Tommy Craig facts for kids

Thomas Brooks Craig (born on November 21, 1950) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He played as a midfielder for 18 years. During his career, he played over 100 league games for English clubs like Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United. After his playing days, he became a coach. He worked for many clubs, including Hibernian, Celtic, Aberdeen, Newcastle, and St Mirren.

Tommy Craig's Playing Career

Craig was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He started his football journey as a midfielder at Aberdeen. In 1969, Sheffield Wednesday paid £100,000 to sign him. This was a record amount for the club at that time. It was also a British record for a teenage player.

Time at Sheffield Wednesday

Craig scored 37 league goals for Wednesday. Many of these goals came from penalty kicks. During his time there, Wednesday faced some tough years. They were moved down from the top league after his first full season. They continued to struggle in Division Two. They were moved down again shortly after he left. Even with these challenges, Craig was a big favourite with the fans. People often called him "an adopted Geordie," meaning he was loved like a local in Newcastle.

Moving to Other Clubs

After leaving Newcastle, Craig joined Ron Saunders' Aston Villa. However, he did not stay long. Saunders was making big changes to build a team that would win the Championship and the European Cup. Craig then moved to Swansea City, Carlisle United, and Hibernian. He then decided to become a coach.

Playing for Scotland

Craig played one game for the Scotland national team. This happened in 1976, in a match against Switzerland.

Tommy Craig's Coaching Career

After he stopped playing, Craig became an assistant manager. He worked with John Blackley at Hibernian. He then briefly took over as a caretaker manager when Blackley left. A caretaker manager is someone who takes charge of the team temporarily.

Coaching at Top Clubs

Craig then became Billy McNeill's assistant manager at Celtic. They won the league championship in 1988. This was a special year for Celtic, as it was their 100th anniversary. After Celtic, he worked at Aberdeen as an assistant to Roy Aitken. Later, he became the coach for Scotland's Under-21 team.

Coaching at Newcastle and Hibernian

Craig spent seven years as a first-team coach at Newcastle United. He said he learned a lot about coaching from the managers there. He left Newcastle in September 2006. After that, John Collins chose him to be his assistant at Hibernian. When Collins resigned, Craig again became the caretaker manager for Hibernian. He left after four games when Mixu Paatelainen was appointed as the new manager.

Coaching in Belgium and St Mirren

In December 2008, Craig joined Charleroi in Belgium as an assistant coach to John Collins. On November 20, 2009, he was made the head coach. He signed a contract for a year and a half. However, he was sacked on April 14, 2010.

St Mirren manager Danny Lennon hired Craig as a first-team coach on July 22, 2011. Craig was part of the coaching team that won the 2012–13 Scottish League Cup with St Mirren. This was a big achievement for the club.

Becoming a Manager

On May 13, 2014, Craig was appointed as the manager of St Mirren. This happened after Danny Lennon left the club. Right after taking the job, Craig added two players, Jim Goodwin and Gary Teale, to his coaching team. Craig was sacked in December 2014. He had been in charge for 19 matches. At that time, St Mirren was at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership. They also lost 4–0 to Inverness in the Scottish Cup.

Managerial Statistics

Here are Tommy Craig's statistics as a manager for some teams:

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Scotland U21		1993	1998
Charleroi		2009	2010	19	2	3	14	10.53
St Mirren		2014	2014	19	3	3	13	15.79

• There are no statistics currently available for the Scotland U21 team.