Derek Simon Lilley (born 9 February 1974) 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 striker for several clubs in Scotland and England. Former friend of Stepps Junior Bowling legend, Kevin McAuley. He started his career with

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 ...

, before a big-money move to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. He had loan spells with Hearts and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

before joining

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

. In 2000, Lilley returned to Scotland 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 ...

, playing with them,

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 ...

, Morton again, and St. Johnstone,

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 ...

then finally

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

Career

Morton & England

Lilley began his career with

and won a move to English

side

in 1997. His time at Elland Road was frustrating, with only four starts from 21 appearances and only a solitary goal when he replaced

Lee Bowyer Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birming ...

to score the winner in a 3–2 away win at Barnsley. He spent three months on loan, at Heart of Midlothian and

, where again he managed a goal for each club. His goal at Hearts coming in a 2–1 defeat to Dundee, and his goal at Bury coming in a crucial 1–0 win over

. A move to Oxford United in 1999–00 helped kick-start his career and his return of nine goals from 63 appearances prompted interest from

Scotland

A move in December 2000 saw him head north to United and a debut goal salvaged a point at home to Rangers, although he would be sent off in his second game against former club Hearts. Ultimately, it was Lilley's last-minute winner at St Johnstone which saved United from relegation and his six goals in the half-season would cement his status with the fans. The following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, Lilley would manage just six goals, despite a hat-trick against St Johnstone and only two league goals in 2002–03 spelled the end of his time at Tannadice. A move to

followed in 2003–04 and a rejuvenated Lilley scored 12 league goals, plus four in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

– including the winning goal in the semi-final against Dundee and one in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

win against Hibernian – and a hat-trick in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Spartans Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

. This earned him the nickname of "The Goal Machine." 2004–05 was a different story, however and Lilley's three goals were not enough to earn him a new contract. Lilley returned to first club Morton for 2005–06 and managed twelve league goals as Morton narrowly lost in the

play-off 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 ...

semi-finals. In 2006–07, he had managed four league goals by the turn of the year. On 26 January 2007, his contract was terminated by Morton, and he signed for St. Johnstone. After making fourteen appearances for Saints (all as a substitute), Lilley was released by the club at the end of the season. On 7 June 2007, Lilley signed for newly promoted First Division side

. Lilley only played a handful of games for Stirling Albion before being released at the end of the season. Lilley signed for

in June 2008, going on to score three goals against East Stirlingshire and Berwick in the league and Partick Thistle in the League Cup, before being released at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Career statistics

Honours

Livingston

: 1 :: 2003–04

Greenock Morton

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

: 2 :: 2006–07
1994–95

References

External links

*
Profile
a
londonhearts.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilley, Derek 1974 births Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Living people Greenock Morton F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Bury F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Livingston F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Scottish footballers Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Association football forwards People educated at Park Mains High School Scotland youth international footballers