AND FOR MY NEXT TREK
Former Rangers kid Crawford’s latest pitstop on his global tour takes him on an American adventure having already played in Finland and Iceland
ROBBIE CRAWFORD hesitates for a moment, unable to find the right word as it all comes flooding back.
He decides against “traumatic” but he’s getting there. His mind is flitting from South Carolina back to Glasgow and the abrupt end of 15 years at Rangers.
Eventually, he settles on describing the compulsion triggered by that fateful day in August 2015.
“I had to take a step back and get out of the bubble,” Crawford says, contentedly arriving at the nub. The all-consuming “bubble” is a familiar place for anyone with even the briefest experience of the Glasgow divide.
For some, especially those who have spent most of their lives enveloped in it, finding your way after it spits you out is as daunting as the pressures within.
What do you mean there’s more to life? How do you process this new world? In Crawford’s case, by seeing as much of it as possible.
The latest stop on his global tour, Charleston Battery in the USL Championship, follows adventures in Iceland and Finland.
“I’d always fancied going abroad,” he tells Record Sport. “Stevie Lennon, another ex-Rangers guy, got me over to his team in Iceland – FH – in January 2016. They were champions at the time so I played in Champions League and Europa League qualifiers.
“After two years they offered me a new contract but I took a bit of a step up to IFK Mariehamn in Finland for the 2019 season. Again, it was a really good year.
“I played every minute, got to a few finals, finished in the top half of the league over there.
“But I wanted to take another step. I’m not a kid anymore, I want to progress and play at the highest level I can. Again, they offered me a new contract but it was time to move on.”
A hopeful text to ex-FH team-mate Zeiko Lewis yielded a trial in the US, the first few days of which he spent sleeping on the couch of college football coach Tam McGowan – a fellow Scot and, perhaps more pertinently, a Celtic fan.
“He was more than happy to take in a former Rangers player!” Crawford jokes, his limbo shortlived as Charleston quickly tabled a deal.
He and Lewis are room-mates at the apartment complex in which the club, backed by ambitious new owners, house their players. But a contract was no old pals’ act, his place in Michael Anhaeuser’s squad well-earned as the March 8 season-opener in Atlanta approaches.
“It’s really competitive to get here, spaces are limited for foreign players,” he explains, outlining the USL’s standing as the division below the ever-growing MLS, although there’s no promotion or relegation between the two.
“There wasn’t anything concrete when I turned down the offer in Finland so it was a bit of a chance to take. But I got on a flight over here, had a really good week and that has been it. I owe a lot to Zeiko for putting me in touch!”
What’s striking about Crawford is how he describes these globetrotting exploits with a similar gravitas he’d attach to catching a train from his native Greenock to Glasgow.
There’s a single-mindedness about the 26-year-old, an unwillingness to get too comfortable, evidenced in the way he keeps circling back to the same ambition – becoming a better footballer.
He said: “I guess it takes a bit of courage to go and find something better. When you move abroad, and it’s not the right word, there are no distractions in terms of family or friends.
“You just have to focus on improving your game. You learn a lot about yourself, spend a lot of time on the road with yourself. It has given me a chance to get some momentum, a bit of clarity in certain areas.”
A clarity he wouldn’t have found back in Scotland? It’s hard to say, who’s to know?” he says. “There have definitely been experiences I wouldn’t have had back home. But maybe if I’d stayed in Scotland it would have led somewhere else, you don’t know the path you’re on. You just have to believe it’ll work out.”
Faith in himself has never wavered. Technically accomplished, two-footed but with a slightness of stature that so often counts against young Scottish players, Crawford could easily have faded away after leaving Rangers.
Trials in England, six weeks at Raith, a short spell with East Kilbride, it’s the kind of path well-trodden by those who eventually drop out of the game. Over three years later, however, he feels he’s become a student of the game, a footballing culture vulture.
Crawford said: “I’ve experienced different styles, different ways of seeing the game. It’s important for me to be seen as a centre-midfielder. That’s where I’ve played since I left Scotland.
“Back home I’d play on the right, left, box-to-box, even full-back a few times.
“It’s no bad thing but for my own development it was good to come out and just be seen as a central midfielder.”
For all his nomadic tendencies there’s something about Charleston which may just appeal long-term. His girlfriend has moved from Finland, the climate is infinitely more favourable than Northern Europe and football is a sport on the up.
I wanted to take another step. I’m not a kid anymore
With family and friends back in Scotland, it will always be home, although it’s a sense of national duty that may eventually drag him back.
Crawford said: “I’ve been a bit of a lucky charm. I got to Iceland and they qualified for their first ever major tournament. I went to Finland and they did the same. I could end up having to come back!” If these Euro 2020 play-offs go downhill, the SFA might just pay for his flight themselves.