Neil Alexander
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| Neil Alexander | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neil Alexander | |
| Date of birth | March 10, 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 clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1996–1998 1998–2001 2001–2007 2007–2008 2008– |
Stenhousemuir Livingston Cardiff City Ipswich Town Rangers |
41 (0) 60 (0) 213 (0) 29 (0) 8 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 2003 2006 |
Scotland B Scotland |
1 (0) 3 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Neil Alexander (born 10 March 1978 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish professional football goalkeeper, currently playing for Scottish Premier League side Rangers.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] 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 Livi debut on 3 October 1998 against Partick Thistle.
[edit] Cardiff City
In May 2001 he joined Cardiff City for £200,000 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. During the 2006-07 season he became embroiled in a contract dispute with the club which left him refusing to sign a new contract with them,[1] leading manager Dave Jones to replace him 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. On 16 July 2007 he put pen to paper on a deal with rival Championship side Ipswich Town. On his arrival at Portman Road Alexander immediately became first choice goalkeeper at the club.
[edit] Rangers
On January 30, 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 beileved to be in the region of £500,000, although its officially undisclosed.[2]
On February 3, Alexander made his debut for Rangers as an 88th minute substitute, after Allan McGregor had been sent off in the Scottish Cup against Hibernian.[3]
On April 16, 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.
[edit] International career
Alexander currently has three Scotland caps, his first gained as a second-half substitute in a friendly against Switzerland in 2006, and played an important part in Scotland's 2006 Kirin Cup win where he played both matches against Bulgaria and Japan. He is among several players, including teammate Allan McGregor, who have found their chances in the Scotland goalkeeping position limited due to the emergence of Craig Gordon.
[edit] Honours
With Rangers
With Cardiff City
- English Division Two play-off: 2002-03
With Livingston
[edit] References
- ^ "Bluebirds exit saddens Alexander" BBC Sport website Retrieved on 26 May 2008
- ^ "Rangers sign Ipswich goalkeeper", BBC Sport website, 30 January, 2008.
- ^ "Hibernian 0-0 Rangers", BBC Sport website, 3 February, 2008.
[edit] External links
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