Kevin Gallacher

Kevin William Gallacher (born 23 November 1966) is a Scottish football pundit and former professional player. He played as a forward from 1983 until 2002, notably in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers where he was part of the title-winning squad in 1994–95.

Kevin Gallacher
Personal information
Full name Kevin William Gallacher[1]
Date of birth (1966-11-23) 23 November 1966
Place of birth Clydebank, Scotland
Position(s) Winger, striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1990 Dundee United 131 (26)
1990–1993 Coventry City 100 (28)
1993–1999 Blackburn Rovers 144 (46)
1999–2001 Newcastle United 39 (4)
2001–2002 Preston North End 5 (1)
2002 Sheffield Wednesday 3 (0)
2002 Huddersfield Town 7 (0)
Total 429 (105)
National team
1988–2001 Scotland 53 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Gallacher started his career in his native land with Dundee United and went on to also play in the English top flight for Coventry City and Newcastle United, as well as in the Football League for Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town. He made 53 appearances for Scotland, scoring 9 goals.

Club career

Gallacher started his Scottish League career with Dundee United, where he spent seven years as part of a successful team under the guidance of Jim McLean. He made his first team debut in December 1985 aged 19 years old in a UEFA Cup tie against Neuchâtel Xamax and three days later played against Rangers at Ibrox.[2] He soon established himself in the side with his fast and penetrating wing play.[3] He helped United reach the 1987 UEFA Cup Final, scoring against Barcelona in the quarter-finals en route. United, however, lost on aggregate to IFK Göteborg. The following year Gallacher scored Dundee United's goal in the 1988 Scottish Cup Final, in the 2–1 defeat by Celtic. A week later he made his full international debut for Scotland against Colombia.[4]

Gallacher moved to Coventry City in January 1990 for a transfer fee of £950,000[3] and became a fans favourite for three years. Having played for most of his career to date as a winger, Gallacher was used as a striker for most of his time at Highfield Road, and was the club's top scorer in seasons 1990–91 and 1991–92.[5]

He then joined Blackburn Rovers in March 1993 for £1.5 million, as they looked to fill the gap up front left by the long-term injury absence of Alan Shearer.[6][7] He made an immediate impact, scoring on his debut in a 4-1 win over Liverpool. However, two broken legs (the second sustained in his first game after the original injury) the following season restricted him to just one Premier League game in 1994–95 when Blackburn won the FA Premier League. He did score in that game, a 2–1 win against Crystal Palace.

Gallacher returned to full effectiveness in 1996–97, however, scoring 10 goals to help avoid a relegation scare. In 1997–98 he formed a potent partnership with Chris Sutton,[8] scoring 16 goals himself as Blackburn finished 6th. However, injuries and inconsistencies meant he missed much of 1998–99, although he was the team's top goalscorer with 5 goals. Blackburn were relegated in 1999, just four seasons after having won the title.[8]

He then moved to Newcastle United, becoming Bobby Robson's first signing as Newcastle manager. Gallacher was mostly used as a right winger, a role he adapted to well, and despite a lack of goals, was fairly popular with the Newcastle fans for his work rate.

Spells at Preston North End (where he scored twice against Kidderminster Harriers[9] and Sheffield United),[10] Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town followed before hanging up his boots in 2002, ending a career which had seen him score a total of 106 goals in 430 games in the English and Scottish leagues.

International career

Gallacher won 53 caps for Scotland, and was in the squads for the Euro 92, Euro 96, and 1998 FIFA World Cup tournaments. He scored nine goals for his country, six of them in 1998 World Cup qualification, a significant contribution to the successful campaign which included perhaps his most famous international goals, a double against Austria at Celtic Park in 1997.[11]

Media career

Gallacher has worked as a co-commentator and studio analyst for BBC Radio 5 Live, Sky Sports, Setanta Sports, BBC Scotland and Channel 5. In addition to this he is also a columnist in the Lancashire Telegraph. In 2006 he published a book, Tartan Turmoil: The Fall & Rise of Scottish Football, a semi-autobiographical look at the problems faced by Scottish football. In 2010, he started working for ITV, commentating on FA Cup games.

Personal life

He is the grandson of the late Celtic forward Patsy Gallacher, who died before he was born. His uncles Willie and Tommy and cousin Brian were also footballers.[12][2] The Gallachers are also related to another footballing branch of the family, John Divers and his son of the same name who both played for Celtic.[13]

He married Aileen Binnie in 1987.

Honours

Individual

Career statistics

Club
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Scotland League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1985–86Dundee UnitedPremier Division20330-10243
1986–87371063421015716
1987–88263813121396
1988–893195142404412
1989–90171102041242
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
1989–90Coventry CityFirst Division1530020-173
1990–9132112035-3716
1991–923381042-3810
1992–93Premier League2061020-236
Blackburn RoversPremier League95---95
1993–94307---307
1994–9511---11
1995–96162--10172
1996–9734102031-3911
1997–9833164311-3820
1998–991651010-185
1999–00First Division50-11-61
Newcastle UnitedPremier League20251--253
2000–011921021-223
2001–02PrestonFirst Division51-11-62
Sheffield Wednesday30---30
2002–03Huddersfield TownSecond Division70-10-80
Career total 4291054093417223525134

Additional sources: , , , ,

International
Appearances
Scotland national team
YearAppsGoals
198840
199130
199270
199352
199650
1997106
199870
199960
200041
200120
Total539
Goals
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 19 May 1993 Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn  Estonia 1–0 3–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 13 October 1993 Stadio Olimpico, Rome  Italy 1–2 1–3
3 2 April 1997 Celtic Park, Glasgow  Austria 1–0 2–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4 2–0 2–0
5 30 April 1997 Ullevi Stadion, Gothenburg  Sweden 1–2 1–2
6 7 September 1997 Pittodrie, Aberdeen  Belarus 1–0 4–1
7 3–0 4–1
8 11 October 1997 Celtic Park, Glasgow  Latvia 1–0 2–0
9 11 October 2000 Maksimir Stadion, Zagreb  Croatia 1–1 1–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

See also

References
  1. "Kevin Gallacher". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  2. Cryer, Andy (3 July 2009). "Kevin Gallacher life story part 2: Growing up was tough as grandson of late great Patsy". This Is Lancashire. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  3. "Dundee United A – Z ( G )". DundeeUnitedFC.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  4. "Kevin Gallacher". Scottish FA. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  5. Phelps, Steve. "Kevin Gallacher – from Tannadice to the title via Highfield Road". Away From Home. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  6. "Boom and bust the Blackburn way". BBC News. 13 May 1999.
  7. Cryer, Andy (3 July 2009). "Kevin Gallacher life story part 3: Kenny told me to shut my eyes during a drive through Blackburn". This Is Lancashire. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  8. Cryer, Andy (3 July 2009). "Kevin Gallacher life story part 4: We should have built on Premier win". This Is Lancashire. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  9. "Kidderminster 2–3 Preston". BBC. 21 August 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  10. "Preston 3–0 Sheff Utd". BBC. 24 October 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  11. Gallacher the brave as Scots defeat Austria, Irish Times, 3 April 1997
  12. "Tommy Gallacher obituary". The Scotsman. 6 October 2001. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  13. "Obituary: John Divers, footballer and teacher". The Scotsman. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
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