David McCracken (born 16 October 1981) is a Scottish football player and coach, whose last role was as co-manager of Falkirk between 2019 and 2021. McCracken, who played as a central defender, was a Scotland under-21 internationalist, having made five appearances at that level between 2001 and 2003. McCracken started his career with Dundee United in the Scottish Premier League and was a first team player there for seven years before leaving in May 2007. He subsequently played in England for Football League clubs Wycombe Wanderers, Milton Keynes Dons and Brentford before returning to Scotland with St Johnstone in 2011. He joined Falkirk in August 2013, playing with the club for four seasons, before finishing his playing career with Peterhead.
Club career Dundee United Born in Glasgow, Scotland, McCracken began his football career at Dundee United, where he revealed that it was a two-year apprenticeship. McCracken progressed through the youth ranks at the Tangerines, where he eventually signed his first professional contract with the club. McCracken made his competitive senior debut in a Scottish Premier League (SPL) match against Celtic on 2 May 2000, as Dundee United loss 1–0. In a follow–up match against Motherwell, however, he received a straight red card in the 28th minute for a professional foul on John Spencer, as the Tangerines loss 2–1. After the match, manager Paul Sturrock believed that McCracken was unlucky to be sent–off. At the end of the 1999–00 season, he made two appearances in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2000–01 season, McCracken was promoted to Dundee United’s first team squad. In the opening game of the season, he scored his first goal for the Tangerines, in a 2–1 defeat to Celtic at Tannadice. However, in a match against Rangers on 1 October 2000, McCracken suffered an injury and was substituted in the 16th minute, as Dundee United loss 3–0. On 17 December 2000, he made his return from injury, starting a 1–1 draw against Rangers. Following this, McCracken spent the rest of the 2000–01 season, playing for the club’s reserve. At the end of the 2000–01 season, he made nine appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2001–02 season, McCracken suffered a groin injury during the Dundee United's pre–season match. On 11 August 2001, he returned to the first team, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute in a 1–0 win against St Johnstone. His return led to McCracken signing a contract with the Tangerines, keeping him until 2005. By December, he mostly spent the rest of the season, playing for Dundee United’s reserve team. McCracken had to wait until on 23 February 2002 to make his first team return, starting the whole game, in a 2–2 draw against Ayr United in the quarter–finals of the Scottish Cup to earn a replay. Two weeks later, on 9 March 2002, he started in the left–back position against Hearts and set up the club’s second goal of the game, in a 2–1 win. McCracken helped Dundee United kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league between 13 April 2002 and 27 April 2002. At the end of the 2001–02 season, McCracken made twenty–four appearances in all competitions.
However, at the start of the 2002–03 season, McCracken didn’t feature in the first team for the first two months. He made his first appearance of the season, starting the whole game, in a 4–1 win against Queen's Park in the second round of the Scottish Cup. Following this, McCracken regained his first team place, playing in the centre–back position throughout the season. He then scored his first goal for Dundee United in four years, in a 2–1 loss against Hibernian on 26 April 2003. At the end of the 2002–03 season, McCracken made thirty appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2003–04 season, McCracken was told by manager Ian McCall that he must establish himself in the first team for Dundee United, having been fringe from the first team. McCracken was subjected to a transfer move when manager McCall offered cash sum plus him, in exchange for Hibernian’s Mathias Kouo-Doumbé. Motherwell also offered to sign McCracken with cash in exchange for Martyn Corrigan, but neither of the move have been materialised. After the summer transfer window, he did not play in the first team for a month and played for the Tangerines’ reserve team. On 18 October 2003, McCracken made his first team return, starting the whole game and helped Dundee United win 1–0 win against Aberdeen. Following his return from injury, he regained his first team place for the Tangerines, playing in the centre–back position. In a match against Hibernian on 8 November 2003, he scored a last minute own goal that saw both teams drew 2–2. McCracken helped the Tangerines kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league between 13 December 2003 and 27 December 2003. On 17 April 2004 McCracken scored his first goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Dunfermline Athletic. He was then part of the side that finished fifth in the league to give the Dundee United their best finish since 1996–97. At the end of the 2003–04 season, McCracken made thirty–four appearances and scoring once in all competitions, bringing his total appearances to 99 for the Tangerines.
