David William Lilley (born 31 October 1977 in Bellshill,

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It als ...

) is a Scottish former professional

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 usually plays at

centre back 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 ...

but has also played at

right back 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 ...

. Lilley was most recently the manager of

Bellshill Athletic Bellshill Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. It plays in the . History The history of the club can be traced back as far as 1897 when Bellshill Athletic were founded as a Ju ...

in the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region. Lilley spent a decade in the

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with

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, Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock, where he was the club captain, before moving on to captain both Queen of the South and Airdrie United.

Playing career

Lilley started his career in youth football alongside

Jamie McAllister James Reynolds McAllister (born 26 April 1978 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently an assistant manager at Hibernian. McAllister played as a defender. McAllister played for Queen of the Sou ...

with Bellshill Boys Club. Lilley was then signed up on a professional contract by Queen of the South at the start of the 1995–96. Lilley spent four seasons in his first spell at

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club He ...

, playing in 76 league matches and scoring 1 league goal. Lilley signed for

at the start of the 1999–2000 season for a reported £100,000 fee. He followed

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they wer ...

, both leaving Queens in the same summer. In three seasons with Aberdeen Lilley had lengthy periods sidelined with injury. He played in 25 league matches without scoring a goal. Lilley was loaned out to Ross County in 2002, where he played for the

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club in 6 league matches without scoring a goal. Lilley signed for Partick Thistle at the start of the 2002–03 season. In two seasons at Firhill, Lilley played in 49 league matches and scored 2 league goals. He then signed for Kilmarnock at the start of the 2004–05 season. During his five seasons at

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, Lilley was given the club captaincy for a certain amount of his time with the Ayrshire club. Lilley played in 112 league matches and scored 5 league goals. On 18 June 2009, for the start of the 2009–10 season, Lilley signed again for Queen of the South. Lilley was given the club captaincy at the start of the season. Lilley received the player of the year award for the 2009–10 season from the Doonhamers Travel Club. On 19 May 2011, Lilley was released by Queen of the South. Lilley spent two seasons in his second spell in Dumfries, playing in 61 league matches and scoring 2 league goals. In all competitive matches, over two spells with Queen of the South, Lilley started 157 times and appeared as a substitute 4 times, scoring 3 goals. David Lilley signed with Airdrie United on 17 June 2011 for the 2011–12 season and was appointed the club captain. In two seasons at the

Excelsior Stadium The Excelsior Stadium, is a Association football, football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Airdrieonians F.C., Airdrieonians of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Since the 2021–22 season ...

Lilley played in 52 league matches without scoring a goal. Lilley departed the club when his contract expired at the end of 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.

Coaching career

Lilley entered football management in June 2015, with

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club

. On 26 May 2016, Lilley resigned as the manager of

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilley, David 1977 births Living people Footballers from Bellshill Association football defenders Scottish footballers Queen of the South F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish football managers