Alexander James Cropley (born 16 January 1951) is a retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Born in England, he was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

for the Scotland national team.

Career

Cropley was born in

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. His father is Jack Cropley, who was playing for

at the time. Cropley junior, who grew up in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, began his career with

, where he featured in the famed team of the early 1970s known as " Turnbull's Tornadoes". While with Hibs he won the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, in a 2–1 victory in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

. Despite being born in the south of England, Cropley was eligible for Scotland and he was selected for matches played against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

. Late in 1974, Cropley moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where he turned down an offer from Chelsea to play for

, whom he signed for in a deal worth £150,000. He made his debut for the Gunners against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

on 7 December 1974. Cropley then broke his leg in a match away to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in January 1975 and broke it again soon after his comeback. He returned to make 22 appearances in the 1975–76 season, but could not secure a regular place in Arsenal's first team. He then linked up with

in September 1976, having played 30 league games with five goals scored altogether for Arsenal. At Villa, he featured in a memorable win against the great

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

side of the period. Cropley also appeared in the League Cup

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

against Everton. The final needed to be replayed after the game ended in a draw. The second final saw the two teams once again finish the game tied altogether. In the eventual third final, with the game going to extra time, Villa won by a 3–2 margin over the Toffees and in so doing Cropley victoriously lifted the Cup. He thereafter yet again suffered another a broken leg, in a game versus local rivals West Bromwich Albion on 10 December 1977. Cropley then had a spell on loan at

from January to June 1980, returning to Villa in July of that year. Cropley left

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

in March 1981 to feature a month later for club

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

. He then left Blizzard in October 1981 and to link up in the following month for

. He then ended his days as a

professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a profes ...

in 1982 due to persistent and serious injuries at the relatively young age of 31.

Personal life

After his playing days came to an end, Cropley became a taxi driver within his hometown of Edinburgh. His son Jordan is also a footballer, who played for Hibernian's academy. Jordan went on to feature for Scottish clubs

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

Arniston Rangers Arniston Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club, based in the town of Gorebridge. They play in the East of Scotland Football League (Second Division), having moved from the SJFA East Region Premier League in 2018. Nicknamed "Arni", ...

and Haddington Athletic. He also has an older son, Ross. An autobiography entitled ''Crops: The Alex Cropley Story'' was released in 2013. Cropley was diagnosed as suffering from

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

in December 2020.

Honours

Hibernian *

Aston Villa *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

Individual *Hibernian F.C. Hall of Fame: 2017

References

External links

* *
Gunner Mania player biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cropley, Alex 1951 births Arsenal F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Men's association football midfielders Hibernian F.C. players Living people Newcastle United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Portsmouth F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Footballers from Aldershot Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Anglo-Scots

Career

Personal life

Honours

See also

References

External links