Alex Rae
Rae during Jody Craddock's testimonial in 2014
Personal information
Full name Alexander Scott Rae[1]
Date of birth (1969-09-30) 30 September 1969[1]
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder[1]
Team information
Current team
 Rangers (first-team coach)
Youth career
Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1990 Falkirk 83 (20)
1990–1996 Millwall 218 (63)
1996–2001 Sunderland 114 (12)
2001–2004 Wolverhampton Wanderers 107 (15)
2004–2006 Rangers 34 (1)
2006–2008 Dundee 26 (3)
2009–2010 Milton Keynes Dons 3 (0)
Total 585 (114)
International career
1990–1992 Scotland U21[3] 9 (3)
Managerial career
2006–2008 Dundee
2015–2016 St Mirren
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexander Scott Rae (born 30 September 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently acts as a first team coach to Philippe Clement at Rangers.

Rae began his youth career at Rangers and started his senior career at Falkirk. Rae played for Millwall, Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rangers, Dundee, Milton Keynes Dons. Back from rehab clinic for alcoholism in 1998, he was with Sunderland and played regularly in the top flight until September 2001. He then joined Wolverhampton Wanderers,[4] and quickly became the key player in the team, winning the fans' player of the season award. In 2003, he helped the team back into the Premier League, and had his best seasonal tally with 8 goals. He then went back to Scotland, joining Rangers where he had started his youth career, in May 2004,[5] and won the league title in his first season.[6]

Rae was appointed player-manager of Dundee in May 2006. He led the club to third place in the First Division in his first season and took them a place higher in his second. He stopped his career as a footballer during the 2008–09 season[7] and went to Sweden as part of his work towards a UEFA Pro Licence.[8]

Playing career

Rae was born in Glasgow.[1] He started his career as a youngster at boyhood heroes Rangers but was rejected by boss Graeme Souness. He dropped down to junior leagues with Bishopbriggs before he joined Falkirk and enjoyed a successful two years before heading south to sign for Millwall in 1990 for £100,000. He made his Millwall debut on 25 August 1990 and played for the club for six years. While at the club he would go on to become one of Millwall's highest goalscorers, with 71 goals in all competitions. His form for Millwall earned him a big money move to Premier League Sunderland for £1 million in 1996, where he established himself as a crowd-pleasing, combative midfielder. His career took a downturn though, as he descended into alcoholism, leading to him attending a rehab clinic during 1998. He stayed sober after this treatment and further rehabilitation, and later became a patron for the Sporting Chance clinic.

Back on the field, he won promotion as champions back to the Premier League with Sunderland in 1998–99 and played regularly in the top flight. By 2001, he had dropped out of manager Peter Reid's plans and was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 2001, for £1.2 million.[4] He quickly became an important player for Wolves, winning the fans' player of the season award in his first campaign. The following year, he helped them back into the Premier League when they won the play-offs in 2003. He had a strong year in the top flight, finishing as the club's leading scorer with eight goals – his best-ever seasonal tally – but could not prevent the club's relegation. Rae re-signed for Rangers in May 2004,[5] and won the league title in his first season, scoring once in the process against Dunfermline.[6] He only featured 12 times in his second season, however, and was later released by the club.[9]

Coaching and managerial career

Rae in 2010

Rae was appointed player-manager of Dundee on 24 May 2006.[9] He led the club to third place in the First Division in his first season and took them a place higher in his second. He gave up playing for the 2008–09 season but was sacked on 20 October 2008 with the team in eighth place in the league.[7] Following this, Rae travelled to Sweden as part of his work towards a UEFA Pro Licence.[8]

In July 2009 he joined MK Dons, on a temporary basis with a view to a permanent deal, as first team coach working under his former Wolves teammate Paul Ince.[10]

In 2010, Rae made a return to competitive football to cover for injuries. On 29 October 2010, Rae joined Notts County as assistant manager,[11] but he left the club following the departure of manager Paul Ince on 3 April 2011.[12]

In February 2013, Rae joined Blackpool, once again with Paul Ince.[13] The season finished with Blackpool in 15th place.[14]

On 21 January 2014, along with Paul Ince, Rae's Blackpool contract was terminated and he left the club.[15] In August 2014 he became assistant manager at Belgian club KRC Genk, working with Alex McLeish.[16]

Rae was appointed manager of Scottish Championship side St Mirren in December 2015,[17] after former manager Ian Murray resigned.[18] After an unsuccessful start to the 2016–17 season, Rae and his assistant David Farrell were sacked by the club.[19]

Rae became assistant to Paul Ince at Reading in February 2022. On 11 April 2023, Rae and Ince were sacked by Reading.[20] On 1 October 2023, Rae joined Scottish Premiership side Rangers as a first-team coach after the sacking of manager Michael Beale.[21]

Managerial statistics

As of match played on 17 September 2016[22]
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Dundee 24 May 2006 20 October 2008 97 42 22 33 043.30
St Mirren 18 December 2015 18 September 2016 32 13 6 13 040.63
Total 129 55 28 46 042.64

Honours

Sunderland

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Rangers

Scotland U21

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Alex Rae". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Alex Rae: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Scotland U21 Player Alex Rae Details". www.fitbastats.com.
  4. 1 2 "Rae completes move". BBC Sport. 19 September 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Rangers seal Rae deal". BBC Sport. 18 May 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Rangers 3–0 Dunfermline Athletic". BBC Sport. 15 January 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Dundee sack Rae and seek new boss". BBC Sport. 20 October 2008. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Rae of Sunshine". HeraldScotland.
  9. 1 2 "Rae is player-boss at Dens Park". BBC Sport. 24 May 2006.
  10. ↑ "Ince makes his mark as assistant is named". Milton Keynes Citizen. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  11. ↑ "Archived item". Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Paul Ince leaves Notts County 'by mutual consent'". The Guardian. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Alex Rae: Paul Ince adds Scot to Blackpool coaching staff". BBC Sport. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  14. ↑ "Championship (Sky Sports)". SkySports. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Paul Ince: Blackpool boss sacked after less than a year in charge". BBC Sport. 21 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Rangers v Celtic: Experience key for semi-final - Alex McLeish". BBC Sport. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "St Mirren: Alex Rae succeeds Ian Murray as manager". BBC Sport. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "St Mirren: Ian Murray resigns after six months as manager". BBC Sport. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  19. ↑ Paterson, Colin (18 September 2016). "St Mirren sack manager Alex Rae after dreadful start to the season". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  20. ↑ Smith, Aidan (22 February 2022). "Reading confirm Rangers hero Alex Rae as interim assistant manager alongside Paul Ince". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  21. ↑ "Rangers: Michael Beale sacked as manager; Steven Davis takes interim charge". BBC Sport. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  22. ↑ "Alex Rae managerial statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  23. ↑ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1999). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1999–2000. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 32, 352–353. ISBN 978-0-7472-7627-2.
  24. ↑ "Wolves back in big time". BBC Sport. 26 May 2003. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  25. ↑ "GLORY BOYS: The Scotland under-21 squad which has steered their country to the semi-finals of the European". Evening Express. 22 April 1992. Retrieved 25 May 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. ↑ "NO THANKS: Same old jinx". Daily Record. 3 June 1991. Retrieved 25 May 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. ↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1996). The 1996–97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 285. ISBN 978-1-85291-571-1.
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