Robbie Crawford - Greenock to Gamecock

 Just over half an hour into Robbie Crawford’s debut and play was unexpectedly halted while the match ball was fished out of the famous Brechin City FC hedge. It was a sign of things to come for the Greenock native. Twists and turns at every corner. A career built on following the road less travelled.

 

A product of Rangers’ youth academy Robbie spent 15 years with the Govan side before seeking a change. “Being at Rangers for 15 years I just thought it was time for a new challenge, to get out of that bubble and try something new”.

 

“Something new” turned into two years in Iceland, a season in Finland, and a spell in California wedged between time at South Carolina club Charleston Battery, where he is currently in the midst of preseason number four in the USL Championship.

 

Just five years prior to Rangers’ humbling moment at Glebe Park in Brechin, the club had contested in a European final. Financial struggles finally caught up with Scotland’s record champions and they were condemned to the bottom of the pyramid, the then Scottish Third Division. It was the beginning of a long arduous road back to the pinnacle of the Scottish game for Rangers but was it a blessing in disguise for those hanging on the fringes of the first team?

 

Robbie reflected on the pressure of debuting all the way down in the fourth tier, given the onus on the club to rise from the ashes. “There was probably a different pressure. Dunno if it was more or less. It was new for everyone. Obviously all the expectation was on us to progress and anything other than that, no disrespect to anyone else, would be pretty embarrassing in terms of investment we had, plus our fan base. It was a different pressure as much as anything, but definitely not without its challenges”.

 

Rangers’ demotion into the fourth tier of Scottish football saw a drastic change in personnel handing some of the more inexperienced squad members the chance to claim their spot in a transitioning side. Given the financial burden at Ibrox summer 2012 saw some of the club’s more experienced heads depart. For Rangers’ first post-relegation fixture only four of the available five substitute spots were filled by manager Ally McCoist. Robbie Crawford was gifted one of them.

 

Robbie would go on to feature in 21 league games for Rangers during his maiden campaign on top of six cup appearances. He netted his first Rangers goal against Montrose in front of the Ibrox faithful, ending the campaign with four in total. Rangers celebrated back-to-back league titles as they looked set to steamroll through the Scottish football pyramid and back to where they belonged.

 

In 2014/15 as Rangers chased promotion from Scotland’s second tier Robbie found himself back down a division, in League One, for a loan stint with his hometown club Greenock Morton. It would be his second League One title in as many seasons.

 

After another season out on loan, this time at Alloa Athletic of the Scottish Championship, Robbie’s 15 years at Rangers came to an end. Having started the 2016/17 season with another Championship side, Raith Rovers, Robbie soon found himself down in the fifth tier of Scottish football with East Kilbride of the Lowland League. However, just months later Robbie was lining up for Icelandic club Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (thankfully know by FH) with the famous Champions League anthem blaring behind him.

 

“I went from playing non-league in Scotland in the January to having Champions League qualifiers in the June/July”. Having left Rangers shortly after the club won promotion back to the Scottish topflight Robbie Crawford was now playing European ties before his former club. “It’s kinda ironic but when people hear that I’ve played in European qualifiers they assume it was when I was at Rangers. But that’s not that case, at FH we played against Maribor, Braga, an Israeli club, Finnish club. It was definitely an experience and not one that you get at most Scottish clubs”.

 

After 15 years at the Scottish football giants there was no doubt in Robbie’s ability, but how did the young midfielder go from Lowland League to Champions League in the space of just six months? 

 

“I had trials in England a six week spell at Raith Rovers and for one reason or another it just didn’t work out at those clubs. I ended up going to East Kilbride, I just wanted to enjoy playing again because I was a bit lost really in my career. But then I had an agent mention an Icelandic club that he had contacts with and they were actually having their preseason in Marbella over my birthday. So I flew out, met the team for the first time, had a good week or two and the Icelandic press heard I was there. So I kinda took my chance that I would get a contract and thankfully it went well on my two week trial and I signed the two year deal”. 

 

            A little taste of European football, and experiencing life outside the confines of the west of Scotland, proved to be beneficial for both Robbie the footballer and Robbie the man. “I think Iceland was great for me to grow personally and footballing wise. I signed a two year contract then they offered me another two year deal and better money but I had that feeling that it was time to move on and progress my career. It was step up to Finland then again to the U.S. I’m just excited to keep progressing and see where it goes”. 

 

            Icelandic life came with its small cultural shocks such as sacrificing an entire summer holiday. Football in the country kicks off at the beginning of Spring and wraps up by the time the harsh winters approach, roughly ending in September. “Just because of the climate there it’s not really possible to play anymore so it’s a long preseason and it’s a short season, it’d be tough to spend your whole career there I would have thought. You have to play right through summer so you don’t really get a summer break when everyone else is off but on the flip side you get to go home for Christmas and spend that time with your family so that’s a positive on a personal note”.

