Gary Harkins (born 2 January 1985) 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 le ...

and coach who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Having come through the youth academies 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 ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

he would notably play in 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 ...

for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

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 ...

and St. Mirren. He also played in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

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 ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

, and in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

for

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Queen of the South,

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in ...

and

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 ...

. While at Forfar, he would also perform the role of first team coach, and later assistant manager.

Playing career

Blackburn Rovers

Harkins started out as a schoolboy player with

before joining

as a YTS player when he was sixteen years old. He was appointed a trainee at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

in August 2003 but although he appeared in the academy and reserve teams, he did not play a competitive first team game for the club. Harkins joined

on loan in March 2004, where he made only three appearances before returning to Blackburn in June. The arrival of

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and a ...

as manager of Blackburn in September 2004 saw Harkins called up to play with the first team in a number of pre-season friendlies, with Hughes apparently seeing potential in his future as a

central defender 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 ...

. He joined

in February 2005, for whom he played five times in a month-long spell, and in November 2005, Harkins joined

on loan for one month, where he made six appearances, scoring two goals.

Grimsby Town

In July 2006, Harkins joined

on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract. He made his debut on 5 August 2006 in the club's 3–2 victory over

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

and made 20 appearances in total for Grimsby in the 2006–07 season. His spell at Grimsby was an unhappy one, with factors including homesickness and a falling-out with manager

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, Wa ...

(who joined the club in November 2006), and at the end of the 2006–07 season, Buckley allowed Harkins to look for another club. Instead, Harkins was released by the club several weeks later.

Partick Thistle (first spell)

Harkins then moved to his native Scotland, and after a trial signed a one-year contract with

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

club

in July 2007. While he started out at ''Thistle'' playing as a defender, his move into midfield let him play in a more attacking role. Harkins made 39 appearances in the 2007–08 season, scoring three goals, and signed a one-year contract with the club in April 2008. In the 2008–09 season, scoring 11 goals. he was Thistle's top goalscorer with 11 goals from 40 appearances, and was nominated for the First Division's Player of the Year award; he had been named the

Player of the Month for February 2009. At the end of the season, Harkins was offered a new contract with the club, but he reportedly rejected a deal, something that was denied by Ian McCall.

Dundee (first spell)

After a protracted effort in which they had two offers turned down,

signed Harkins in July 2009 for a fee of £150,000 plus future fees. He made 42 appearances for Dundee in the 2009–10 season, scoring 17 goals, won the SFL Player of the Month for August 2009, and was nominated for Scotland's Player of the Year for the First Division. He also scored one of Dundee's goals as they won the 2009 Scottish Challenge Cup Final. At the start of the 2010–11 season, Harkins was named captain after being given the armband by manager

Gordon Chisholm Gordon William Chisholm (born 8 April 1960 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football former player and manager. Chisholm played as a central defender for Sunderland, Hibernian, Dundee and Partick Thistle. After retiring as a player, Chis ...

. Having been appointed, Harkins said he would try his best to become a captain. He made a further 38 appearances, scoring five goals, in a troubled 2010–11 season for Dundee in which the club was penalised 25 points by the Scottish Football League in November 2010 after going into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

. Harkins admitted that seeing Dundee in administration was the darkest day of his career. At the end of the season, Harkins was nominated for SFL Player of the Year in the First Division.

Kilmarnock

In June 2011, Harkins left Dundee to sign for

for an undisclosed fee, exercising an option to leave agreed when Dundee went into administration in the previous November. He made his first appearance for the

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

side on 24 July, in a 1–1 draw 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 ...

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

and scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 win over Queen of the South 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 ...

3rd round, only 90 seconds into the match. On 18 March, he played in the 2012 Scottish League Cup Final which Kilmarnock won after beating Celtic 1–0. Harkins found it difficult to reproduce the performances before his move to Kilmarnock, after sustaining to an ankle injury. In the 2012–13 season, Harkins only scored two goals. During January 2013, it was reported that he could return to Dundee; this was initially denied by manager

Kenny Shiels Kenny Shiels (born 27 April 1956 in Magherafelt)Marshall Gillespie, ''The Northern Ireland Football Yearbook 1996/97'', UTV Books, 1996, p. 59 is a former Northern Irish football player and manager, who is currently the manager of the Northern Ir ...

, who claimed that Harkins was "one of the best players in the SPL".

Dundee (second spell)

On 25 January 2013, it was confirmed that Harkins had rejoined Dundee for an undisclosed fee. As part of the deal, the two clubs agreed that he would not play when they met the following weekend 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 ...

. Harkins's first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came on 30 January 2013, in a 1–0 loss against Hearts. Then, on 6 April 2013, the last game of the season before it split, he scored twice in a 2–0 win against his former club; however, Dundee were then relegated after a draw 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 ...

on 5 May 2013. Following their relegation, Harkins said his future was uncertain as he wanted to play at the higher level and soon announced his departure, citing the club's failure to agree a change of ownership.

St Mirren

Harkins agreed a two-year contract with St Mirren in June 2013. His debut was the opening game of the season, in a 3–0 loss against

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 F ...

