Alex Cropley
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| Alex Cropley | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | January 16, 1951 | |
| Place of birth | Aldershot, England | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Retired | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1968–1974 1974–1976 1976–1980 1979–1980 1980–1981 1981–1982 |
Hibernian Arsenal Aston Villa Newcastle United Toronto Blizzard Portsmouth Total |
118 (27) 30 (5) 67 (7) 3 (0) 10 (2) 228 (41) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1971 | Scotland | 2 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Alex Cropley (born on January 16, 1951 in Aldershot, Hampshire) is a retired footballer who won two caps for Scotland.
Cropley began his career with Hibernian, where he featured in the Hibs side of the early 1970s known as "Turnbull's Tornadoes". Despite being born in the south of England, Cropley was eligible for Scotland and he was selected for the matches against Belgium and Portugal in 1971.
Late in 1974, Cropley was transferred to Arsenal, where he struggled to make an impact, largely due to injuries. He had made his debut against Carlisle United on 7 December 1974, but broke his leg in a match away to Template:Subs:fc in January 1975 and broke it again soon after his comeback. He returned to make 22 appearances in 1975-76 but could not cement his place in the Arsenal first team. He was transferred to Aston Villa in September 1976, having played 34 times, scoring five goals, for Arsenal.
At Villa, he featured in a memorable win against the great Liverpool side of the period[1], but he suffered serious injury in 1977[2].
Cropley finished his career with spells at Newcastle United (on loan), Toronto Blizzard and Portsmouth. He retired from professional football in 1982 at the relatively young age of 31. His son Jordan (also a midfielder) is currently playing for Hibs' youth teams.
