Ali Crawford
Scottish footballer (born 1991)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alister Crawford (born 30 July 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alister Crawford[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 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 | |||
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]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hamilton Academical | 2009–10[37] | Scottish Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2010–11[38] | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12[39] | Scottish First Division | 19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 1 | 26 | 3 | |
| 2012–13[40] | 33 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1[a] | 0 | 40 | 5 | ||
| 2013–14[41] | Scottish Championship | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5[b] | 0 | 45 | 2 | |
| 2014–15[42] | Scottish Premiership | 38 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 43 | 10 | ||
| 2015–16[43] | 33 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 35 | 5 | |||
| 2016–17[44] | 33 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2[c] | 0 | 42 | 10 | ||
| 2017–18[45] | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | 19 | 3 | |||
| Total | 227 | 31 | 10 | 1 | 22 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 271 | 38 | ||
| Bo'ness United (loan) | 2010–11[3] | East Superleague | Unknown[d] | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Doncaster Rovers | 2018–19[46] | EFL League One | 35 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 3 |
| 2019–20[25] | EFL League One | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 36 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 3 | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2019–20[25] | EFL League One | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[e] | 2 | 14 | 2 |
| 2020–21[47] | EFL League Two | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 24 | 1 | |
| 2021–22[48] | EFL League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 3 | ||
| Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 2020–21[47] | EFL League Two | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| St Johnstone (loan) | 2021–22[48] | Scottish Premiership | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| St Johnstone | 2021–22[48] | Scottish Premiership | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 |
| 2022–23[49] | Scottish Premiership | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | |
| Total | 30 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 4 | ||
| Greenock Morton (loan) | 2022–23[49] | Scottish Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 348 | 40 | 17 | 1 | 27 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 410 | 50 | ||
- Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
- One appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup and four in the Premiership play-offs
- Appearances in the Premiership play-offs
- 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.
- Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy.