Declan Patrick Gallagher (born 13 February 1991) 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 plays as a

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 s ...

for Scottish Championship club

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 ...

and the Scotland national team. Gallagher started his career at

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 ...

but never made a first team appearance, however he was involved in their

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,

win in 2010. He was then sent out on loan to

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

to gain some first team experience. Despite impressing while on loan, he was released and was signed by

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

before moving on to join

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. After experiencing a relegation followed by a promotion in two seasons at

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

, he joined

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

in 2014. In 2016, Gallagher was imprisoned for more than a year for assault which took place three years earlier. Gallagher returned to Livingston after his release from jail, and he played regularly during their consecutive promotions to the top division between 2017 and 2018. After moving to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

in summer of 2019, he made his Scotland debut in November of that year. Gallagher helped Scotland qualify for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and was selected for their tournament squad. After spells with

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 ...

and St Mirren, Gallagher joined Dundee United in July 2023.

Career

Celtic, Stranraer loan

Born in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

and raised in

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

, Gallagher (who also spent time in the setup at

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

) signed for

at a young age and played for the under-19s. He became a regular in the team and played the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 victory over Rangers in the 2010

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. While at Celtic, Gallagher says he trained with the first team, which ''"helps ymatch sharpness"''. He went out on loan to

in 2010–11. Gallagher made his senior debut in a 9–0 win over

St Cuthbert Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Nor ...

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen's Park 3–1. On 20 November 2010, he scored his second goal in five matches to help Stranraer beat

Girvan Girvan ( gd, Inbhir Gharbhain, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, ...

4–2 in the Scottish Cup. Gallagher scored his final goal for Stranraer in a 3–2 loss to Montrose on 16 April 2011 and played his final game for the club as they defeated Clyde 3–0. Stranraer finished fifth, just missing out on a play-off place. Despite impressing while on loan, Gallagher was told he was not needed by Celtic, putting a number of clubs on alert. According to his teammate Nicky Riley, Gallagher left the Glasgow club "for the sake of his career". After being released, he went on trial with

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

Clyde

On 9 August 2011, Gallagher signed for

. He made his debut for the ''Bully Wee'' against Annan Athletic in a 2–2 draw and thereafter became a key player for the club. He scored his first goal for Clyde as they hammered

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 ...

7–1 at Broadwood. On 21 April 2012, he scored a last minute equaliser against

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

. During the 2011–12 season, Gallagher missed ten games due to injury. At the end of the season, he had made 26 appearances and scored twice for Clyde.

Dundee

On 1 June 2012, Gallagher signed for an undisclosed fee for newly promoted

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' ...

(SPL) club

, along with

Carl Finnigan Carl Finnigan (born 1 October 1986) is an English Association football, footballer and plays for Dunston UTS F.C., Dunston UTS. He has played for teams in Botswana, England, Scotland and South Africa during his career. Career Finnigan was born ...

, after Rangers were removed from the league's membership, creating a space in the SPL. One of his new teammates was former Celtic youth colleague Nicky Riley. When joining Dundee, Gallagher stated that he never thought he was going to play in the top flight and the experience of playing in the SPL was "brilliant". He made his debut 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 ...

0–0 draw against

(Dundee won on penalties); he also played in the next round of the tournament, a defeat to Queens Park at Hampden. Gallagher became a regular in the first team and was paired in the centre of defence with

Kyle Benedictus Kyle Benedictus (born 7 December 1991) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a centre back and captains Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic. He started his career with Lincraig Boys Club before moving to Dundee, and had loan spell ...

by manager Barry Smith. In a match against Hearts on 2 November 2012, Gallagher made an impressive display during the match and was praised by the manager and teammate Riley. Gallagher played against his former club Celtic on 26 December 2012 as Dundee lost 2–0. In the last 16 of the Scottish Cup, Gallagher scored his first goal for the club in a 5–1 win over

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

. However, he was unable to prevent the club's relegation to the

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

. In his second campaign at Dundee, Gallagher scored his first league goal in a 4–3 loss against Queen of the South in the opening matchday. Two weeks later, on 30 August 2013, he scored again, in a 3–0 win over

. He scored two goals in two matches as Dundee beat

3–0 in late November and Morton 2–1 in early December. Like his first season, Gallagher continuously remained as a first pick in defence. However, in January 2014, contract talks broke down between the club and the player's agent. As a result, Gallagher was linked a move away from Dundee, "as Scottish Premiership and English League One clubs have been monitoring his situation". He rejected offers of a new contract from Dundee, and despite achieving the feat of playing every minute for the club during the league season as Dundee won promotion back to the

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 Scottish ...

