Cramb gets serious to help Shire shed their 'joke-team' tag

Published on Friday 20 February 2009 21:23

COLIN Cramb's reputation as a hell- raiser has followed him through 18 moves to 16 clubs in his 17 years at a professional, and while the veteran striker has shown passion and commitment throughout his career, he has added a new string to his bow – maturity.

Cramb holds the distinction of being the only man to play in every professional league in Scotland and England – all four divisions north and south of the border, plus at stint in the English Conference with Shrewsbury. Twice subject to six-figure transfer deals he has also impressed in the Dutch Eredivisie, where his form placed him on the verge of a Scotland call-up.

This season the 34-year-old joined East Stirlingshire, his 18th move. He signed looking for something that, with a career like his, must have been hard to find – a new challenge.

"I needed a fresh start. The club had finished bottom for so many years I think some saw us as a joke team," he said.

"I joined knowing that even finishing second-last would be seen as an achievement. Now we're in the play-off spots. I think we've done a lot to shed that image."

Today, East Stirlingshire travel to Montrose. Victory would see the Shire consolidate their position in the play-off places, but Cramb is not getting carried away with thoughts of promotion.

"I think we'll have done well just reaching the play-offs," he said.

If long-suffering East Stirlingshire do manage promotion this season it will represent a monumental triumph for them. But for Cramb it would also be something of a personal victory.

He scored 16 goals for Stirling Albion two seasons ago, but spent most of last season on the bench as Stirling were relegated from the First Division.

"The manager (Alan Moore] said I wasn't good enough to start. Maybe I wasn't," he said.

Coming from Colin Cramb, this modesty might seem unusual. His reputation places him in the category of footballer often referred to as "a character" and characters are rarely known to self-doubt.

Yet in person Cramb is not the man that his reputation suggests. He openly admits that at times his attitude caused him problems.

"I joined Falkirk in 1994," he recalled. "Jim Jefferies was in charge. He didn't like my attitude and sold me to Hearts. After playing a few games there they sacked Tommy McLean; and who did they bring in? Jim Jefferies. The first thing he did was show me the door again."

Not that Cramb bears any grudges. "I still speak to Jim," he said. "I was young back then, I wanted to enjoy life. For a while football took a back seat. If I'd been in Jim's shoes I'd have done the same."

His spells at Falkirk and Hearts, where he made only a handful of appearances, marked low-points in Cramb's career, but he has also enjoyed many highs.

Two years after breaking into the Hamilton team as a precocious 17-year old, Southampton bought him for 60,000 and took him to the English Premier League. First-team opportunities were limited there but Cramb remembered his time fondly.

The fallow years at Falkirk and Hearts followed, but Cramb never lost faith. "I always believed in my ability to score goals," he said.

A move to Doncaster Rovers in 1995 reignited Cramb's career. He scored 25 goals in two seasons there. Subsequent spells at Bristol City, Walsall, Crewe, Notts County and Bury, further developed his reputation as a clinical marksman.

This brought him to the attention of Dutch side Fortuna Sittard, whom he joined in 2001. Cramb said of his time in the Netherlands: "It was probably the best time in my career.

"I still have videos of me, three-stone lighter obviously, playing against teams like Ajax. It was great."

Injury cut short Cramb's time abroad, also ending growing talk of an international call-up.

He has since spent time in the English and Scottish lower divisions, rarely staying more than a season at any one club.

Now in the twilight of his career, Cramb reflects: "Perhaps I could have spent more time playing at a higher level but it's been a learning curve."

As this career draws to a close, Cramb has begun looking to the future.

"Not playing will be a hard change, but I will change," he said. And with undisguised enthusiasm, he added: "Management would be exciting, a new learning curve."

Cramb's learning curve has been longer and steeper than most and he has reached the top a changed man from the youngster who began the climb.

Colin Cramb's career

&#149 1991–1993 HAMILTON

&#149 1993–1994 SOUTHAMPTON

&#149 1994–1995 FALKIRK

&#149 1995 HEARTS

&#149 1995–1997 DONCASTER ROVERS

&#149 1997–1999 BRISTOL CITY

&#149 1999 Walsall (loan)

&#149 1999–2001 CREWE

&#149 2000 Notts County (loan)

&#149 2001 Bury (loan)

&#149 2001–2003 FORTUNA SITTARD

&#149 2003 Bury (loan)

&#149 2003–2004 SHREWSBURY TOWN

&#149 2004–2005 GRIMSBY TOWN

&#149 2005 HAMILTON

&#149 2005–2006 STENHOUSEMUIR

&#149 2006–2008 STIRLING ALBION

&#149 2008– EAST STIRLINGSHIRE