Gordon Rae (born 3 May 1958) is a retired Scottish

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 le ...

, who played mainly as a defender for Hibernian,

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

and

Meadowbank Thistle Livingston Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Livingston, West Lothian. Livingston currently play in the Scottish Premiership and were founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team. The club was admitted to the ...

. He also played sometimes as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, scoring over 50 goals in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

in his career.

Career

Rae signed for Hibernian as a 17-year-old from Whitehill Welfare in 1975. He made his first team debut two years later, and scored in a 2–0 win against Rangers at Ibrox in his second appearance. He became club captain, appeared in the marathon

1979 Scottish Cup Final The 1979 Scottish Cup Final was contested between Rangers and Hibernian. After goalless draws in the initial match and the replay, Rangers won the Cup by winning 3–2 after extra time in the second replay. The winning goal for Rangers was ...

and won a First Division winners' medal in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Rae was awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

by Hibs in 1988, played against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Joe Tortolano was sent off during the match for a tackle on

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

.Hibernian Legends: Joe Tortolano!
,

Hibernian F.C. Hibernian Football Club (), commonly known as Hibs, is a professional football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The club plays in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). ...

official website. He joined

for £65,000 in 1990, and helped them win promotion to the Premier Division in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. He finished his playing career after the 1992–93 season, during which he played for

and then

. He left Meadowbank to become

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Gala Fairydean Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club are a Scottish association football club based in the town of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. The club competes in the , after joining from the East of Scotland Football League in 2013. At the same tim ...

, in a spell that coincided with their failed attempt to enter the

in 1994. He was sacked by Gala after a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,East Fife, who then recruited him as an assistant coach. He went on to manage Edinburgh City before working in Hibs' youth system. He left Hibs in November 2002 to manage junior side Newtongrange Star.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Gordon Living people 1958 births Scottish footballers Scottish Football League players Hibernian F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff Scottish football managers F.C. Edinburgh managers Association football central defenders