Fraser Aird
 Aird celebrating a goal for Rangers in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fraser Aird | ||
| Date of birth | 2 February 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Playing position | Right Wing Back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Rangers | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2012 | Rangers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012– | Rangers | 62 | (9) |
| 2016 | → Vancouver Whitecaps FC (loan) | 18 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2010 | Canada U15 | 1 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Scotland U17 | 8 | (2) |
| 2013 | Scotland U19 | 2 | (2) |
| 2015– | Canada | 4 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 October 2016. | |||
Fraser Aird (born 2 February 1995) is a Canadian professional footballer who currently plays for Scottish Premiership club Rangers and the Canada national team.
Early life
Aird is a boyhood fan of his current club Rangers due to his Scottish, Rangers-supporting parents emigrating to Canada in 1987.[1][2][3]
Club career
Rangers
Aird signed as a youth for Rangers at the age of sixteen.[1] Within a year at the club he worked his way from the under-17 squad to the under-19 squad, eventually making his first team debut during a 4–1 victory over Montrose in the Scottish Third Division on 23 September 2012.[4] Aird was incorrectly listed as the goalkeeper by many media sources during a match against Elgin City in December 2012 when it was actually Neil Alexander.[5][6] He scored his first goal for the club against Queens Park at Hampden on 29 December 2012.[7]
In his first competitive match of the 2013–14 season he scored the first goal for Rangers as a half-time substitute against Forfar Athletic in the League Cup, Rangers went on to lose 2–1. On 3 May 2014, after a 1–1 draw with Dunfermline Athletic, Aird was among the Rangers players who made history by becoming the first Rangers side in 115 years to go an entire league season unbeaten, during which they clinched the Scottish League One championship.[8]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (loan)
Aird joined Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC on a season-long loan on 29 January 2016.[9] He made his debut against Montreal Impact on 7 March 2016.[10]
International career
Aird was part of a Canadian under-15 camp in 2010 and played in a friendly against the US the same year.[11] After moving to Scotland, the country of his parents birth, Aird made his debut for Scotland at under-17 level in a friendly international tournament in August 2011. In 2012, he made his debut in a UEFA competition for Scotland featuring in the UEFA Under 17 Championship qualifying campaign against Macedonia. In his final under-17 game, he scored against Denmark.[12]
Aird was named in the preliminary Canadian national team squad for the 2013 Gold Cup in the US,[13] however he turned down a call up to the final squad[11] and later in the same year represented Scotland under-19's. Aird played twice for Scotland under-19 in friendlies scoring in 4–2 victory over Switzerland.[14][15]
In April 2014 it was reported that Aird was set to pledge his international allegiance to Canada and join the senior squad for friendlies against Bulgaria and Moldova in Austria the following month, a claim the player later refuted on his personal Twitter account by saying he was still undecided on his future.[16][17] In May 2014 Aird joined a training camp in Florida with the Canadian Under-20 team in preparation for the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, the tournament which will serve as CONCACAF qualification for 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[18]
On 28 September 2015 it was reported on the official Rangers website that Aird had been called up by Canada for an October friendly against Ghana.[19] Aird got his first senior international cap in the match coming on as a second-half subtitute for Karl Ouimette in the eventual 1–1 draw on 13 October 2015.[20]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 23 October 2016[21]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rangers | 2012–13 | Scottish Third Division | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 3 |
| 2013–14 | Scottish League One | 27 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 37 | 7 | |
| 2014–15 | Scottish Championship | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 22 | 2 | |
| 2015–16 | Scottish Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 62 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 85 | 12 | ||
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC (loan) | 2016 | Major League Soccer | 18 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| Career total | 80 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 109 | 12 | ||
- 1 2 3 Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
- ↑ Appearances in the Canadian Championship
- ↑ Appearances in the CONCACAF Champions League
International
- As of match played 11 November 2016[22]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2015 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
Honours
Club
- Rangers
Individual
- Rangers Young Player of the Year 2013–14
References
- 1 2 "Scarborough teen signed by Scottish giant Rangers FC". Toronto Star. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ↑ "Family pride at stake for Rangers' starlet Fraser Aird as dad flies in". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ↑ "Born to be a Rangers". Toronto Observer. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ↑ "Scarborough teen debuts with Glasgow Rangers". Toronto Star. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ↑ "Elgin City 2–6 Rangers". Rangers.co.uk. 22 December 2012.
- ↑ "Elgin City 2–6 Rangers". BBC Sport. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ↑ "Queen's Park 0–1 Rangers". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 December 2012.
- ↑ Wilson, Richard (4 May 2014). "Rangers' title march earned through grinding out victories". BBC Sport. BBC.
- ↑ "Whitecaps FC acquire Canadian international Fraser Aird on season-long loan with transfer option from Rangers FC". 29 January 2015.
- ↑ Collins, Robert (March 8, 2016). "Fraser Aird made his MLS debut and it didn't go to plan".
- 1 2 "Aird gets his foot in Canadian soccer door - Sportsnet.ca".
- ↑ "Fraser Aird – Scotland U17 profile". ScottishFA.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ↑ "Canada announces preliminary roster for Gold Cup" (Press release). Canada Soccer. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
- ↑ "Fraser Aird – Scotland U19 profile". ScottishFA.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ↑ Jack, Chris (19 July 2013). "Decision time for Gers kid Fraser Aird as Scotland tussle with Canada". Evening Times. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
- ↑ "Rumour Mill: Fraser Forster | Rangers | World Cup". The Scotsman. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "Fraser Aird tweet". Twitter. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ↑ "Canada M20 setting sights on 2015". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- ↑ "Livingston Game Postponed". 28 September 2015.
- ↑ "Canada MNT deliver impressive performance in Ghana draw". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ↑ Fraser Aird profile at Soccerway
- ↑ "Aird, Fraser". National Football Teams. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
