Gavin Rae

Gavin Rae

Rae playing for Cardiff City in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Gavin Paul Rae [1]
Date of birth	(1977-11-28) 28 November 1977 (age 46) [1]
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Position(s)	Midfielder [1]
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–2004	Dundee	223	(26)
2004–2007	Rangers	28	(3)
2007–2011	Cardiff City	130	(7)
2011–2012	Dundee	13	(3)
2012–2013	Aberdeen	47	(3)
2013–2014	Dundee	14	(1)
2014–2018	Hakoah Sydney City East	57 [2]	(2)
Total		512	(45)
International career
1999	Scotland U21 [3]	6	(1)
2001–2009	Scotland	14	(0)
Managerial career
2017–2019	Hakoah Sydney City East
2019–2021	Rydalmere Lions
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gavin Paul Rae (born 28 November 1977) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was recently the head coach of National Premier Leagues NSW club Hakoah Sydney City East FC. ^[4]

Rae started his playing career with Dundee, making over 200 league appearances for the club. He moved to Rangers in January 2004, but struggled to hold down a regular place in their team due to injury. He moved to Cardiff City in 2007 and featured regularly in the team that reached the 2008 FA Cup final. Rae left Cardiff in 2011 and had spells later in his career with Dundee and Aberdeen. He also won 14 caps for Scotland between 2001 and 2009.

Club career

Dundee

Rae was born in Aberdeen. ^[1] His first club was Dundee. In total he made 223 games for the club scoring 26 goals in a period of eight years. In November 1999 he memorably scored a last minute winner to beat future club Rangers at Ibrox. ^[5]

Rae stuck with the club during the bad financial days during the 2003–2004 season when Dundee hit administration until he was sold to Rangers for £250,000 in January 2004. ^{[6] [7]}

Rangers

Rae made his debut for Rangers on 3 January 2004 against Celtic but only lasted 30 minutes due to a hamstring injury. After recovering, he managed to score his first goal against Dundee, his former club. However, he suffered another injury, damaging his knee against Dundee United on 24 April 2004. His road to recovery was hit by several set-backs before he finally made his return to the Rangers first team on 18 February 2006 against Hibernian. He went on to make regular appearances in the Rangers team, particularly towards the end of the season with fellow midfielder Barry Ferguson requiring an operation due to a long running leg injury.

In the 2006–07 season, Rae was given the captaincy in a number of games when Barry Ferguson was not playing. On 1 January 2007 he was announced as permanent captain after Ferguson's meeting with Paul Le Guen, which saw Ferguson stripped of the captaincy and removed from the squad. ^[8] On 4 January 2007 Le Guen resigned from the managerial position at Rangers and new manager Walter Smith re-appointed Ferguson as club captain. He was offered a new deal at the club by Smith but he decided it would be better for him to attempt to find first team football. ^[9] Rae left Rangers as a free agent at the end of the 2006–07 season when his contract expired. ^[10]

On 21 May 2007 he was linked with a move to Hearts with his former teammate at Rangers, Stephen Hughes ^[11] but the move did not come to fruition.

Cardiff City

Rae was watched by several sides from England, Wales and Scotland and came very close to joining Football League Championship side Norwich City ^[12] but instead on 23 June 2007 he joined Championship side Cardiff City along with fellow Scotsman Steven MacLean on a free transfer. ^[13] On 26 June 2007 he was quoted in an interview saying "Believe me, I am coming to Cardiff fully fit and fully committed. I am fired up to make the most of this chance".^{[ citation needed ]}

On his arrival Rae found himself in first team action from the start of the season due to a long-term injury to Riccardo Scimeca and also took over the captaincy for the 2–1 home win against Burnley with Darren Purse starting the match on the bench, Scimeca injured and Stephen McPhail dropped from the side and he scored his first goal for the Bluebirds not long after on 15 September in a 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle. He went on to make a total of 55 appearances in all competitions in his first year, more than any other player at the club including playing in all 6 matches during the clubs run to the FA Cup Final.

The following season began badly for Rae when, after making just two appearances, he chipped a bone in his leg just below his knee during a 2–1 win over AFC Bournemouth in the League Cup. Rae was told that he could continue playing with the injury if he could withstand the pain, ^[14] returning to the side after a month out. He went on to appear in 46 matches in all competitions for Cardiff, the second highest amount behind Roger Johnson.

