Neil Alexander

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

For the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, see Neil Alexander (bishop).

<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Neil Alexander
File:Neil Alexander.jpg
Personal information
Full name Neil Alexander
Date of birth (1978-03-10) 10 March 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Heart of Midlothian
Number 1
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Stenhousemuir 41 (0)
1998–2001 Livingston 60 (0)
2001–2007 Cardiff City 213 (0)
2007–2008 Ipswich Town 29 (0)
2008–2013 Rangers 61 (0)
2013–2014 Crystal Palace 0 (0)
2014– Heart of Midlothian 50 (0)
International career‡
1997–1999 Scotland U21[1] 10 (0)
2003 Scotland B 1 (0)
2006 Scotland 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 January 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 March 2010

Neil Alexander (born 10 March 1978) is a Scottish professional footballer, who plays as a goalkeeper for Heart of Midlothian. He has previously played for Stenhousemuir, Livingston, Cardiff City, Ipswich Town, Rangers and Crystal Palace. He has also represented Scotland at under-21, B level and as a full internationalist.

Club career

Early career

He grew up a fan of Heart of Midlothian.[2] Alexander started his career with Stenhousemuir before moving to Livingston in 1998, where he was part of the Scottish First Division title-winning side of 2001. He made his Livingston debut on 3 October 1998 against Partick Thistle.

Cardiff City

On 28 May 2001 he joined Cardiff City for £200,000[3] and in six years at Ninian Park played over 200 games for the Bluebirds, including helping them win promotion to the Football League Championship. During his time at Cardiff, Alexander became a fan favourite and manager Lennie Lawrence was heavily criticised on several occasions after attempting to replace him with Tony Warner.[citation needed] During the 2006–07 season he became embroiled in a contract dispute with the club which left him refusing to sign a new contract.[4][5] Cardiff manager Dave Jones replaced Alexander as first choice for the last two months of the season with David Forde. His last appearance for Cardiff was on 31 March in a 1–0 defeat to Sunderland and at the time of his departure he was the longest serving player at the club.[6]

Ipswich Town

On 16 July 2007 he put pen to paper on a deal with rival Championship side Ipswich Town.[7] On his arrival at Portman Road Alexander immediately became first choice goalkeeper at the club. He made his debut against Sheffield Wednesday on 11 August 2007. Alexander made 31 appearances for Ipswich during his six-month spell.

Rangers

On 30 January 2008, Rangers agreed a deal with Ipswich Town for the transfer of Alexander and he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract later that day. The transfer was believed to be a free with add-ons related to success, although it was officially undisclosed.[8]

Alexander made his debut for Rangers on 3 February 2008, after Allan McGregor had been sent off in the Scottish Cup against Hibernian.[9] On 16 April, Alexander made his Old Firm debut as a 77th-minute substitute for the injured McGregor. He then played a vital role in Rangers' UEFA Cup and Scottish Cup semi-final wins, where he made important saves when both games were decided by penalty shoot-outs.

Alexander was promoted to first choice keeper at Rangers in April 2009, after McGregor was suspended for a late night drinking session with then Rangers and Scotland captain, Barry Ferguson. Alexander remained in goal until the end of the season, winning a league and cup double. The following season McGregor returned to first choice goalkeeper[10] but Alexander played in all matches of the successful 2009-10 Scottish League Cup campaign, including the final against St. Mirren.[11]

In the pre season testimonial game for Queen of the South's Jim Thomson, Alexander came on at half time as a substitute for Queens despite being on the Rangers bench.[12]

Alexander continued as second choice keeper in the 2010–11 season, but signed a new contract with the club.[13] He played in the League Cup ties and won his third League Cup honour with Rangers on 20 March 2011, in a 2–1 extra time win over Old Firm rivals Celtic.

Following Charles Green's purchase of Rangers' business and assets, Alexander was one of the few players to agree to have his contract switched to Green's company.[14] With Allan McGregor having refused to transfer his contract, Alexander became first choice 'keeper at Rangers. Alexander left Rangers at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Crystal Palace

After leaving Rangers in the summer he later signed for Crystal Palace on a one-year-deal on 14 August 2013.[15] He made his debut in a 2–1 League Cup defeat at Bristol City on 27 August 2013. He was released by Palace at the end of the 2013–14 season.[16]

Hearts

Alexander signed for Hearts in June 2014.[17] He was the regular goalkeeper for Hearts during the 2014–15 season, as they won the Scottish Championship and promotion back to the top flight of the Scottish football league system.

International career

Alexander was first called up for Scotland during the 2002 Far East tour but did not receive a cap.[18] He made his Scotland debut as a 49th-minute substitute in a friendly against Switzerland in 1 March 2006.[19] Alexander also played a part in Scotland's 2006 Kirin Cup win and played both matches against Bulgaria and Japan.

Career statistics

As of 3 August 2015[20]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other[21] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stenhousemuir 1996–97 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0
1997–98 36 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 39 0
Total 41 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 45 0
Livingston 1998–99 21 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 26 0
1999–2000 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
2000–01 26 0 3 0 2 0 5 0 36 0
Total 60 0 8 0 2 0 5 0 75 0
Cardiff City 2001–02 48 0 4 0 1 0 - – 53 0
2002–03 43 0 4 0 1 0 - - 48 0
2003–04 25 0 0 0 0 0 - - 25 0
2004–05 17 0 0 0 2 0 - - 19 0
2005–06 46 0 1 0 1 0 - - 48 0
2006–07 39 0 2 0 0 0 - - 41 0
Total 218 0 11 0 5 0 0 0 234 0
Ipswich Town 2007–08 29 0 1 0 1 0 - - 30 0
Rangers 2007–08 8 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 15 0
2008–09 11 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 14 0
2009–10 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 9 0
2010–11 1 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 7 0
2011–12 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
2012–13 36 0 4 0 4 0 3 0 47 0
Total 62 0 10 0 14 0 8 0 94 0
Crystal Palace 2013-14 0 0 0 0 1 0 - - 1 0
Heart of Midlothian 2014–15 29 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 32 0
2015–16 21 0 1 0 2 0 - - 24 0
Total 50 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 56 0
Career total 455 0 33 0 27 0 16 0 532 0

Honours

Livingston
Cardiff City
Rangers
Heart of Midlothian
Scotland

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Bluebirds exit saddens Alexander" BBC Sport. 12 May 2007.
  7. ↑ "Ipswich sign goalkeeper Alexander" BBC Sport (17 July 2007)
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ "Keeper problems for Kenny", www.qosfc.com
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Hearts: Goalkeeper Neil Alexander signs player-coach deal, BBC Sport
  18. ↑ "Alexander earns Faroes place" BBC Sport. 27 August 2002.
  19. ↑ "Scotland 1–3 Switzerland" BBC Sport. 1 March 2006.
  20. ↑ Neil Alexander career statistics at Soccerbase
  21. ↑ Europe and Scottish Challenge Cup

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Neil_Alexander&oldid=2591277"