined Greenock Morton on a loan until the end of the season.[34][35]

On 2 August 2024, Crawford joined Morton on a six-month permanent deal with the option to extend following his departure from St Johnstone.[36]

Career statistics

As of 28 January 2023[3]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hamilton Academical 2009–10[37] Scottish Premier League 700000—70
2010–11[38] 1400000—140
2011–12[39] Scottish First Division 19220104[a]1263
2012–13[40] 33331311[a]0405
2013–14[41] Scottish Championship 36210305[b]0452
2014–15[42] Scottish Premiership 38101040—4310
2015–16[43] 3351010—355
2016–17[44] 33820522[c]04210
2017–18[45] 1410052—193
Total 2273110122512127138
Bo'ness United (loan) 2010–11[3] East Superleague Unknown[d]10—10
Doncaster Rovers 2018–19[46] EFL League One 353400030423
2019–20[25] EFL League One 1000100020
Total 363401030443
Bolton Wanderers 2019–20[25] EFL League One 12000002[e]2142
2020–21[47] EFL League Two 21110101[e]0241
2021–22[48] EFL League One 0000000000
Total 331101032383
Tranmere Rovers (loan) 2020–21[47] EFL League Two 9000000090
St Johnstone (loan) 2021–22[48] Scottish Premiership 141002100162
St Johnstone 2021–22[48] Scottish Premiership 142100000152
2022–23[49] Scottish Premiership 162002000182
Total 304102000334
Greenock Morton (loan) 2022–23[49] Scottish Championship 0000000000
Career total 3484017127618341050
  1. 1 2 Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
  2. ↑ One appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup and four in the Premiership play-offs
  3. ↑ Appearances in the Premiership play-offs
  4. ↑ Bo'ness play in the Junior leagues, where player statistics are not recorded on a consistently reliable basis. Their regional champions qualify for the senior Scottish Cup.
  5. 1 2 Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy.

References

  1. ↑ "Club list of registered players: As at 18th May 2019: Doncaster Rovers" (PDF). English Football League. p. 55. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Fixtures 2012/13". Hamilton Academical F.C. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ali Crawford at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Ali Crawford: I'm being given chance at Hamilton for my ability after Hearts binned me for being too small". Daily Record. 10 April 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Accies ace Ali appearing at Youth Football Awards". Carluke Gazette. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Hamilton 0–1 Dundee Utd". BBC Sport. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  7. ↑ "Grant Gillespie signs new Hamilton Accies contract". BBC Sport. 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  8. ↑ Andrew McGilvray (26 May 2011). "Midfielder Ali Crawford signs two-year contract extension at Hamilton Accies". Hamilton Advertiser. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  9. ↑ Andrew McGilvray (28 June 2012). "Accies midfielder hopes to prove he can bounce back from injury". Hamilton Advertiser. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  10. ↑ Andrew McGilvray (30 August 2012). "Ali's wonder-strike wins cup tie". Hamilton Advertiser. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Andrew McGilvray (13 September 2012). "Ali aims to kick-start season". Hamilton Advertiser. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "Ali Crawford re-signs". Hamilton Academical F.C. 2 July 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  13. ↑ Andrew McGilvray (11 July 2013). "Ali Crawford reckons astro pitch can help Accies bounce back to the big time". Hamilton Advertiser. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "Falkirk and Rangers dominate team of the year voting". BBC Sport. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Hibernian 0 Hamilton Academical 2; Hamilton win 4-3 on penalties: match report". The Daily Telegraph. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "Hamilton's Crawford and Gillespie agree new deals". BBC Sport. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Ali Crawford comes back to haunt Hearts after being shown the Tynecastle door for being too small". Daily Record. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  18. ↑ John Barnes (22 September 2016). "Hamilton's Martin Canning tips Ali Crawford for Scotland cap". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  19. ↑ Jane Lewis (30 November 2016). "Ali Crawford: Michael Devlin hopes Hamilton teammate will not exit in January". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  20. ↑ Alasdair Lamont (12 December 2016). "Ali Crawford: Hamilton aim to keep star man until the summer". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  21. ↑ Craig Fowler (14 May 2018). "Hamilton Accies announce departure of seven first-team players". The Scotsman. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  22. ↑ Jonathan Sutherland (14 May 2018). "Hamilton: Ali Crawford eyes move to England after Accies exit". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "Ali Crawford: Doncaster sign Hamilton midfielder on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "Wanderers sign Doncaster midfielder". Bolton Wanderers. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  25. 1 2 3 "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  26. ↑ "Report: Rochdale vs. Bolton Wanderers (Leasing.com Trophy)". Bolton Wanderers. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  27. ↑ "Wanderers announce retained list - with 14 players out of contract this summer". The Bolton News. 26 June 2020.
  28. ↑ "Ali Crawford signs Two-Year Deal with Wanderers". www.bwfc.co.uk.
  29. ↑ "Bolton Wanderers re-sign midfielder Ali Crawford on two-year deal". The Bolton News. 3 July 2020.
  30. ↑ McDougall, John (1 February 2021). "Bolton midfielder Crawford joins League Two rivals Tranmere on loan". Manchester Evening News.
  31. ↑ "Crawford Joins St. Johnstone On Loan". www.bwfc.co.uk. 31 August 2021.
  32. ↑ "St Johnstone take Crawford from Bolton". BBC Sport. 31 August 2021.
  33. ↑ "Crawford Signs Until 2024". St Johnstone Football Club. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  34. ↑ "Ali Crawford heads on loan". St Johnstone Football Club. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  35. ↑ "St Johnstone midfielder Ali Crawford joins Morton on loan until end of the season". HeraldScotland. 24 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  36. ↑ "Ali Crawford Returns to Cappielow - Greenock Morton FC". 2 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  37. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  38. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  39. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  40. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  41. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  42. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  43. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  44. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  45. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  46. ↑ "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  47. 1 2 "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  48. 1 2 3 "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  49. 1 2 "Games played by Ali Crawford in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
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