Alexander Scott Rae (born 30 September 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is assistant head coach at Partick Thistle.
Rae began his youth career at Rangers and started his senior career at Falkirk. Rae played for Millwall, Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rangers, Dundee, Milton Keynes Dons. Back from rehab clinic for alcoholism in 1998, he was with Sunderland and played regularly in the top flight until September 2001. He then joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, and quickly became the key player in the team, winning the fans's player of the season award. In 2003, he helped the team back into the Premier League, and had his best seasonal tally with 8 goals. He then went back to Scotland, joining Rangers where he had started his youth career, in May 2004, and won the league title in his first season.
Rae was appointed player-manager of Dundee in May 2006. He led the club to third place in the First Division in his first season and took them a place higher in his second. He stopped his career as a footballer during the 2008–2009 season and went to Sweden as part of his work towards a UEFA Pro Licence.
Playing career
Rae was born in Glasgow.
Coaching and managerial career
thumb|upright|Rae in 2010
Rae was appointed player-manager of Dundee on 24 May 2006.
In 2010, Rae made a return to competitive football to cover for injuries. On 29 October 2010, Rae joined Notts County as assistant manager, but he left the club following the departure of manager Paul Ince on 3 April 2011.
In February 2013, Rae joined Blackpool, once again with Paul Ince. The season finished with Blackpool in 15th place.
On 21 January 2014, along with Paul Ince, Rae's Blackpool contract was terminated and he left the club. In August 2014 he became assistant manager at Belgian club KRC Genk, working with Alex McLeish.
Rae was appointed manager of Scottish Championship side St Mirren in December 2015, after former manager Ian Murray resigned. After an unsuccessful start to the 2016–17 season, Rae and his assistant David Farrell were sacked by the club.
Rae became assistant to Paul Ince at Reading in February 2022. On 11 April 2023, Rae and Ince were sacked by Reading. On 1 October 2023, Rae joined Scottish Premiership side Rangers as a first-team coach after the sacking of manager Michael Beale.
On 19 June 2025, Rae joined Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle as assistant head coach under Mark Wilson.
Managerial statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan=2|Team
!rowspan=2|From
!rowspan=2|To
!colspan=9|Record
|-
!
!
!
!
!
|-
|align=left|Dundee
|align=left|24 May 2006
|align=left|20 October 2008
|-
|align=left|St Mirren
|align=left|18 December 2015
|align=left|18 September 2016
|-
!colspan=3|Total
|}
Honours
Sunderland
- Football League First Division: 1998–99
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Football League First Division play-offs: 2003
Rangers
- Scottish Premier League: 2004–05
- Scottish League Cup: 2004–05
Scotland U21
- UEFA under-21 Euros: Bronze 1992
- Toulon Tournament: Bronze 1991
Individual
- PFA Team of the Year: 1995–96 First Division