, he was among four players to leave the club at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Livingston

Gallagher signed for

in July 2014. He scored on his league debut for the ''Lions'' in a 2–1 away defeat to Hibernian, and was in the side which won the 2015 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, beating

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

Imprisonment and return to Livingston

Gallagher and a co-accused were convicted in June 2015 of an assault at a hotel in

Blantyre, South Lanarkshire Blantyre ( or ; gd, Baile an t-Saoir) is a town and civil parish in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, with a population of 16,900. It is bounded by the River Clyde to the north, the Rotten Calder to the west, the Park Burn to the east (denoting the bo ...

on the evening of a wedding anniversary party in April 2013. In an attack described by the Sheriff as "brutal", Gallagher struck his victim to the head with a baseball bat or similar implement causing a fractured skull, and was sentenced to three years in prison. Gallagher and his co-accused appealed their sentences and were released on bail the following month, and he was re-signed by Livingston pending its outcome. He went on to make 30 appearances in all competitions during the 2015–16 season up to February 2016, when the appeal was dismissed and he was ordered back to prison. After training with

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 ...

during day release from

HMP Castle Huntly Castle Huntly is a castle in Scotland, now used as a prison under the name ''HMP Castle Huntly''. It is located approximately west of Dundee in the Carse of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross, close to the shore of the Firth of Tay, and can be seen from ...

, in January 2017 Gallagher was released from prison, initially with an electronic monitoring tag. He was immediately signed once again by Livingston and went on to make 15 league appearances, scoring twice including in his return game, as ''Livi'' were promoted back as winners of 2016–17 Scottish League One. Gallagher was a regular for Livingston as they finished runners-up in the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, and played in all four matches as the club subsequently defeated

and Partick Thistle in the play-offs to achieve a second consecutive promotion. On 4 August 2018, in his first Premiership match for five years, Gallagher conceded a penalty against his old employers Celtic, who beat Livingston 3–1. The ''Lions'' had better fortunes against the other half of the

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 ...

two months later, defeating Rangers 1–0.

Motherwell

On 11 April 2019,

announced that Gallagher had signed a pre-contract agreement to join the club in the summer. On 26 December 2019, Gallagher scored a winning goal in the last minute of a league fixture away to Ross County. Ahead of the 2020–21 season, Gallagher was named as Motherwell's new club captain following the departure of Peter Hartley.

Aberdeen

In May 2021,

signed Gallagher on a two-year contract, taking effect when his contract with Motherwell expired.

St Mirren

In June 2022, St Mirren signed Gallagher on a two-year contract, after his contract at Aberdeen was terminated.

Dundee United

Gallagher moved to

in July 2023 for an undisclosed transfer fee.

International career

On 6 October 2019, Gallagher was called into the

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 ...

squad for the first time, ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifiers against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

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 did not play in those matches, but made his international debut the following month in a 2–1 win in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. Gallagher played in the play-off win against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

that secured qualification for

, the first time Scotland had qualified for a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup. He was selected in the squad for the finals, but did not make an appearance.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Celtic U19 * SPL under-19 League: 2009–10 *

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,

: 2009–10 Dundee *

: 2013–14 Livingston *

play-offs: 2017–18 *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2014–15 *

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 ...

: 2016–17 Scotland *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

– League C: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Declan 1991 births Living people People from Blantyre, South Lanarkshire Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Celtic F.C. players Stranraer F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players UEFA Euro 2020 players Scottish people convicted of assault Scottish prisoners and detainees Footballers from South Lanarkshire Dundee United F.C. players