 

            Iceland remain the smallest population to play in a World Cup and during Robbie’s stay the national team qualified for their first ever European Championships. When I asked if he was present to see Iceland stun England in the knockout stages I could sense his grin through the phone. “Loads of tourists go there and they were all supporting Iceland so yeah, it was a good atmosphere, it was fun”.

“It’s just kind of a numbers game. 300,000 of a population isn’t massive so the numbers involved aren’t huge but the fans are knowledgeable. It’s not better or worse it’s just different”.

 

            Robbie’s two-year deal with FH was up, it was 2019 and the offer of another couple of years in the country was on the table, but he caught the travel bug. When another opportunity arose in the top tier of Finnish football with IFK Mariehamn, a team based on the Swedish speaking island of Ȧland, he couldn’t turn it down. Geographically the club are closer to Sweden and all away games required a ferry across to mainland Finland. “Again, another experience”, Robbie admitted, “Having to get the ferry to away games and just being on the island it’s kinda like a little mini bubble. It was a cool place and I’m glad I was there for the year”.

 

            After three years contesting in Nordic nations Robbie received yet another call to relocate. Just as COVID struck he jetted across the Atlantic to join South Carolina based USL Championship side Charleston Battery ahead of their 2020 campaign. A number of fresh culture shocks were in the pipeline one of which a drastic contrast in weather.

 

            “It was kind of one extreme to the other going from Iceland, dark winters and minus temperatures, to Charleston which is really hot and humid. It was a bit of an adjustment, but I came here in the January of 2020 and it was just natural progression getting warmer each month building up to the season starting”. Robbie coped with the weather shift with far more ease than perhaps the average Inverclyde resident would. Fitness being such a pivotal attribute in his playing style, coping with such humid temperatures was challenging.

 

            Up until this point away days in Robbie’s career varied from the short Govan to Mount Florida jaunt to face Queens Park to a nine hour ferry/coach trip to Helsinki from Mariehamn. Life stateside brought a whole new hurdle when it came to away days and matchday preparation. Last season Charleston headed across the country to California to face LA Galaxy II in a league fixture. Such discrepancies in air miles, time zones and weather conditions mean the schedule for U.S soccer matches are not as cut and dry as the UK’s Saturday 3pm slate. 

 

            “You kinda miss the Saturday 3 o’clock kick offs, an hours drive to Edinburgh, or wherever from Glasgow and you’re back home for the night. At the same time in the U.S you’re travelling to like New York, Miami, Atlanta, some pretty cool places. It would be easier if it was a couple hours up the road rather than going through a couple of flights, but you need to take the rough with the smooth. It could be a lot worse, you’re travelling with guys you enjoy company with and you’re going to play a game, people have to go through a lot worse with their jobs”. 

 

            This does pose a slight threat to gameday preparation with the travel industry throwing the odd curveball Charleston’s way. “If we play on the Saturday we have to travel the Friday morning. Get to wherever we’re going and usually arrive sort of mid to late afternoon on the Friday. Train at the stadium Friday then at night it’s kinda dinner and chilling in the hotel. Game Saturday, travel back Sunday, obviously a lot could go wrong, delayed flights, issues with training pitches. It challenges you mentally, but I think playing in Finland was good practise for that”.

 

            One thing I detected from Robbie was that despite the temptation of exploring major cities right on his doorstep he has maintained the utmost professionalism. “Personally, I’m not there to sight see. I just focus on the game and task at hand. If it happens that you can go to a café nearby or something and hang out for an hour or two it’s great but it’s not a massive priority for me”. 

 

            After a chaotic 2022 which saw Robbie tie the knot, father his first child and move from Charleston to Monterey Bay, California back to Charleston he’s looking forward to truly settling in South Carolina. “Last year was pretty wild in terms of moving clubs, married my wife, had a baby. Covid hit right as I signed here and everything was shut down so not really had the time [to sightsee]”. 

 

            The road from Rangers to Charleston has had all sorts of twists and turns, but it’s one which Robbie wouldn’t have any other way. “I’ve been pretty lucky with the cities that I’ve ended up in. I think most people would struggle to beat Charleston and Monterey in terms of nice cities in the U.S so I could do a lot worse! It just feels right to be here and I wouldn’t change any of it that’s lead me to this point. It’s going to be hard to beat being here, being settled. Especially with my daughter. It’s looking like we’ll be here so that’s great and it’s part of the journey”.

 

            Just last month Robbie returned to Scotland with his wife and daughter giving them a taste of Scotland that the Scottish Highland games perhaps didn’t quite do justice when it rolled into Charleston in November of last year. 

 

            The midfielder failed to rule anything out, as his career up until this point suggests, but whether in the west of Scotland or the south east U.S he continues to follow his former sides who presented him with his first shot in the game. “I check them all the time [Rangers results]. I’m keen to see what’s going on and speak to some people that still work at the club. I definitely watch for Morton results as well, my local team. It doesn’t really feel like I’m too far away”.