David Cooper Templeton (born 7 January 1989) is a Scottish 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 currently plays as a
winger for
Drumchapel United
Templeton played for
Stenhousemuir,
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
,
Heart of Midlothian,
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 ...
,
Rangers and
Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...
. He has represented Scotland at
under-19 and
under-21 levels.
Club career
Stenhousemuir
Templeton started his senior career with
Third Division side
Stenhousemuir in 2005. He made 36 first team appearances for the club, scoring 11 goals all of which were in league fixtures.
Heart of Midlothian
Tenpleton signed for
Heart of Midlothian in January 2007. During the second half of the 2007–08 season he was loaned out to
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
side
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
. Templeton made his first team debut as a substitute against
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
in a goalless draw at
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 ...
. His first start came against
Celtic at
Parkhead
Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...
on the final day of the 2008–09 season. Templeton then spent a period out of action due to foot injuries. He made his first appearance of the 2009–10 season on 20 December 2009 against
Celtic, setting up the winning goal in a 2–1 victory, crossing the ball for
Ismael Bouzid to score. On 21 February 2010, Templeton scored his first goal for Hearts, the second in a 2–0 defeat of
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 ...
. Since then, Templeton frequently found himself on the scoresheet, scoring a number of memorable efforts, none more so than a spectacular dribble and finish in the first Edinburgh derby of the 2010–11 season.
Templeton received high praise from
Terry Butcher
Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town.
During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...
after Hearts 1–1 draw with
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 ...
. Templeton was nominated for PFA Player of the Year for the 2010–11 season. He also won the Hearts Fans Player of the year. Templeton's final goal for Hearts came in the
2012–13 UEFA Europa League
The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played at the Amsterdam Aren ...
play-off round
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
second leg against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...
on 28 August 2012.
Rangers
On 31 August 2012, Templeton signed a four-year contract for
Third Division club
Rangers for an undisclosed fee (reported to be approximately £700,000). His first game for Rangers ended in a 5–1 victory against
Elgin City
Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray.
Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...
with Templeton scoring two goals. Templeton scored 15 goals in his first season at Rangers. In May 2016, Templeton was released after reaching the end of his contract, which was not renewed after he made only three appearances in his final season with Rangers.
Templeton spent the rest of 2016 without a club. He turned down a move to newly promoted
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 e ...
side
Edinburgh City in November, and trained with
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
in February 2017. He also had a trial spell with
Major League Soccer side
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...
.
Hamilton Academical
On 24 March 2017, Templeton signed for
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
side
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 ...
on a deal until the end of the season.
He made his debut for the club on 13 May 2017, as a substitute in a 1–0 home defeat against
Motherwell. In the following match, he scored his first goal as Hamilton lost 3–2 away at
Ross County. On 19 May 2017, Templeton signed a new contract, keeping him at Hamilton until the end of the 2017–18 season. He was one of seven first-team players released by Hamilton at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Burton Albion
Templeton signed a two-year contract with
EFL League One club
Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...
in July 2018. He left the club by mutual consent on 31 January 2020.
Hamilton Academical (second spell)
After leaving Burton on 31 January 2020, Templeton returned 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 ...
. In May 2020 he signed a two-year extension to his contract. Having made ten appearances in the
2020–21 season by mid-October 2020, he then sustained an injury and did not feature again in that campaign, which ended in relegation for ''Accies'' after several other members of their small squad also missed long periods due to injury.
Retirement
On 24 November 2021, Templeton announced his retirement from professional football aged 32.
International career
Templeton made two appearances each for
Scotland at under-19 level and
under-21 level.
Personal life
Templeton's father is former professional footballer
Henry Templeton, who at the time of David's birth was playing for ex-Scotland manager,
Ally MacLeod
Alistair Reid "Ally" MacLeod (26 February 1931 – 1 February 2004) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as the Scotland national football team manager, including their appearance at t ...
, at
Ayr United
Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...
. Henry's hero was Rangers and Scotland winger
Davie Cooper
Davie is a surname and a form of the masculine given name David.
It can refer to:
Surname
* Alan Davie (1920-2014), Scottish painter and musician
* Alexander Edmund Batson Davie (1847-1889), Canadian politician and eighth Premier of British Col ...
, and he named his son after his hero. In an interview in 2010 with ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
'', Templeton said of his childhood, "My dad left and I went to my mum's side who were all Celtic fans so I ended up following them. I got a bit of stick when I was younger but I obviously don't bother about the Old Firm any more."
Career statistics
Honours
Club
;Rangers
*
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 ...
:
2013–14
*
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 ...
:
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 ...
Individual
*
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
Player of the Month: November 2017
*
Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month: November 2010, December 2010
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Templeton, David
1989 births
Living people
Footballers from Glasgow
Scottish footballers
Scotland youth international footballers
Scotland under-21 international footballers
Association football forwards
Stenhousemuir F.C. players
Heart of Midlothian F.C. players
Raith Rovers F.C. players
Rangers F.C. players
Hamilton Academical F.C. players
Burton Albion F.C. players
Scottish Premier League players
Scottish Football League players
Scottish Professional Football League players
English Football League players