Allan McGregor

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Allan McGregor

McGregor playing for Rangers when he
was second-choice to Stefan Klos
Personal information
Full name Allan James McGregor
Date of birth January 31, 1982 (1982-01-31) (age 26)
Place of birth    Edinburgh, Scotland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club Rangers
Number 1
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1998–
2004–2005
2005–2006		 Rangers
→ St. Johnstone (loan)
→ Dunfermline (loan)		 70 (0)
20 (0)
26 (0)   
National team2
2007 Scotland 01 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of May 31, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of May 31, 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Allan James McGregor (born January 31, 1982 in Edinburgh) is a professional football goalkeeper currently playing for Scottish Premier League club Rangers.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

McGregor signed for Rangers in 1998 and was touted as an excellent goalkeeping prospect.[citation needed] His high hopes were put on hold when he injured his wrist during a youth match, somewhat stunting his development. He made his Rangers debut on the 24 February 2002 in a Scottish Cup match against Forfar Athletic.

McGregor has spent time at two clubs on loan. The first was St. Johnstone, for whom he kept six consecutive clean sheets, being the first to do so for the club. He spent the 2005-06 campaign on loan at Dunfermline Athletic, playing in the League cup final defeat to Celtic.

[edit] Rangers career

He had been a regular fixture on the bench and in the reserve side under then manager Alex McLeish as German Stefan Klos was preferred in goal. So when Frenchman Paul Le Guen arrived he was deemed surplus to requirements and was made available for transfer on 8 August 2006[1]. McGregor's wage demands were enough to scare off his possible SPL suitors and he remained at Ibrox after the summer transfer window closed. However a bizarre injury to Klos saw McGregor start the season as back-up to Lionel Letizi. When Letizi was also injured, McGregor started the next match for Rangers, a 2-2 draw away to Kilmarnock. He went on to produce some impressive performances and was awarded the Scottish Premier League player of the month for September[2] and then rewarded with a new contract. This deal committed him to Ibrox until 2009.[3]

However, McGregor was dropped after Letizi returned from injury. This decision by Le Guen was to backfire as Letizi was at fault for the goal conceded in a 1-0 home defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. This led to many fans calling for McGregor to be reinstated in goal, but Le Guen remained faithful to the French goalkeeper and Letizi continued to play in the subsequent matches, until suffering another injury during the warm-up of Rangers' UEFA Cup match against Maccabi Haifa. McGregor remained in goal for the rest of the season.

On February 22 2007, McGregor was sent off during Rangers' UEFA Cup match at Ibrox against Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv, which they won 4-0. After Ferguson's second goal, Italian referee Matteo Trefoloni gave a straight red card to the goalkeeper, for apparently headbutting Hapoel substitute Luciano de Bruno. Despite the incident not being caught on television cameras, and McGregor's denying headbutting de Bruno, he was given a two-match ban,[4] although it was reduced to a one-game ban on appeal.

On April 16, 2007, at the end of his first season in the Rangers first team, McGregor was voted Rangers' Player's Player of the Year at an award ceremony, as voted for by his team-mates.[5]

McGregor signed a new contract with Rangers on the 22 September 2007. It ties him to the club until the summer of 2010.[6] He continued to be Rangers first choice the following season, despite the arrival and subsequent departure of Roy Carroll, and has had a series of impressive performances in the Gers goal. Rangers progressed to the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup after his superb display in the second leg against Werder Bremen.[7] He made his 100th appearance for Rangers in a SPL match against Hibernian on March 22, 2008.[8]

[edit] International career

On January 30, 2007, ex-Rangers manager Alex McLeish named McGregor in his first squad as Scotland manager.[9] He made his international debut against Austria on May 30, 2007, playing the first half in goal before being substituted.[10] McGregor is currently back up to first choice Scotland keeper Craig Gordon.

[edit] Rangers statistics

Correct as of 31 May 2008

Club performance
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Rangers 2007-08 31 0 3 0 3 0 16 0 53 0
2006-07 31 0 1 0 2 0 8 0 42 0
2005-06 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2004-05 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2003-04 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 6 0
2002-03 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001-02 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Total 70 0 5 0 7 0 24 0 106 0

[edit] Honours

With Rangers

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Gers keeper hunt as Mac told he can go", Glasgow Evening Times (Darrell King), August 8, 2006. 
  2. ^ "McGregor aims for award rewards", BBC Sport website, 9 October 2006. 
  3. ^ "McGregor signs new deal at Ibrox", BBC Sport website, 27 October 2006. 
  4. ^ "Uefa hands McGregor two-match ban", BBC Sport website, 28 February 2007. 
  5. ^ "Hemdani Named Player Of The Year", Rangers official website, April 16, 2007. 
  6. ^ "McGregor extends Rangers contract", BBC Sport website, September 22, 2007. 
  7. ^ Walter Smith Salutes Rangers Keeper Allan McGregor Daily Record.co.uk March 14, 2008
  8. ^ "Rangers 2-1 Hibernian", BBC Sport, March 22, 2008. 
  9. ^ "McLeish names first Scotland squad", Scottish FA website, 30 January 2007. 
  10. ^ "Austria 0-1 Scotland", BBC Sport, May 30, 2007. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Rangers F.C. – current squad

1 McGregor • 3 Weir • 4 Buffel • 5 Papac • 6 Ferguson • 7 Hemdani • 8 Thomson • 9 Boyd • 10 Novo • 11 Adam • 15 Gow • 16 G. Smith • 17 Burke • 18 Naismith • 19 Darcheville • 20 Beasley • 21 Broadfoot • 22 Webster • 23 Dailly • 24 Cuéllar • 25 Alexander • 26 S. Smith • 27 McCulloch • 28 Whittaker • 29 Cousin •  Miller • Manager: W. Smith


Persondata
NAME McGregor, Allan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH