Lewis Ferguson

Lewis Ferguson (born 24 August 1999) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club Bologna and the Scotland national team.

Lewis Ferguson
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-08-24) 24 August 1999[1]
Place of birth Hamilton, Scotland
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Bologna
Number 19
Youth career
2009–2013 Rangers
2013–2017 Hamilton Academical
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Hamilton Academical 13 (0)
2018–2022 Aberdeen 132 (27)
2022– Bologna 41 (9)
International career‡
2017–2018 Scotland U19 7 (0)
2018 Scotland U20 1 (0)
2018–2020 Scotland U21 11 (0)
2021– Scotland 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:39, 22 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:06, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

After playing youth football for Rangers and Hamilton Academical, Ferguson made his senior debut for the latter club in the 2017–18 season. After four seasons with Aberdeen he moved to Italian club Bologna in 2022.

A Scotland youth international, he made his senior debut in 2021.

Club career

Hamilton

Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire,[1] Ferguson is a graduate of the Hamilton Academical youth system after earlier being part of the setup at Rangers.[2][3] He made his senior debut for Hamilton on 20 January 2018,[4] and became a regular in the team in the latter part of the 2017–18 season, replacing Greg Docherty who had moved to Rangers.[5]

With his contract due to expire at the end of that season, Ferguson signed a pre-contract agreement with Aberdeen in May 2018.[5][6] He was one of seven first-team players who left Hamilton at the end of the 2017–18 season.[7]

Aberdeen

Ferguson made his competitive debut for Aberdeen on 26 July 2018, in the first leg of a Europa League tie against Burnley at Pittodrie Stadium.[8][9] He scored his first senior goal in the second leg at Turf Moor – a "stunning overhead kick" – although Burnley eventually won the tie on aggregate after extra time.[10] On 28 October, he helped Aberdeen to reach the 2018 Scottish League Cup Final by scoring the only goal of the semi-final against Rangers at Hampden Park.[11] By the end of the calendar year, he had also scored three league goals, all in the closing minutes of each fixture, with two of them (a free kick against Kilmarnock[12] and another overhead kick against Livingston)[13] winning the matches for his team.

In February 2019, Ferguson extended his contract with Aberdeen, keeping him at the club until 2024.[14] In April, he played at Hampden Park again, but this time was sent off for a dangerous challenge as Aberdeen lost to Celtic in the semi-final of the 2018–19 Scottish Cup.[15] In May 2019, he was nominated for the season's PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year; the award was won by Ryan Kent.[16]

Ferguson was the club's top scorer during the 2020–21 season, with 10 goals in 41 appearances.[17] Aberdeen rejected an offer from Watford for Ferguson in May 2021, after which he submitted a written transfer request.[17]

Bologna

On 12 July 2022, Italian club Bologna announced the signing of Ferguson for an undisclosed transfer fee.[18][19] He made his debut as a substitute in a 2–0 away defeat to Milan on 27 August 2022,[20] and made two more substitute appearances before his first start against Napoli on 16 October.[21] His first goal came a week later, the second in a 2–0 win at home to Lecce, and he scored again the following week – the equaliser in a 2–1 away win over Monza.[20] On 12 November 2022, he scored Bologna's third goal in a 3–0 win over Sassuolo, a curling effort from the edge of the penalty area after a one-two with Nicolás Domínguez that was later named the Serie A goal of the month for November 2022.[22][23] Ferguson started 28 games for Bologna during the 2022–23 season as they finished ninth in Serie A.[24] He scored seven goals during the season, which was the highest tally by a Scottish player in an Italian league season since Denis Law played for Torino in 1961–62.[24]

In July 2023, Ferguson signed a new contract with Bologna that is due to run until the end of the 2026–27 season.[24]

International career

Ferguson was called up by the Scotland under-19 team in August 2017,[25] making a number of appearances for them.[26] Ferguson received his first call-up to the senior Scotland squad in August 2021 for games against Denmark, Moldova and Austria.[27]

He made his debut against Denmark on 1 September 2021 in a 2–0 away loss, coming on for Billy Gilmour in added time.[28]

