- Neil Alexander
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For the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, see Neil Alexander (bishop).
Neil Alexander 
Personal information Full name Neil Alexander Date of birth 10 March 1978 Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Playing position Goalkeeper Club information Current club Rangers Number 25 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– Rangers 25 (0) National team‡ 1998–1999 Scotland U21 5 (0) 2003 Scotland B 1 (0) 2006– Scotland 3 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 October 2010.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 February 2010Neil Alexander (born 10 March 1978 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish professional football goalkeeper who is currently playing for Scottish Premier League side Rangers.
Contents
Club career
Early career
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[1] 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 fans 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.[2][3] 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.[4]
Ipswich Town
On 16 July 2007 he put pen to paper on a deal with rival Championship side Ipswich Town.[5] 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 half year contract later that day. The transfer was believed to be a free with add-ons related to success, although its officially undisclosed.[6]
On 3 February, Alexander made his debut for Rangers as an 88th minute substitute, after Allan McGregor had been sent off in the Scottish Cup against Hibernian.[7] On 16 April, Alexander made his Old Firm debut as a 77th minute substitute for the injured Allan 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, following the suspension of Allan McGregor after a late night drinking session with then Rangers and Scotland captain, Barry Ferguson. He remained in goal until the end of the season, winning the league and cup double. The following season McGregor returned to first choice goalkeeper[8] but Alexander played in all matches of the successful 2009-10 League Cup campaign, including the final against St. Mirren.[9]
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. Queens Roddy McKenzie had gone off injured.[10] Scally initially went in goal due to both the other keepers on Queens' books being injured.[11]
In the 2010-11 season, Alexander was second choice keeper, but, was promoted to first choice in league cup games. He won his third league cup honour with Rangers on the 20 March 2011, in a 2-1 extra time win over Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Club Career Statistics
(Accurate as of 30th July 2011)
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe/SCC 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 1 Total 60 0 8 0 2 0 5 0 75 0 Cardiff City 2001-02 48 0 4 0 1 0 N/A N/A 53 0 2002-03 43 0 4 0 1 0 N/A N/A 48 0 2003–04 25 0 0 0 0 0 N/A N/A 25 0 2004–05 17 0 0 0 2 0 N/A N/A 19 0 2005–06 46 0 1 0 1 0 N/A N/A 48 0 2006–07 39 0 2 0 0 0 N/A N/A 41 0 Total 218 0 11 0 5 0 N/A N/A 234 0 Ipswich Town 2007–08 29 0 1 0 0 0 N/A N/A 30 0 Total 29 0 1 0 1 0 N/A N/A 31 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 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 25 0 6 0 9 0 5 0 45 0 International career
Alexander was first called up for Scotland during the 2002 Far East tour but did not receive a cap.[12] He made his Scotland debut as a 49th minute substitute in a friendly against Switzerland in 1 March 2006.[13] Alexander also played a part in Scotland's 2006 Kirin Cup win and played both matches against Bulgaria and Japan.
Honours
- Scottish Second Division (1): 1999
- Scottish First Division (1): 2001
- Football League Second Division Play-Off Winners: (1): 2003
- Scottish Premier League (3): 2009, 2010, 2011
- Scottish Cup (2): 2008, 2009
- Scottish League Cup (3): 2008, 2010, 2011
References
- ^ "Cardiff sign keeper" BBC Sport (28 May 2001)
- ^ "Alexander rejects Cardiff offer" BBC Sport (10 December 2006)
- ^ "Alexander given Cardiff ultimatum" BBC Sport (11 March 2007)
- ^ "Bluebirds exit saddens Alexander" BBC Sport. 12 May 2007.
- ^ "Ipswich sign goalkeeper Alexander" BBC Sport (17 July 2007)
- ^ "Rangers sign Ipswich goalkeeper". BBC Sport. 30 January 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/7217606.stm.
- ^ "Hibernian 0–0 Rangers". BBC Sport. 3 February 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/7221872.stm.
- ^ "Alexander treated harshly - Smith". BBC Sport. 16 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/8204047.stm.
- ^ "Rangers' Allan McGregor set to be on cup final bench". BBC Sport. 20 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/8577779.stm.
- ^ "Keeper problems for Kenny", www.qosfc.com
- ^ "Queen of the South 0 - 1 Rangers", Graham Crofts on www.qosfc.com
- ^ "Alexander earns Faroes place" BBC Sport. 27 August 2002.
- ^ "Scotland 1–3 Switzerland" BBC Sport. 1 March 2006.
External links
Rangers F.C. – current squad 1 McGregor · 2 Goian · 3 Weir (c) · 4 Broadfoot · 5 Papac · 6 McCulloch · 7 Edu · 8 Davis · 9 Jelavić · 10 Fleck · 11 Lafferty · 12 Wallace · 14 Naismith · 15 Healy · 16 Whittaker · 17 Ortiz · 18 Bocanegra · 20 McKay · 21 Bedoya · 22 Bartley · 23 McMillan · 25 Alexander · 26 Ness · 27 Wylde · 28 Kerkar · 32 Perry · 33 Bendiksen · 38 Hemmings · 41 McCabe · Manager: McCoist
Categories:- 1978 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Edinburgh
- Scottish footballers
- Scotland under-21 international footballers
- Scotland B international footballers
- Scotland international footballers
- Stenhousemuir F.C. players
- Livingston F.C. players
- Cardiff City F.C. players
- Ipswich Town F.C. players
- Rangers F.C. players
- Queen of the South F.C. players
- Scottish Premier League players
- The Football League players
- Scottish Football League players
- Association football goalkeepers
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