Ali Crawford

Hamilton Academical

Born in Lanark and brought up in nearby Carluke, Crawford played as a child with local club Milton Rovers before joining the youth setup at Heart of Midlothian, but he was released in 2006 due to concerns over his slight build. 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, 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. In June 2012, Crawford announced that he was willing to prove his worth at the club following a spell of injury. 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, and he later spoke of his desire to help "kick-start" the season. Crawford signed a new two-year contract in July 2013. 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. In April 2014 he was selected to the 2013–14 Championship PFA Scotland Team of the Year, alongside teammates Ziggy Gordon and Anthony Andreu. 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. In October 2014 he signed a new contract with the club, to last until the summer of…

As of 28 January 2023