Rae started the 2009–10 season on the bench but was handed his first appearance of the year after 45 minutes of the opening game with Joe Ledley suffering from an illness. With Ledley away on international duty, he was handed a start in a 3–1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge in the first round of the Football League Cup and scored the first goal of the game. ^[15] He made his 400th club appearance in a 4–3 win over Sheffield United on 24 October 2009, coming on for Stephen McPhail, and made his 100th league appearance for Cardiff on 1 November 2009 against Nottingham Forest as a substitute. During a 4–4 draw with Peterborough United on 28 December 2009, Rae suffered a broken hand keeping him out for up to 4 weeks, ^[16] but returned on 9 January 2010 against Blackpool after a remarkable recovery. ^[17] On 9 April 2010, Rae was confirmed to be sidelined for the rest of the season after he suffered a ruptured tendon in his ankle. ^[18] Having fallen out of favour at the start of the 2010–11 season following the arrivals of Danny Drinkwater and Seyi Olofinjana, Rae was allowed to open talks with Leeds United in August 2010 over a possible transfer. ^[19] Rae left Cardiff later in the summer. ^[20]

Return to Dundee

Aberdeen were interested in signing Rae, ^[21] but on 14 October 2011, he signed a short-term deal with his former club Dundee. ^[20] Rae scored against Morton in a 2–1 victory. On 26 November 2011, Rae scored a header against Falkirk as Dundee won 4–2. Rae also scored against Kilmarnock in a fourth round Scottish Cup Replay with Dundee losing out 2–1.

Aberdeen

On 30 January 2012, Rae signed for his home town club Aberdeen. ^[22] He scored his first goal for the club in the Scottish League Cup against Greenock Morton, and his first league goal for Aberdeen on 23 September 2012 playing against Motherwell. He then went on to score goals against Hibs and Kilmarnock. Rae left Aberdeen at the end of the 2012–13 season, as his contract was not renewed. ^[23]

Third spell at Dundee

On 6 June 2013, Rae once again joined Dundee, this time as a player/coach. He scored his first goal in this spell in a 4–1 win against Dumbarton on 12 October 2013. ^[24] He decided to leave the club after gaining promotion to the Scottish Premiership in May 2014 ^[25] and subsequently retired. ^[26]

Hakoah Sydney City East FC

In September 2014, Rae moved to Australia and signed with National Premier Leagues NSW club Hakoah Sydney City East FC. ^{[27] [28] [29] [30]}

Managerial career

Hakoah Sydney City East FC

Rae became Hakoah's head coach in January 2018 while still registered as a player. He retired as a player later that year.

Rydalmere Lions FC

Rae was appointed Rydalmere Lions manager in September 2019. ^[31] He and his assistant Neil Jablonski left the club in August 2021. ^[32]

International career

Rae was still at Dundee when he gained international recognition, winning his first cap for Scotland in 2001 against Poland. ^[33] On 24 March 2008 he received his first call-up to the squad for two years, and also his first while at Cardiff. ^[34] He came on as a substitute at half-time during a 1–1 draw with Croatia. Rae was once again called up to replace the suspended James McFadden in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Holland on 9 September 2009.

Other ventures

Along with Curtis Davies and Chris Burke, Rae co-founded and was a director of the clothing company Seven One Zero, ^[35] which was voluntarily dissolved in 2018. ^[36]

Career statistics

^[37]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Scotland			League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
1995–96	Dundee	Division One	6	0	-		-		-		6	0
1996–97			17	2	3	0	-		-		20	2
1997–98			6	0	-		-		-		6	0
1998–99		Premier League	30	1	-		-		-		30	1
1999–00			35	4	2	1	3	0	-		40	5
2000–01			32	4	4	0	2	0	1	0	39	4
2001–02			36	6	2	0	2	0	1	0	41	6
2002–03			37	4	6	1	1	0	-		44	5
2003–04			13	2	-		1	0	4	1	18	3
2003–04	Rangers	Scottish Premier League	10	2	1	0	-		-		11	2
2004–05			-		-		-		-		0	0
2005–06			8	0	-		-		-		8	0
2006–07			10	1	1	0	2	0	7	0	20	1
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2007–08	Cardiff City	Championship	45	4	6	0	4	0	-		55	4
2008–09			41	1	3	0	2	0	-		46	1
2009–10			36	1	2	0	3	1	-		41	2
2010–11			7	1	2	0	1	0	-		10	1
Total	Scotland		240	26	19	2	11	0	13	1	283	29
	England		129	7	13	0	10	1	-		152	8
Career total			355	33	31	2	21	1	13	1	435	37

