Ernest "Ernie" McGarr (born 9 March 1944) 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 le ...

, who played as a

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for several clubs in the Scottish Football League and was capped twice for the Scotland national side.

Playing career

McGarr signed for

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 1965 from

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

club Kilbirnie Ladeside, and made his first team debut at the end of the 1965–66 season in a friendly match versus

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

. The presence of Bobby Clark as his rival for the goalkeeping position at Pittodrie meant that first team opportunities in the early years were limited. It was only during the 1968–69 season, when a loss of form by Clark prompted manager

Eddie Turnbull Edward Hunter Turnbull (12 April 1923 – 30 April 2011) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played as a forward for Hibernian and Scotland, forming part of the Hibs " Famous Five" forward line. He then had successful sp ...

to give him a chance, that McGarr was able to stake his claim and secure a regular starting position. Such was the impact that McGarr made, Scottish internationalist Clark could not regain his position, even appearing as an outfield player on two occasions. McGarr's form was itself recognised with an international call-up for a friendly game in September 1969 against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. Unfortunately, he went into the game carrying an injury picked up from a club match the previous day and only lasted 35 minutes before being substituted for Jim Herriot. He made one further appearance for the national team in November the same year, versus

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in a

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qualifying match however Scotland were already unable to qualify and lost 2–0. McGarr again lost his place in the Aberdeen side to Bobby Clark in early 1970 and later that year tabled a transfer request, eventually moving to

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

in January 1971. From Dunfermline, McGarr moved to East Fife where he spent five seasons. A highlight of his spell at Bayview was a game against title chasing

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 ...

in February 1973 where he saved three penalty kicks in an entertaining 2–2 draw.East Fife history
''eastfife.org'' He later played for

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

and

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

before finishing his career in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Junior football.

References

External links

*
Aberdeen FC profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgarr, Ernie 1944 births Living people Aberdeen F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Berwick Rangers F.C. players Scotland international footballers Scottish footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Footballers from Glasgow Association football goalkeepers Kilbirnie Ladeside F.C. players St Andrews United F.C. players