Andrew Little (born 12 May 1989) is a Northern Irish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played mainly as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. A versatile player, he could play in any outfield position, though preferred a more attacking role. He left

Ballinamallard United Ballinamallard United Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, re-formed in 1975 after being dormant since the 1960s, hails from Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen, County Ferma ...

for Rangers in 2006, where he turned professional the following year. He made a number of first team appearances in 2009–10, but was otherwise limited to youth and reserve team football until he won a loan move to Port Vale in August 2011. He returned to Rangers, and was a key player as they won the

Scottish Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

title in 2012–13 and the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

title in 2013–14. He signed with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

in June 2014, and was loaned out to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in November 2015, and

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

in March 2016. He was released by Preston in May 2016, and joined

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

in February 2017, where he played until May 2018. He signed with

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

in July 2018, but retired in November 2018 following persistent injury problems. Having represented Northern Ireland at under-19 and under-21 levels, as well as making one appearance for the "B" team, he won his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

cap in March 2009, and appeared nine times in total.

Club career

Rangers

A former

player, he moved from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 2006 to join the Rangers Academy. He scored for the ''Gers'' in the club's

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,

final victory over

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rival's

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. That season he also helped the club to top the

SPFL Development League The SPFL Development League was the top level of youth football in Scotland, which was contested in various formats between 1998 and 2018. History A youth league was founded as the Scottish Premier under-18 League in 1998. Clubs fielded under-1 ...

. He made his senior debut as a substitute for

Kris Boyd Kris Boyd (born 18 August 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Boyd grew up in the South Ayrshire village of Tarbolton and started his senior career with Kilmarnock. He transferred to Rangers in January ...

in the 3–0 win over St Mirren in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,HKFC Soccer Sevens The HKFC Soccer Sevens, formerly known as the International Soccer Sevens, is an annual invitational seven-a-side football tournament which is organised and hosted by Hong Kong Football Club. Held since 1999, many young professional players have m ...

side; he helped the side to reach the final of the tournament, where they then lost out to Celtic. On 4 October 2009, Little was given his first Rangers start against

at right back, but was substituted eleven minutes in after injuring his

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

in the opening minute of the match. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 January 2010, in a league game against Hearts which finished 1–1. Overall, he made ten appearances in the 2009–10 season. He scored his second goal for the club on 27 October 2010, in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. The goal was later a candidate for the club's goal of the season award. However, he then missed much of the rest of the season with a hip injury that eventually required surgery to correct. Upon his recovery, Little signed a one-year contract extension in July 2011. Looking for first team football, Little went on loan at

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

on 31 August 2011. His loan deal was due to last until 1 January 2012, however he returned on 24 October 2011 after he suffered knee ligament damage. He made two starts and five substitute appearances for the

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club, with his contribution at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

also limited by call-ups to the Northern Ireland squad. Little played his first SPL game of the 2011–12 season on 26 February, and justified

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland i ...

's selection at the

Caledonian Stadium Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish Professional Football League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. History Inverness Caledon ...

by scoring in a 4–1 win over

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

. On 26 March, he came off the bench to score with his first touch in a 3–2 home win over Celtic. On 21 April, he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle. He was able to leave Rangers following the club's financial meltdown and expulsion from the SPL, but instead signed a new contract with the club in July 2012, having decided to stay and try to help Rangers to win promotion out of the Third Division. He agreed to sign the two-year contract (with the option for a third year) after McCoist reassured him that he had big part to play in the club's promotion campaign, and also after Michael O'Neill reassured him that playing in the Third Division would not damage his international prospects. He scored four minutes into the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, in a

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

. He scored his first hat-trick at Ibrox on 18 August, in a 5–1 win over

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

. With five goals to his name, Little won the SFL ''Ginger Boot'' (top goalscorer award) for August 2012. Rangers secured the Third Division title by a comfortable margin, and were confirmed as champions on 30 March. Little was voted onto the

PFA Scotland Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland Team of the Year (often called the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the four national tiers of the Scottish foot ...

for the Third Division, alongside teammates

Lee McCulloch Lee Henry McCulloch (born 14 May 1978) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is the first team assistant manager at Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian. McCulloch was capped on eighteen occasions by the Sc ...

