Alex McCrae

Alex McCrae
Personal information
Full name	Alexander McCrae
Date of birth	(1920-01-02)2 January 1920
Place of birth	Whitburn, Scotland
Date of death	8 October 2009(2009-10-08) (aged 89)
Place of death	Livingston, Scotland
Playing position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1941–1947	Heart of Midlothian	156	(62)
1947–1948	Charlton Athletic	43	(8)
1948–1953	Middlesbrough	122	(47)
1953–1957	Falkirk	94	(33)
–	Ballymena United
Teams managed
1957–1960	Ballymena United
1960 (Jan-Mar)	Stirling Albion
1960–1965	Falkirk ^[1]
1969–1971	Ballymena United
1972	Glentoran
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Alex McCrae (2 January 1920 – 8 October 2009) was a Scottish football player who played for Hearts, Charlton Athletic, Middlesbrough and Falkirk during his career.

Playing career

McCrae began his career at Hearts in 1941. He later moved to London to play for Charlton Athletic but was unable to settle and was snapped up by Middlesbrough for £10,000 in October 1948.

The versatile frontman could play in any forward position but favoured the inside left role. He began his career with the club in the 1948–49 season in the absence of Wilf Mannion, but his form was poor and soon he was dropped from the side. Eventually, he was recalled alongside Mannion, where he showed his pace, accurate passing and sublime ball skills.

After scoring 16 goals in the 1949–50 season, including the winner in a home 1–0 victory over Newcastle United on Boxing Day, he became a fans favourite. He topped the scoring charts the next season, scoring three hat-tricks before Christmas, but injury robbed him from helping the side finish higher than sixth in the table that season. McCrae then scored 21 goals in the 1950/51 season.^[2] As of 2009, he was the last player to score 20 goals in a season for Middlesbrough while playing in the top division of the English football league system.^[2]

He left the club for Falkirk in 1953, and followed this with a spell in Northern Ireland with Ballymena.^[3]

After football

After retiring from playing, he became Middlesbrough's scout in Scotland, where he recommended future legend Jim Platt to the club.

Honours

Falkirk

Stirlingshire Cup : 1960-61, 1963–64

References

↑ Falkirk FC Managers
1 2 Ponting, Ivan (17 October 2009). "Alex McCrae: Striker who remains the last man to score 20 top-flight League goals in a season for Middlesbrough". The Independent. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
↑ http://www.ballymenaunited.co.uk/history/alex_mccrae.html

"Heroes: Alex McCrae 1948–53". mfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-19.

External links

Newcastle Fans profile
Obituary in The Herald

Ballymena United F.C. – managers

Reid (1946–47)
McKay (1947–49)
McMillan (1949–51)
Rickett (195x–57)
McCrae (1957–60)
Twentyman (1960–63)
Hickson (1963–64)
Smith (1965–66)
Clarke (1966–67)
Hickson (1967)
Parker (1968–69)
McCrae (1969–71)
Stewart (1971–76)
E. Russell (1976–77)
McKee (1977)
Johnston (1977–79)
McKee / Murray (1979)
Campbell (1979–82)
Murray (1982–83)
Donald (1983)
I. Russell (1983)
Donald (1983)
Platt (1983–84)
Campbell (1984–85)
Brown (1985–87)
McKee (1987–91)
Hagan (1991–93)
Jackson (1993–94)
Erwin (1994–95)
Fraser (1995–99)
Hamill (1999)
Best (1999–2000)
Magill (2000–01)
Shiels (2001–05)
Wright (2005–08)
Grattan (2008)
Walker (2008–11)
McCall (2011)
Ferguson (2011–16)
Jeffrey (2016–)

Stirling Albion F.C. – managers

Fergusson (1945–51)
Paterson (1951–52)
Fergusson (1952–55)
Mathers (1955–56)
Fergusson (1956–60)
McCrae (1960)
McLennan (1960–61)
Forsyth (1961–63)
Baird (1963–68)
MacFarlane (1968–69)
Joyner (1969–70)
Shankly (1970–73)
Beattie (1973–74)
Smith (1974–86)
Peebles (1986–88)
Meaken (1988)
Fleeting (1988–89)
Brogan (1989–94)
Drinkell (1994–98)
Philliben (1998–00)
Stewart (2000–02)
Moore (2002–10)
O'Neill (2010–11)
Scott (2011)
McDonald (2011–14)
McLaren (2014–16)
Mackay (2016–)

Falkirk F.C. – managers

Nicol (1905–24)
Reid (1924–27)
Richardson (1927–32)
Orr (1932–35)
Craig (1935–50)
Shankly (1950–56)
McPhie^c (1956–57)
R. Smith (1957–59)
Younger (1959–60)
McCrae (1960–65)
Kean (1965–66)
Prentice (1966–68)
Rowan^c (1968)
Cunningham (1968–1972)
Prentice (1973–75)
McKenzie^c (1975)
Miller (1975–77)
Little (1977–79)
Hagart (1979–82)
Bennie^c (1982)
Totten (1982–83)
Abel (1983–84)
Shaw^c (1984)
Lamont (1984–87)
Clarke (1987–88)
Duffy (1988–89)
Sullivan^c (1989)
Lamont (1989–90)
Sullivan^c (1990)
Jefferies (1990–95)
Lambie (1995–96)
Collins^c (1996)
Bannon (1996)
Totten (1996–2002)
McCall (2002–03)
Coyle & Hughes (2003)
Hughes (2003–09)
May (2009–10)
Pressley (2010–13)
A. Smith^c (2013)
Holt (2013–14)
Houston (2014–)

Glentoran F.C. – managers

McStay (1932–34)
Reid (1934–35)
Jennings (1936–38)
Page (1939–40)
Thompson (1945–47)
Grice (1948–55)
McIntosh (1955–57)
Chisholm (1958)
Neilson (1958–59)
Briggs (1959–60)
Kane (1960–61)
H. Walker (1961–62)
McDowell (1962–64)
Neil (1964–66)
Colrain (1966–68)
A. Young (1968)
McParland (1968–71)
Dowd (1971–72)
McCrae (1972)
Eastham (1972–74)
McGregor (1974–77)
Stewart (1977–79)
McFall (1979–84)
Johnston (1985–87)
Jackson (1987–93)
Strain (1993–94)
Cassidy (1994–97)
Coyle (1997–2006)
Millar (2006–07)
R. Walker (2007)
McDonald (2007–10)
S. Young (2010–12)
Patterson (2012–15)
Kernaghan (2015–)

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