Alexander Cleland was somewhat of a surprise signing when, along with fellow defender Gary Bollan, he joined from Dundee United at the start of 1995 in a joint deal worth £750,000.
Whilst Bollan would struggle to make any lasting impact during his spell at Ibrox, Alec would go on to establish himself as a regular in the starting line-up as Rangers closed in on Nine in A Row.
The 24 year old had gained plenty of experience in Scotland’s top flight with United prior to his arrival at Ibrox. He had collected a Scottish Cup Winner’s medal whilst at Tannadice, ironically won against Rangers as back to back Trebles were denied in 1994. Along with Bollan, the pair would soon make their Gers debuts in a defeat at Pittodrie on 12th February 1995. It was by no means a dream introduction to the side for Alec as Scottish Cup defeat at Tynecastle followed in his next appearance.
Season 1995/96 would see Rangers complete a League and Scottish Cup double and Alec would play 29 times in those two competitions alone, thus contributing greatly. His first goal for the Club was one to remember, a well placed header on the stroke of half time at Parkhead giving Rangers the lead in the first Old Firm league encounter of the season. A Paul Gascoigne goal would secure the crucial win which came just 11 days after Cleland had been part of the side which won at the same venue in the League Cup.
He was brought crashing back down to earth the following month when a torrid evening in Turin saw him red carded in the European Champions League match with Juventus. It was a valuable learning experience against the eventual winners. His direct opponent on that evening was a 20 year old by the name of Alessandro Del Piero and, to be fair, he turned out to be half decent!
An unlikely hat-trick followed later that season as he found the target three times at Pittodrie in a 10-1 win over Keith. He would go on to play in the both the semi final and final wins over Celtic and Hearts at Hampden.
Alec would feature in 32 of the league fixtures during our NIAR winning season including all 4 wins over Celtic in that competition. Those 12 points were clearly massive in terms of that Championship success and Alec more than played his part. There is no doubt that Alec continued to improve year on year during his time at Rangers and whilst season 1997/98 would ultimately end in major disappointment, he was one of the more consistent performers during the course of the season.
The departure of Walter Smith and the stalwarts of that NIAR success in the summer of 1998 possibly convinced Alec it was the right time to end his association with Rangers and he would soon join up with Walter and Archie Knox at Everton.
In all, Alec made 134 first team appearances for Rangers scoring 7 goals in the process. He would later return to Ibrox for a brief spell as Coach at the Training Academy.
In recent times, Cleland has been part of the coaching staff at top flight St. Johnstone.