Personal life

Lewis is the son of Derek Ferguson and nephew of Barry Ferguson, both former professional footballers with clubs including Rangers, and the Scotland national team.[29] His cousin Kyle Ferguson is also a footballer (they were teammates as children in the Rangers academy).[2] His daughter Lake was born in November 2022.[30]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 22 October 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hamilton Academical U20s 2016–17[1] – ———1[lower-alpha 3]010
2017–18[1] – ———1[lower-alpha 3]010
Total 0000002020
Hamilton Academical 2017–18[4] Scottish Premiership 130100000140
Aberdeen 2018–19[8] Scottish Premiership 33660312[lower-alpha 4]1448
2019–20[31] Scottish Premiership 28141106[lower-alpha 4]1393
2020–21[32] Scottish Premiership 35930003[lower-alpha 4]14110
2021–22[33] Scottish Premiership 361121106[lower-alpha 5]44516
Total 132271525117716937
Bologna 2022–23 Serie A 32710——337
2023–24 Serie A 9210——102
Total 419200000439
Career total 186361825119722846
  1. Includes Scottish Cup, Coppa Italia
  2. Includes League Cup
  3. Appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup (in which teams from SPFL Development League compete against senior clubs)
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours
Individual

References
  1. Lewis Ferguson at Soccerway. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. "Youth Player Under 11s Team Group – Murray Park". Rangers Pics. 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  3. "Departures". Hamilton Academical F.C. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  4. "Games played by Lewis Ferguson in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. "Aberdeen: Lewis Ferguson agrees pre-contract move from Hamilton". BBC Sport. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  6. Macrae, Daryn (4 June 2018). "Hamilton want £900k from Aberdeen for Lewis Ferguson". STV. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  7. Fowler, Craig (14 May 2018). "Hamilton Accies announce departure of seven first-team players". The Scotsman. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  8. "Games played by Lewis Ferguson in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  9. English, Tom (26 July 2018). "Aberdeen 1–1 Burnley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  10. McLaughlin, Chris (2 August 2018). "Burnley 3–1 Aberdeen: Premier League side progress 4–2 on aggregate". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  11. "No Scottish League Cup final for Gerrard as Ferguson sends Aberdeen through". The Guardian. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  12. "Kilmarnock 1–2 Aberdeen: Lewis Ferguson the hero again as Dons come from behind". The Scotsman. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  13. Davie, Scott (11 December 2018). "Aberdeen 3–2 Livingston: Lewis Ferguson nets overhead-kick winner". The Scotsman. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  14. "Aberdeen: Lewis Ferguson signs two-year contract extension until 2024". BBC Sport. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  15. "Scottish Cup Semi-final (2): Aberdeen 0 Celtic 3". Hampden Park. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  16. "Player of the Year: Old Firm quartet vie for PFA Scotland top prize". BBC Sport. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  17. "Aberdeen: Lewis Ferguson hands in transfer request after bid". BBC Sport. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  18. "Lewis Ferguson joins Bologna". BolognaFC.it. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  19. "Ferguson completes move to Bologna from Aberdeen". BBC Sport.
  20. "Lewis Ferguson on scary Bologna stardom as Scotland star opens up on Serie A 'wow' factor". Daily Record. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  21. McDougall, Mark (16 October 2022). "Lewis Ferguson given first Serie A start as ex Aberdeen man handed Bologna chance vs Napoli". footballscotland. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  22. Sked, Joel (14 November 2022). "Lewis Ferguson: Serie A stand-out, Thiago Motta favourite, Bologna chant, perfect Scotland opportunity". The Scotsman. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  23. "Goal of the Month". Lega Serie A. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  24. "Lewis Ferguson: Bologna extend Scotland midfielder's contract until 2027". BBC Sport. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  25. "International call up for Lewis Ferguson". Hamilton Academical F.C. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  26. Lewis Ferguson at the Scottish Football Association
  27. "Scotland: Zander Clark, Liam Kelly & Lewis Ferguson called up for World Cup qualifiers". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  28. "Denmark v Scotland game report". FIFA. 1 September 2021.
  29. McGilvray, Andy (16 December 2017). "Derek Ferguson says it will be a proud moment if and when son Lewis makes first-team debut for Hamilton". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  30. Burns, Scott (30 November 2022). "Lewis Ferguson opens up on his life changing move to Italy". Daily Record.
  31. "Games played by Lewis Ferguson in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  32. "Games played by Lewis Ferguson in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  33. "Games played by Lewis Ferguson in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  34. "Lewis is young player of the year". SFWA. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  35. "Lewis Ferguson Wins November's Goal of the Month Presented by Crypto.com". Serie A. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
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