Lee Wallace Lee Wallace (born 1 August 1987) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He represented the Scotland national team with 10 caps. Wallace started his career Heart of Midlothian, making his debut in 2005 at age seventeen, and joined Ran ...

, and

David Templeton David Cooper Templeton (born 7 January 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who currently plays as a winger for Drumchapel United Templeton played for Stenhousemuir, Raith Rovers, Heart of Midlothian, Hamilton Academical, Rangers ...

. Rangers won the

title in 2013–14, though Little missed much of the campaign after breaking his cheekbone and jaw in a collision with

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

full-back

Alex Whittle Alex Whittle (born 15 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for York City. He has played for Dunfermline Athletic, AFC Fylde, Southport, York City, Forest Green Rovers, Southport, Boston United, Gloucester C ...

in November. He was released from Rangers in May 2014 after being informed that he was no longer a part of manager Ally McCoist's first team plans.

Preston North End

Little signed a two-year contract with

side

in June 2014; "Lilywhites" manager

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in m ...

stated that "I am delighted that he has chosen us over quite a few other teams". He was limited to 12 league appearances in the 2014–15 campaign as Preston won promotion into the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

through the play-offs. Little joined League One side

on a six-week loan deal on 17 November 2015, which was later extended by a further month. On 24 March, he joined

of League Two on loan until the end of the 2015–16 campaign; manager John Coleman said "Andy's suffered with injuries this year so this is a chance for him to get some football and get himself back on track". He never featured for Accrington however, and was released by Preston at the end of the season.

Stirling Albion

After several months out of football, Little signed for

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

club

on a short-term contract in February 2017. He was hospitalised on 11 April after an accidental clash of heads during training left him with a fractured skull and eye socket. Little was released by Albion at the end of the season, with manager

Dave Mackay David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the Double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961, an ...

expressing his desire to have a smaller squad for the 2017–18 season. Little rejoined Stirling on a one-year contract. However he was unable to feature for the ''Binos'' during the first half of the season as he had not yet fully recovered from his head injury. Little left

Forthbank Stadium Forthbank Stadium is a football stadium in Stirling, Scotland. Opened in 1993, it has been the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Stirling Albion since then. Since 2013 it has also hosted the first team matches of Lowland ...

following the end of this contract in May 2018.

Dumbarton

After impressing during a trial period, Little signed a short-term deal with

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

side

in July 2018. He left the club and retired from football in November 2018 after making 11 appearances for the ''Sons''.

International career

Little won eleven caps for the Northern Ireland under-19s, scoring four goals, including one in the 2008

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

final victory over Chile. He then moved up to the under-21 side, where he made four appearances, scoring against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and twice against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. He won a cap for the "B team" against

in 2009. Little made his debut for the senior team on 28 March 2009 in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

; he replaced David Healy in the 90th minute of the match and Northern Ireland went on to win 3–2. He picked up further caps in friendlies against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Coaching career

Little returned to Rangers in May 2017 as a part-time coach in the club's

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

Style of play

A utility player, Little could play anywhere in defence and midfield, and could also be used as a striker.

Personal life

Little's older brother

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

is a presenter for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Rangers *

: 2007–08 *

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

: 2009–10 *

Scottish Football League Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

: 2013–14

International

Northern Ireland *

under-19s: 2008

Individual

( Third Division):

References

External links

*
Profile
at the official Irish Football Association site {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Andrew Living people 1989 births People from Enniskillen Association footballers from County Fermanagh Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's B international footballers Northern Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football utility players Ballinamallard United F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Association football coaches Rangers F.C. non-playing staff