Crops

A nippy sweetie, he was always moaning, but that is often the sign of a great player -- a real determination to succeed and a refusal to settle for second best. PAT STANTON

I used to flinch when Studs wound up for a challenge and he feared no one as he sometimes threw his whole body into a tackle. That meant we also spent too much time together in the treatment room. ANDY GRAY

Alex Cropley had just left school when he was picked up as one of Scotland's latest football talents. Signed to Hibernian aged just 16, Cropley soon made his name as a player on the team's legendary Turnbull's Tornadoes side. Over the 1970s, he played for Hibernian, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Toronto Blizzard and Portsmouth, before a number of injuries forced him off the pitch. From a football-mad kid playing on the streets of Edinburgh to a member of the Scottish national team, his career epitomises both the aspirations and the bitter disappointments surrounding the game on the pitch.

Cropley's tale of his time on (and off) the pitch isn't just the tale of one man's odyssey, however, but rather offers a glimpse into the footballing landscape of the time, with an engaging and often wry depiction of the larger-than-life characters who went on to become the greats of Scottish football.

A frank but warm-hearted account of the hopes and despair of the great game, Crops will delight football fans of all ages.

Alex Cropley

ALEX CROPLEY played for Hibernian, Arsenal and AstonVilla football clubs, among others. Born in Aldershot to a family of semiprofessional football players, he also played for the Scottish national side in the 1970s. Two dreadful leg-breaks resulted in many English First Division games being missed before his move to Aston Villa. Affectionately known as `Studs' at Villa because of his ferocious tackling, Cropley retired due to injuries during his tenure there. TOM WRIGHT was taken to his first game aged nine, a friendly against Leicester City at Easter Road in February 1957. Little did he realise that football, and Hibs in particular, would become such a major influence in his life from that day on. Wright has now been a Hibs supporter for over 50 years, and has the scars to prove it. Previously the Secretary of the Hibs Former Players' Association, Wright is now the official club historian and curator of the Hibernian Historical Trust. He is the author of Hibernian: From Joe Baker to Turnbull's Tornadoes and The Golden Years: Hibernian in the Days of the Famous Five.