Andy Webster (footballer, Born 1982)

Andrew Neil Webster (born 23 April 1982) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

He began his career with Arbroath in the Scottish Second Division before moving to Heart of Midlothian for £75,000 in 2001. In two separate spells, he played a total of 222 Scottish Premier League games for Hearts, amassing 272 appearances across all competitions. His first spell ended in a transfer saga in which he invoked updated FIFA transfer regulations to leave for Wigan Athletic, in a move which became known as the Webster ruling. He played only four Premier League matches for Wigan and returned to Scotland, spending three seasons troubled by injury at Rangers. He won the Scottish Cup, and also won it two years later in his second spell at Hearts. After leaving Hearts for a second time in 2013, he spent two years with Coventry City before joining St Mirren in 2015.

Webster made his debut for Scotland in 2003 and earned 28 caps in a decade-long international career, scoring once.

Club career

Arbroath

Born in Dundee, Webster began his career at Arbroath in the Scottish Second Division. He made his debut aged 17, away to Stirling Albion in the second round of the Scottish Challenge Cup. He went on to make 24 appearances in total over nearly two seasons. His first and only goal for the club came on 17 March 2001 during a home league match against Queen's Park which Arbroath won 2–0, confirming the scoreline in the 81st minute by finishing a Kevin Heenan corner kick.

Little over a week later, Scottish Premier League club Dundee United confirmed they had had a "five-figure bid accepted", with the bid to be completed at the end of the season. Two days later, Webster phoned manager Alex Smith to inform he had turned down the chance to move to Tannadice.

Hearts

Shortly afterwards he was signed to Heart of Midlothian by manager Craig Levein on 30 March for a reported £75,000.

His debut came on 22 April in a 1–0 defeat away to Celtic, replacing Kevin McKenna for the final five minutes, and he played three more matches (all starts) for the remainder of the Scottish Premier League season.

In his first full season at Hearts, Webster played 27 SPL games. His first goal in the top flight, and for Hearts, came on 23 November 2001 away to Dundee at Dens Park. He opened the scoring after 30 minutes by heading in Alan Maybury's cross, in an eventual 1–1 draw.

During the 2002–03 season, Webster made 21 appearances as Hearts came third and qualified for the UEFA Cup. His sole goal of the campaign came on 5 April 2003 against Dundee United at Tynecastle: after fouling Charlie Miller for the opening goal by a Danny Griffin free kick, he equalised in the second half in a 2–1 comeback victory. The first red card of his career came on 5 May in a 1–0 loss at Kilmarnock, with teammate Austin McCann also being dismissed later on in the match.

On 24 September 2003, Webster scored his first European goal in the first leg of the first round of the season's UEFA Cup, confirming a 2–0 win over Bosnia's FK Željezničar Sarajevo. Hearts advanced by the same score on aggregate but were knocked out in the second round by Bordeaux. His two goals in 32 league appearances helped them to third place again, qualifying for the next edition of the UEFA Cup.

In the first leg of the first round of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, Hearts hosted S.C. Braga on 16 September. Webster made a mistake which nearly gave the Portuguese club the lead, but later opened a 3–1 win by heading in from Mark de Vries' knock-down at close range. Hearts advanced to the group stage 5–3 on aggregate, where they came last and were eliminated. On 10 November, in the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup, Webster opened a win by the same score at Dunfermline Athletic, heading another knockdown, this time from McKenna, after a throw-in by Robbie Neilson; Hearts lost the semi-final to Motherwell after extra time. He was given a straight red card on 11 December away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, when he pushed Graham Bayne into the dug-out in the 33rd minute, but Hearts drew 1–1. On 23 April 2005, Webster equalised in the 88th minute of the Edinburgh derby away to Hibernian, putting in Paul Hartley's free kick for a 2–2 draw at Easter Road.

During his time with the ''Jambos'' he established himself as a regular at the heart of defence playing alongside club captain Steven Pressley and also became a fixture in the Scotland national team. He was a regular for the side and made 184 appearances for the Jambos but in 2006 he was left out of the match against Dundee United because of a disagreement over contracts, with chairman Vladimir Romanov, who later suggested to many that Webster would leave soon. His contract dispute with the club meant he was left out of the squad for the 2006 Scottish Cup Final.

Contract dispute

Webster made football transfer history when he was the first player to invoke a loophole in Article 17 of new transfer regulations FIFA had adopted to bring football's transfer system into line with EU law. This enabled him to cancel his contract with Hearts in the third year of a four-year deal, with the proviso that he join a club in a foreign country and that sufficient notice be given to his former employers. Webster's transfer to Wigan Athletic was ratified by FIFA on 4 September 2006, seemingly creating a legal precedent for the conduct of international football transfers.

In May 2007, FIFA ruled that Webster had cancelled the contract "without just cause" and without the required full 15-day notice. FIFA suspended him for the first two matches of the 2007–08 season. They also ordered him to pay £625,000 to Hearts.

On 30 January 2008, Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Heart of Midlothian Football Club were to be awarded £150,000 for Webster's breach of contract. This amount was to be paid by Webster to the club. The arbitration board reduced the compensation from previous amount of £625,000 that Hearts appealed against.

Wigan Athletic and Rangers

Wigan Athletic

Webster made his Wigan debut in a league match in a 4–0 win against Manchester City at the JJB Stadium on 21 October 2006, replacing Fitz Hall at half time and receiving a booking. He went on to start the next three matches but found the switch to the English Premier League difficult. His time with Wigan was short-lived and, after just four appearances, he was deemed surplus to requirements

Loan to Rangers

On 4 January 2007, the day Paul Le Guen left Rangers, the BBC
...