Brian Martin (born 24 February 1963 in Bellshill) is a Scottish 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 ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, best known for his seven-year spell at Motherwell.

Club career

Martin began his career in the Scottish lower leagues with Albion Rovers and Stenhousemuir. He then dropped back into the

Junior grade A junior grade is a subdivision of a military rank, lower than the corresponding rank without that qualification. In the U.S. armed forces, the Army formerly appointed warrant officers (junior grade), and the Navy's lieutenants, junior grade ar ...

with Shotts Bon Accord for three years before joining second-tier Falkirk in 1985. In his first season with the ''Bairns'' the club achieved promotion to the top division, and maintained their status in

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the orig ...

. In 1987 Martin moved to

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

, and in his single campaign there he again helped the ''Accies'' win promotion, this time as champions. By then he had already moved on to St Mirren, where he stayed for three seasons in the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

before being signed by fellow top-level club Motherwell in November 1991 for £175,000. He made 237 appearances for Motherwell between 1991 and 1998, and was part of the side which finished league runners-up in 1995. Martin left Motherwell in 1998 and had spells with

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 ...

and Partick Thistle before retiring from the professional leagues in 2000, aged 37. He returned to local Junior football, appearing for Lanark United, Stonehouse Violet, Shotts - two decades after his first spell there, and Cambuslang Rangers, also playing the occasional game for the 'Motherwell Legends' team.

International career

While playing for Motherwell, Martin earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Scotland national team (making his debut aged 32) in the 1995

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (International competition which nationa ...

matches against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

and Japan alongside clubmates Rab McKinnon and

Paul Lambert Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town. Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-ol ...

. He also represented the

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

on three occasions in the same era.

References

External links

* *
International stats
at Londonhearts.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Brian Living people 1963 births Footballers from Bellshill Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland B international footballers Shotts Bon Accord F.C. players Lanark United F.C. players Stonehouse Violet F.C. players Cambuslang Rangers F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Scottish Football League players Association football central defenders Scotland junior international footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players