Fraser Aird

Fraser Aird

Aird celebrating a goal for Rangers in 2014
Personal information
Full name Fraser Aird
Date of birth (1995-02-02) 2 February 1995
Place of birth Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
(on loan from Rangers)
Number 8
Youth career
2011–2012 Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2012– Rangers 62 (9)
2016– → Vancouver Whitecaps FC (loan) 0 (0)
National team‡
2010 Canada U15 1 (0)
2011–2012 Scotland U17 8 (2)
2013 Scotland U19 2 (2)
2015– Canada 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 December 2014.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2015

Fraser Aird (born 2 February 1995) is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays for Vancouver Whitecaps FC, on loan from Rangers.

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

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 Rangers players made history by becoming the first Rangers side in 115 years to go an entire league season unbeaten after a 1–1 draw with Dunfermline during which they clinched the Scottish League One championship.

Aird joined Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC on a season-long loan on 29 January 2015.[8]

International career

Aird was part of a Canadian under-15 camp in 2010 and played in a friendly against the US the same year.[9] After moving to Scotland, the country of his parents birth, Aird made his debut for Scotland at U17 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 U17 game, he scored against Denmark.[10]

Aird was named in the preliminary Canadian national team squad for the 2013 Gold Cup in the US,[11] however he turned down a call up to the final squad[9] and later in the same year represented Scotland under-19's. Aird played twice for Scotland U19 in friendlies scoring in 4–2 victory over Switzerland.[12][13]

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.[14][15] 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.[16]

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.[17] 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 .[18]

Career statistics

As of 9 March 2015[19]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rangers 2012–13 19 3 2 0 1 0 0 0 22 3
2013–14 27 5 6 1 1 1 3 0 37 7
2014–15 13 1 1 0 4 0 4 1 22 2
Career Total 5999161718112

Honours

Club

Rangers

Personal awards

References

  1. 1 2 "Scarborough teen signed by Scottish giant Rangers FC". Toronto Star. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Family pride at stake for Rangers' starlet Fraser Aird as dad flies in". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "Born to be a Rangers". Toronto Observer. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Scarborough teen debuts with Glasgow Rangers". Toronto Star. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Elgin City 2–6 Rangers". Rangers.co.uk. 22 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Elgin City 2–6 Rangers". BBC Sport. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Queen's Park 0–1 Rangers". BBC Sport. 29 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Whitecaps FC acquire Canadian international Fraser Aird on season-long loan with transfer option from Rangers FC". 29 January 2015.
  9. 1 2 http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/fraser-aird-canada-benito-floro-ghana-world-cup-rangers/
  10. ↑ "Fraser Aird – Scotland U17 profile". ScottishFA.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Canada announces preliminary roster for Gold Cup" (Press release). Canada Soccer. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Fraser Aird – Scotland U19 profile". ScottishFA.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Jack, Chris (19 July 2013). "Decision time for Gers kid Fraser Aird as Scotland tussle with Canada". Evening Times. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  14. ↑ "Rumour Mill: Fraser Forster | Rangers | World Cup". The Scotsman. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Fraser Aird tweet". Twitter. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Canada M20 setting sights on 2015". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Livingston Game Postponed". 28 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Canada MNT deliver impressive performance in Ghana draw". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  19. ↑ Fraser Aird profile at Soccerway

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.