At the start of the 2004–05 season, McCracken continued to remain in the first team spotlight, playing in the centre–back position. He captained Dundee United for the first time in his career and helped the club beat Stranraer in the second round of the Scottish League Cup. However, his performance soon dipped and was dropped to the substitute bench. Despite this, McCracken came on as a 82nd minute substitute and played through extra time, as he helped the Tangerines beat Hibernian 2–1 to reach the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup. In a follow–up match against Livingston, McCracken scored the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win. On 1 January 2005, he scored the opening goal of the game with a header, in a 1–1 draw against Rangers. With his contract expiring at the end of the 2004–05 season, manager McCall ruled out selling McCracken after he was linked with a move to Livingston. However, during the fourth round of the Scottish Cup tie against Queen of the South, McCracken suffered a foot injury and was substituted in the 36th minute, as Dundee United won 3–0. On 5 March 2005 he made his return from injury, only to be substituted after suffering an elbow injury in the 11th minute, as the Tangerines loss 2–0 against Motherwell. After being out for two months, McCracken made his return from injury, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Dunfermline Athletic on 15 May 2005. He appeared as an unused substitute in the Scottish Cup final, as Dundee United lost 1–0 against Celtic. At the end of the 2004–05 season, McCracken made thirty–one appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. He ended the speculation to his future at the Tangerines by being awarded a new two-year contract on 19 July 2005.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, McCracken made his European debut, starting the whole game, in a 0–0 draw against MyPa in the first leg of the UEFA Cup second qualifying round. However, his performance dipped once again that he was dropped to the substitute bench for three matches. On 17 September 2005 McCracken made his return to the starting line–up in a 2–0 win against Livingston. A week later, on 24 September 2005, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Dunfermline Athletic. Following this, McCracken regained his first team place, playing in the centre–back position. He then scored his second goal of the season to help Dundee United drew 2–2 against Kilmarnock on 25 March 2006. On the last game of the season, McCracken helped the Tangerines drew 1–1 against Motherwell to earn a ninth place finish in the SPL for a second consecutive season. At the end of the 2005–06 season, he made thirty–seven appearances and scoring two times in all competitions, taking his total of appearances for Dundee United to 165.
The start of the 2006–07 season saw McCracken started in the first six league matches for Dundee United. However, he missed one match due to an injury. But McCracken made his return to the starting line–up, in a 1–1 draw against Motherwell on 23 September 2006. Following this, he regained his first team place, playing in the centre–back position. This last until he suffered a hamstring injury that saw him out for three matches. McCracken scored on his return from injury, in a 3–2 win against Motherwell on 16 December 2006. On 19 January 2007, McCracken was told he was free to leave the Tangerines at the end of the 2006–07 season. Despite this, McCracken’s place in the first team at Dundee United was not affected as the season went by. He then helped the Tangerines kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league between 27 January 2007 and 18 February 2007. McCracken made his final appearance for Dundee United on the last game of the season, starting the whole game, in a 0–0 draw at home to Motherwell. At the end of the 2006–07 season, McCracken made thirty–six appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Wycombe Wanderers McCracken said he was interested in playing in England after leaving Dundee United. On 13 June 2007, McCracken joined Wycombe Wanderers on a two-year deal, playing his first English club. After the move, he says joining the Chairboys was good opportunities to work under manager compatriot Paul Lambert.
McCracken was then announced as captain on 9 August 2007, having captained Wycombe Wanderers in the pre–season matches. He made his debut for the Chairboys, starting the whole game, in the 1–0 loss at home to Accrington Stanley in the opening game of the season. Following the Chairboys’ defeat against Peterborough United on 14 October 2007, his performance along with the defenders were criticised by manager Lambert for lacking courage, which McCracken agreed with his words in response. Since joining Wycombe Wanderers, McCracken started the first thirteen league matches of the season until missing one match through suspension. He made his return to the first team, starting the whole game, in a 0–0 draw against Wrexham on 7 November 2007. However, his return was short–lived when McCracken suffered a tore calf injury and was out for two weeks. On 14 December 2007 he returned from injury, starting in a 2–0 win over Morecambe. McCracken then helped the Chairboys kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league between 29 December 2007 and 8 January 2008. Following his return from injury, he regained his first team place, playing in the centre–back position, as well as, retaining his captaincy. In a match against Bury on 12 February 2008, McCracken made a mistake that led to the opposition team scoring an equaliser, costing Wycombe Wanderers a win, in a 2–2 draw. Four days later, on 16 February 2008, he made amends for mistakes by scoring his first goal, in the 1–0 home win over Rotherham United, which was his only goal in his first season at Adams Park. However, in a match against Hereford United on 15 March 2008, McCracken suffered an injury and was taken off at half–time, as Wycombe Wanderers loss 1–0. On 15 April 2008 he returned from injury, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 win against Grimsby Town. However, McCracken appeared an unused substitute bench in both legs of the League Two play–offs, as Wycombe Wanderers loss 2–1 on aggregate. He successfully predicted that the season would be a failure if the Chairboys didn’t make it to the Football League Two play-off final. Following the resignation of manager Lambert, McCracken said he was devastated to hear the news, having persuaded him to make a move to the Chairboys and felt the squad let him down because of this. At the end of the 2007–08 season, McCracken went on to make forty appearances and scoring once in all competitions.