| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Craig | ||
| Date of birth | 1897 | ||
| Place of birth | Laurieston, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 30 January 1963 (aged 65–66) | ||
| Place of death | Halifax, England[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Left half Utility player | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Tullibody | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| – | Grange Rovers | ||
| 1919–1922 | Celtic | 8 | (3) |
| 1922–1923 | Alloa Athletic | 29 | (7) |
| 1923–1935 | Rangers | 234 | (32) |
| International career | |||
| 1925–1929 | Scottish League XI | 5 | (1) |
| 1927–1930 | Scotland | 8 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1935–1950 | Falkirk | ||
| 1952–1953 | Linfield | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Thomas "Tully" Craig (1897 – 30 January 1963)[2] was a Scottish footballer who is best known for his time withRangers, and also played forCeltic earlier in his career. He was a versatile player who could play up front, in midfield or defence.[3]
Born inLaurieston and with links to the small town ofTullibody from which his nickname derived,[3] Craig was signed byCeltic fromJunior sideGrange Rovers in June 1919 and made his first team debut for the club in a 3–2 league win atKilmarnock on 17 January 1920. The left-half impressed on his debut, scoring two goals, but he was deemed to be too lightweight by managerWillie Maley and consequently spent most of his time atCeltic Park in the reserves.[4]
Maley was only too pleased to offload the player toAlloa Athletic in an exchange deal which saw Craig and two other Celts swapped forWillie Crilley. While Crilley would disappoint in the Hoops, Craig was a huge success at Alloa, so much so that after only one seasonRangers bought him for a fee of seven hundred and fifty pounds.[3]
In eleven years atIbrox Craig played a significant role in sevenScottish League title-winning campaigns and was involved in three more to a smaller degree, won twoScottish Cups in1928 and1930 (also playing in the1929 final, in which he became the first player to fail from the penalty spot in the event's history),[5] twoGlasgow Cups and fourCharity Cups. He retired from playing in 1935.[6]
Craig won eightScotland caps between 1927 and 1930.[7] He also represented theScottish Football League XI.[8]
After his retirement he went on to manage bothFalkirk from 1935 to 1950[9] andLinfield for a season.