. In the next game, Harkins scored his first goal for the club, against former club Kilmarnock in a 1–1 draw. During the Fourth Round Replay of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen of the South that ensured St Mirren would progress to the fifth round. Following the match, he vowed to keep his first team place. A few weeks later, Harkins was criticised by manager

Danny Lennon Danny Lennon (born 6 April 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Scottish League One club Clyde. In his playing career he is best known for his spells at Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle. H ...

for not "working hard enough off the ball to succeed at St Mirren".

Oldham Athletic (loan)

Following an unsuccessful spell at St Mirren, Harkins joined

on loan until the end of season 2013–14. He scored his first goals for the club in a 5–4 win against

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

after coming back from 3–0 down at half–time. Harkins scored the first Oldham goal to make it 3–1, bundling the ball into the back of the net after a knockdown from Jonson Clarke-Harris, and was then was involved in all of Oldham's goals, excelling on the left hand side of the pitch; he scored his second of the game with a penalty to make it 4–4 in the closing minutes and then had the final say in the match, delivering the corner from which Genseric Kusunga scored to make it 5–4 in the 96th minute. Harkins deservedly won man of the match for his performance and he gained many plaudits post-match. During his time at the club, Harkins became a fans' favourite. Upon the end of his loan and his return to his parent club he had made 24 appearances and scored 5 goals. After Harkins' loan spell at Oldham Athletic came to an end, St Mirren announced on 27 June 2014 that the midfielder had his contract with the club cancelled by mutual consent.

Dundee (third spell)

Harkins signed a two-year contract with Dundee in June 2014. He scored against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in a pre-season friendly which Dundee went on to win 2–0. He scored his first goal of his third spell at the club with a penalty as Dundee drew 1–1 with Kilmarnock on 9 August 2014. In a next game against Partick Thistle on 16 August 2014, Harkins took a penalty, only for it to be saved by

Paul Gallacher Paul James Gallacher (born 16 August 1979) is a Scottish former professional footballer who currently is the goalkeeping coach for Heart of Midlothian. Gallacher made eight appearances for the Scottish national team between 2002 and 2004. He ...

; the match ended 1–1. In October 2014, Harkins scored two goals in two games against

and

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 ...

; his goal celebration against Motherwell went viral after he performed a

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

move on teammate Jim McAlister, which met with approval from professional wrestler

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...

. Harkins then received a red card after a second bookable offense, in a 2–1 loss against

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 ...

on 13 December 2014. He scored his third goal of the season in a 3–3 draw against Aberdeen on 17 January 2015. Towards the end of the 2014–15 season, Harkins suffered a shin injury which saw him miss one game and a knee injury that caused him to miss eight matches. Despite the injuries, He made thirty-one appearances and scored four times in all competitions.

Ayr United

On 12 August 2016, it was confirmed that Harkins had signed a two-year contract as a player/coach with newly promoted

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 (, ...

club

Greenock Morton

Having negotiated a release from his contract at Ayr United after only a year, in June 2017 Harkins subsequently signed a one-year deal for Scottish Championship side,

on 7 June 2017.

Queen of the South

On 9 May 2018, Harkins signed for

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

club Queen of the South, initially on a one-year contract. He made his debut in a 2-1 home defeat to Dundee United. On 24 December 2018, Harkins was released from his contract at the ''Doonhamers'', after intimating that he no longer wanted to play for the club.

Partick Thistle (second spell)

Harkins signed for Partick Thistle for a second spell on an 18-month contract on 27 December 2018, three days after leaving Queen of the South. Harkins scored his first goal in his second spell at the Jags in a 4-1 win away at Stenhousemuir in the quarter final of the Scottish Challenge Cup. Harkins was then released by Partick on 29 January 2020 & became a free agent.

Stenhousemuir

In February 2020 Harkins signed a contract until the end of the 2019/20 season with

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

. On 10 June 2020, Harkins announced his retirement from playing via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Gartcairn Juniors

Just over 3 weeks after announcing his retirement, Harkins returned to football after signing a deal to play with Gartcairn F. A. Juniors in the newly-established

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 202 ...

. In December 2020, Harkins would leave Gartcairn without having played a competitive game for the club.

Coaching career

Forfar Athletic

In June 2021, Harkins was appointed as the first team coach for

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 ...

side

underneath manager and former

teammate Gary Irvine, as well as being registered as a player. Following Scott Robertson's departure from the ''Loons'' in June 2022, Harkins was also named as player-assistant manager. On 11 November 2022, following the sacking of Irvine and the hiring of new manager Ray McKinnon, Forfar announced that Harkins had departed the club.

Personal life

Harkins was born in

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

and attended St Columba's High School,

Gourock Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a r ...

, where he played in a wide variety of positions and for various teams before signing for

. His brother, Paul is also a

, playing in

for

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 ...

. In 2012, after a scan for ligament damage, Gary revealed that doctors had told him he had been playing with a broken ankle for four years.

Career statistics

Honours

Dundee *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Kilmarnock *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harkins, Gary 1985 births Living people Footballers from Greenock Scottish footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Bury F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Scottish Football League players Partick Thistle F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players West of Scotland Football League players St Mirren F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Gartcairn F. A. Juniors players Forfar Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Forfar Athletic F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Association football coaches