Christopher Aitken (born 21 September 1979) is a Scottish 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 ...

and current manager of Kilwinning Rangers. He moved into management at

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

after his elder brother

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

resigned from his position on 10 August 2021.

is also a former footballer.

Playing career

Morton, Clyde & Morton again

Aitken started his professional career at

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

making his debut against

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional ...

on 1 April 2000. Aitken was with the Greenock club for only two games before being signed by

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

on 14 June 2000. He made his first team debut for Clyde on 5 August 2000 against Falkirk and went on to make a further 23 appearances for Clyde. Aitken scored his first goal of his professional career against Airdrie on 22 November 2000. Aitken stayed with Clyde for just over a season before returning to play for

on 10 November 2001. He made his second debut for Morton on 10 November 2001 against

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

. Aitken remained with Greenock Morton for two seasons making 19 appearances for the club, before signing for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

in June 2003.

Hamilton

Aitken made his debut for

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and scored his first goal on 2 August 2003 against St Johnstone in the

Scottish League Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

on 31 January 2005.

Stirling

Aitken made his debut for

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

against

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

on 5 February 2005. Aitken scored his first goal for Stirling Albion against

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

on 26 February 2005. Since signing in 2005, Aitken went on to make over 90 league appearances, scoring over 30 goals for the Binos. Aitken was awarded the Players Player of the Year award for the 2006–07 season. He was made captain of the

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...

side and at the end of the 2007–08 season, Aitken won the Stirling Albion supporters club player of the year award and the Stirling Albion supporters Trust award. Aitken was the leading goal scorer for Stirling Albion in the 2007–08 season. In May 2008, after Stirling Albion were relegated to the

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

, Aitken agreed a two-year deal with Second Division rivals

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

, stating that Ayr's ambition is what drew him to

Somerset Park Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United. H ...

Ayr

In May 2008, Aitken became Ayr's eighth signing since the end of the 2007–08 season. Chris is widely recognised as one of the best penalty kick taker's in Scottish football, having only missed two out of 40 attempts. He played a major part in Ayr's playoff success in the 2008–09 season, scoring three goals against Brechin and captaining the side all the way to the First division. On 13 January 2010, Chris, by mutual agreement, had his contract ended, and signed for former club Stirling Albion.

Stirling (second spell)

Aitken made his second début for ''the Beanos'' in a 3–3 draw with East Fife on 23 January 2010. Three goals in his first two games back in an Albion shirt showed that Chris was just as potent a goal threat as ever. It was announced he was to be released from 15 May 2011.

Stranraer

After his release he joined Stranraer for the 2011–12 season, signing a deal in May 2011. Aitken spent 5 seasons with Stranraer before retiring at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Coaching career

After being involved with first-team coaching with Stranraer during the 2015–16 season, Aitken was appointed assistant manager to Brian Reid shortly after announcing his retirement. After Reid left the club by mutual consent in January 2017, Aitken was made interim manager until Reid's successor could be appointed. Not long after this, former Blues assistant Stephen Farrell was named the new manager of Stranraer, taking up the position following on 23 January 2017. Aitken remained as interim manager for the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, which the side lost 4–0, before returning to his previous position as assistant manager. On 10 August 2021, became caretaker manager at

. In February 2023, Aitken took over as manager of

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 202 ...

side Kilwinning Rangers; bringing in

Ian Durrant Ian Durrant (born 29 October 1966) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is currently a first team coach at East Kilbride. During his playing career, Durrant played as a midfielder for Rangers for 13 years and was par ...

and Owen Archdeacon to form his coaching team.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Chris Living people 1979 births Footballers from Glasgow Men's association football midfielders Greenock Morton F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Scottish Football League players Stranraer F.C. players People from Erskine Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Renfrewshire Scottish football managers East Kilbride F.C. players Lowland Football League managers Kilwinning Rangers F.C. managers