We were saddened to hear of the death of our former midfielder, Alex Cropley, aged 75.
One of the most talented young players north of the border, Alex won the League Cup with Hibernian and earned full international caps for Scotland whilst at Easter Road, attracting the attention of a number of English clubs and we paid £150,000 for him to head to Highbury on December 4, 1974.
After a good start for Bertie Mee’s Gunners – scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Carlisle United on his sixth appearance – Alex suffered a season-ending leg-break after just nine games, during a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough. Having got himself fit for the start of the 1975/76 season, the skilful, tenacious left-footed attacking midfielder was a regular in Mee’s team for the first three months of the season before another leg break, in a defeat at Birmingham City, all but ended his second season with us.
With a new manager at the helm in Terry Neill, Alex sought better luck elsewhere and was sold to Aston Villa for £125,000 in September 1976. At Villa Park he went on to win the League Cup in 1977 before yet another broken leg stalled his career once again, though he did have brief spells with Newcastle United, Toronto Blizzard and Portsmouth.
After retiring, Alex became a taxi driver in his hometown of Edinburgh with his wife and two sons. Our thoughts are with Alex’s family and friends.
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