Honours

Player

Dundee

• Scottish Championship (2): 1997–98, 2013–14 ^[38]
• Scottish Cup runners-up: 2002–03

Cardiff City

• FA Cup runners-up: 2007–08

Scotland

• Kirin Cup (1): 2006 ^[39]

Manager

Hakoah Sydney City East

• Waratah Cup (1): 2017 ^[40]
  • runners-up: 2018 ^[40]

Rydalmere Lions

• NPL NSW Three Championship: 2020
• NPL NSW Three Premiers: 2020

References

1. "Gavin Rae". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
2. "Gavin Rae". sportstg.com. sportstg. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
3. "Scotland U21 Player Gavin Rae Details".
4. "GAVIN RAE PARTS COMPANY WITH HAKOAH SYDNEY CITY EAST". Football NSW. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
5. "Rae stuns Ibrox". BBC. 28 November 1999. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
6. "Rangers parade signing Rae" BBC Sport Retrieved on 7 October 2007
7. "Dundee to enter new era" BBC Sport Retrieved on 7 October 2007
8. "Gers strip Ferguson of captaincy" BBC Sport Retrieved on 7 October 2007
9. "How reliable Rae was caught in the crossfire" Archived 2 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine The Scotsman Retrieved on 7 October 2007
10. "Rangers confirm Rae's departure" BBC Sport Retrieved on 7 October 2007
11. "Hearts targeting Rae and Hughes" BBC Sport Retrieved on 7 October 2007
12. "Norwich move for midfielder Rae" BBC Sport Retrieved on 7 October 2007
13. "Cardiff capture Rae and MacLean" BBC Sport Retrieved on 7 October 2007
14. "Rae could play the pain game" South Wales Echo Retrieved 29 October 2008
15. "Cardiff 3–1 Dag & Red" BBC Sport Retrieved 18 August 2009
16. "Broken Hand KOs Gav"
17. "Cardiff 1–1 Blackpool"
18. "Gavin out for Season"
19. "Gavin Rae and Ross McCormack eye Leeds move". BBC Sport. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
20. "Gavin Rae joins Dundee for second time". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
21. "Cardiff's Gavin Rae on Aberdeen radar". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
22. "Aberdeen sign veteran Dundee midfielder Gavin Rae". BBC Sport. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
23. "Dons release seven". Aberdeen FC. 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
24. "Dumbarton 1 - 4 Dundee". BBC. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
25. "Gavin moves on - Dundee Football Club - Official Website". 13 May 2014.
26. McLeod, Liam (9 August 2014). "Dundee 1–1 Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 9 August 2014. The Dees unfurled the Championship flag before kick-off, with retired former captain Gavin Rae helping do the honours after guiding the team last season.
27. "Gavin Rae". hakoahfc.com.au. Hakoah Sydney City East Football Club. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
28. "Introducing our new signing, Gavin Rae". maccabi.com.au. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
29. Bossi, Dominic (8 September 2015). "Former Socceroos captain Lucas Neill close to returning to Australia with Hakoah". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
30. Blau, Adam. "Hakoah find Rae of Scottish sunshine". jewishnews.net.au. Jewish News. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
31. "GAVIN RAE APPOINTED RYDALMERE LIONS HEAD COACH". Football NSW. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
32. "RAE AND JABLONSKI BID FAREWELL TO RYDALMERE LIONS FC". Football NSW. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
33. "New caps do the business". BBC Sport . BBC. 25 April 2001. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
34. Moffat, Colin (26 March 2008). "Burley upbeat despite call-offs". BBC Sport . BBC. Retrieved 24 March 2008.
35. Marshall, Tyrone (26 November 2016). "Burnley defender taking hands-on role after investment in developing clothing label". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
36. "Seven One Zero Clothing Limited: Filing history". Companies House. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
37. "Cardiff City | Team | Profiles | Gavin Rae". www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
38. "Gavin Rae Player Profile". Dee Archive. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
39. "Kirin Cup 2006". Scotland Football Stats. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
40. "GAVIN RAE PARTS COMPANY WITH HAKOAH SYDNEY CITY EAST". Football NSW. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

External links

• Gavin Rae at Soccerbase
• Gavin Rae at the Scottish Football Association
• Gavin Rae player profile at cardiffcityfc.co.uk
• Gavin Rae player profile at football.co.uk
• Gavin Rae player profile at 4thegame.com
• Gavin Rae player profile at rangers.co.uk