Craig Robertson (born 22 April 1963) is a Scottish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach who spent most of his career in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

playing for Dunfermline Athletic and Raith Rovers, broken up by a spell with

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 ...

Playing career

Craig Robertson was born in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

in 1963. He joined Raith Rovers from Hearts in 1980, and stayed with the

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

-based club until 1987, when he was signed by his home town team Dunfermline Athletic for £25,000. In his first season with the Pars he was the top-scoring

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, despite the side being relegated. After 18 months with Dunfermline, Robertson was signed by Aberdeen in December 1988 for a fee of £150,000. His first team opportunities at Pittodrie were limited, making only 34 appearances in three seasons and so in 1991 he was re-signed by Dunfermline. After the death of

Norrie McCathie Norman "Norrie" McCathie (23 March 1961 – 8 January 1996) was a Scottish professional footballer best known for time with Scottish club Dunfermline Athletic. Signed by Dunfermline manager Pat Stanton in August 1981 from Cowdenbeath, McCath ...

in January 1996, Robertson was given the task of taking over as club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. The first match after McCathie's death was a home tie against

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

in which Robertson scored in the last minute to give the Pars a 4–3 victory. The goal itself has been described by Clydebank midfielder Graham Connell as a "wonder goal", with Dunfermline fans simply referring to it as "the goal". Robertson continued to captain the side until 1998, when he was released by the club and retired from football.

Later career

After retiring, Robertson later became assistant manager at Dunfermline Athletic, and became caretaker manager in 2006 following the resignation of

Jim Leishman Jim Leishman MBE (born 15 November 1953) is a Scottish Labour Party politician and former professional footballer who is currently Provost of Fife and an honorary director of Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic. Career Player ...

. In 2008, he returned to Aberdeen after being appointed as chief scout, where he remained until Derek McInnes was appointed Aberdeen manager in 2013.

Career statistics

Manager

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Craig 1963 births Living people Scottish footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Footballers from Dunfermline Association football midfielders Scottish Football League players Aberdeen F.C. non-playing staff Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff