Colin Cameron (footballer)

Colin Cameron

Personal information
Full name	Colin Cameron[1]
Date of birth	(1972-10-23) 23 October 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Raith Rovers (Assistant Manager)
Youth career
1988–1990	Raith Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1996	Raith Rovers	152	(32)
1991–1992	→ Sligo Rovers (loan)	9	(4)
1996–2001	Heart of Midlothian	157	(48)
2001–2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	168	(23)
2006	→ Millwall (loan)	5	(0)
2006–2007	Coventry City	24	(2)
2007–2008	Milton Keynes Dons	29	(3)
2008–2010	Dundee	23	(0)
2009	→ Arbroath (loan)	3	(0)
2010–2013	Cowdenbeath	69	(3)
2014	Burntisland Shipyard (trialist)	1	(1)
2014–2015	Berwick Rangers	29	(1)
International career
1999–2004	Scotland	28	(2)
Managerial career
2011–2013	Cowdenbeath
2014–2015	Berwick Rangers
2019	Airdrieonians (assistant)
2022–	Raith Rovers (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Colin Cameron (born 23 October 1972) is a Scottish football manager and former professional player.

Cameron started his playing career with Raith Rovers. He was part of the Rovers side that won the Scottish League Cup in 1994, leading to the team's first and only foray in Europe, which included the memorable ties against German giants Bayern Munich. He also won two First Division championships with Raith, and won the Scottish Cup with Hearts in 1998.

Cameron made a £1.75m move to English club Wolves in 2001 and played for them in the Premier League. He was capped 28 times by Scotland, scoring twice. He made his international debut on 28 April 1999, in a 1–0 friendly win in Germany.

Career

Raith Rovers

Cameron was brought up in the Links area of Kirkcaldy, very close to Stark's Park, the ground of Raith Rovers. He attended Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy until December 1988 and then joined Raith Rovers. Cameron spent most of the 1991–92 season on loan to Irish side Sligo Rovers, before becoming a regular in the Raith side. He was part of the team who famously defeated Celtic on penalties to win the 1994–95 League Cup. The following season, he played in both legs of the 1995–96 UEFA Cup tie against Bayern Munich. Tasting two titles (and a relegation in-between), Cameron made just over 150 league appearances for Rovers before leaving in March 1996.

Heart of Midlothian

Cameron joined Hearts in a £400,000 exchange deal, with John Millar joining Raith as a make weight. Like his previous club, Cameron made just over 150 league appearances, becoming club captain. During his stay at Hearts, Cameron scored the opening goal in the 1998 Scottish Cup Final, which Hearts went on to win 2–1 against Rangers.^[2]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Cameron moved to Wolves in a £1.75m deal in August 2001.^[3] Cameron was a fans' favourite at Wolves, mainly because of his effort and determination.^[4] With 23 goals in 168 appearances, Cameron was not a regular goalscorer but contributed some important goals, including the goal that gave the club their first ever Premier League victory in a 1–0 success over Manchester City, and Wolves never lost a match in which he scored. He was a first choice player throughout almost all his time there as he helped the side win promotion to the top flight via the playoffs in 2003, and played for a season at that level before spending two further seasons in the second tier attempting to win promotion back.

By 2006, Cameron's time at Molineux was over, not featuring in manager Glenn Hoddle's future plans at the club.^[4] He spent some time on loan to Millwall, before being recalled by Wolves – then in a faltering promotion campaign – and played in their final five games of the season. His performances gained him the support of many fans to remain at the club,^[4] but he was not offered a new contract and moved to fellow Championship team Coventry City on a free transfer in June 2006.

Coventry City

Cameron signed a one-year deal with Coventry City^[5] for the 2006–07 season. He appeared in most of Coventry's games in that season, although mostly as a substitute, scoring two league goals (both penalties), and one from open play in the FA Cup. He suffered an Achilles injury midway through the campaign and managed only two league games in the New Year, before being told he would be released.^[6]

Milton Keynes Dons

He had trials with League Two club Milton Keynes Dons, managed by his former Wolves teammate Paul Ince, and signed a contract for the 2007/08 season, establishing himself as a regular first team player and helping the Dons to lift both the Football League Trophy and the League Two title in that season. However, he was not retained by the club after this campaign.

Dundee

Cameron returned to his native Scotland in July 2008, signing for Dundee,^[7] at the time managed by another former Wolves teammate, Alex Rae. After being plagued by constant knee trouble, Cameron's debut for the club came in a closed door game against Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill which Dundee won 2–1. In early November, Cameron again injured his left knee and had to spend around four months on the sidelines following a subsequent operation. To help to get him back to full fitness for his long-awaited return to the Dundee first team and to aid his recovery from the trouble, new manager Jocky Scott confirmed on 8 January 2009 that Cameron had joined Second Division side Arbroath on a month's loan deal. Upon his return to Dundee Cameron scored his first goal for the club against Stranraer in the Scottish League Cup.^[8] He was released by the club on 4 May 2010 along with eight other players.^[9]

Cowdenbeath

In 2010 Cameron linked up with his former Raith Rovers manager Jimmy Nicholl at Cowdenbeath taking up the assistant manager role, while also remaining a player.

On 6 June 2011 Cameron was named the new player-manager of Cowdenbeath, after Nicholl left for Kilmarnock. Cameron led the Blue Brazil to the Second Division championship in his first season in charge, finishing eight points ahead of Arbroath.^[10] He left the club by mutual consent in November 2013, as the club struggled during the early part of the 2013–14 season.^[10]

Berwick Rangers

Following the sacking of Ian Little, Cameron was appointed player-manager of Berwick Rangers on 14 January 2014.^[11] He held this position until October 2015, when he was sacked after a 4–1 defeat by Montrose.^[12]

In July 2014, Cameron joined Edusport Academy as a coach.^[13][14]

Cameron joined Airdrieonians as assistant manager in October 2019 and left after a couple of months in the role.^[15]

Career statistics

Source:^[16]

Scotland
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	3	1
2000	6	0
2001	5	1
2002	1	0
2003	8	0
2004	5	0
Total	28	2

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.^[17]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	9 October 1999	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Lithuania	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
2	28 March 2001	Hampden Park, Glasgow	San Marino	4–0	4–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Honours

Raith Rovers

• Scottish League Cup: 1994–95^[18]
• Scottish First Division: 1992–93, 1994–95

Heart of Midlothian

• Scottish Cup: 1997–98^[2]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Football League First Division play-offs: 2003

Milton Keynes Dons

• Football League Trophy: 2007–08^[19]

Dundee

• Scottish Challenge Cup: 2009–10^[20]

References

1. "Colin Cameron". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
2. Philip, Calum (17 May 1998). "Scottish Cup Final: Stage of dramatic Hearts". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
3. Burnton, Simon (25 August 2001). "Wolves' hunger nets Cameron". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
4. Cooper, Scott (12 April 2006). "Sign Him Up!! 90% want Cameron offered contract". sportsnetwork.net. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
5. "Coventry sign midfielder Cameron". BBC Sport. 29 June 2006.
6. "Dowie declines to keep Cameron on". BBC Sport. 25 April 2007.
7. "Dundee complete Cameron transfer". BBC Sport. 15 July 2008.
8. "Dundee 5–0 Stranraer". BBC Sport. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
9. "Dundee aim to axe 16 from squad". BBC Sport. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
10. "Cowdenbeath: Colin Cameron leaves his position as manager". BBC Sport. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
11. "Colin Cameron chosen as new Berwick Rangers manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
12. "Montrose 4–1 Berwick". BBC Sport. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
13. "The Team". Our Football Club. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
14. "Edusport Academy". Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
15. "Hearts hero signs up to become ex-Hibs captain's assistant". Edinburgh Evening News. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
16. National Football Teams profile
17. SFA profile
18. "1994-11-27: Celtic 2-2 Raith Rovers, League Cup Final". The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
19. "Grimsby 0-2 MK Dons". BBC Sport. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
20. "Dundee 3-2 Inverness CT". BBC. 22 November 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2021.

External links

• Colin Cameron at Soccerbase
• Profile at londonhearts.com