Gerard Thomas "Gerry" Creaney (born 13 April 1970, in

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

) 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 le ...

, who played as a striker.

Career

Creaney began his career with

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 ...

, signing from the boys club and making his competitive debut in the first team on 24 March 1990 in a 0–0 draw away at

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

. He played in a further five games for Celtic that season, and scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against

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 ...

on 21 March 1990. Creaney featured regularly for Celtic the following season, scoring in a win against

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 the league cup semi-final, then netting twice in a 3–2 win over St Mirren, scoring the winning goal in the last minute. In November 1990, Creaney played in the 1990 Scottish League Cup Final against Rangers, but Celtic lost 2–1 after extra time. In March 1991, he opened the scoring for Celtic in a 2–0 win over Rangers in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 Necropo ...

. The match however is best remembered for the four red cards shown; three Rangers and one Celtic player all being sent off in a torrid second half. Creaney went on to make a total of 37 appearances for Celtic in all competitions that season, scoring 10 goals. He played 113 times for the club, scoring 36 goals. It was during this time that he was capped for Scotland under-21, for whom he reached the 1992 European under-21 Championship semi-finals. At club level, he never fully established himself as a first choice striker with veterans such as

Frank McAvennie Francis McAvennie (born 22 November 1959) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a striker for St Mirren, West Ham United and Celtic, having had two spells with each of these clubs. With Celtic he won the Scottish Premier Division in ...

and

Charlie Nicholas Charles Nicholas (born 30 December 1961) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A striker, Nicholas is best known for his spells at Celtic and Arsenal. He won 20 international caps for Scotland, including playing at the 1986 FIFA World C ...

still featuring prominently in the first team. Creaney's sole honour during his time in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

was as a runner-up in the 1990–91

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 ...

. Creaney was transferred to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in January 1994, going on to score 30 goals in just over 60 matches and earning a £1.5m-valued move to

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 ...

eighteen months later, with City paying £500,000 and £1million-rated

Paul Walsh Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

moving from

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

in exchange. The move gave Creaney an opportunity to play

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 Foo ...

football (which Portsmouth had failed to come anywhere near in spite of Creaney's fine form in Division One) where, despite scoring on his debut, he failed to prosper, scoring only four goals in his 21 City appearances. Later in the season he faced competition for the role as

Uwe Rosler Uwe or UWE may refer to * Uwe (given name) * University of the West of England, Bristol * UML-based web engineering * University Würzburg's Experimental miniaturized satellites for space research UWE-1 and UWE-2 * Uwe - Wreck in Blankenese Blank ...

's strike partner from new arrival

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was c ...

, who was similarly disappointing. He was loaned out to

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

whilst at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

before being released in 1999. He had brief spells at St Mirren,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

, Finnish side TPV,

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 Leag ...

and

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

before retiring in December 2000. After retiring from playing football, Creaney became a qualified accountant. In January 2010 Creaney returned to football when he was named as assistant to manager Danny Drew at

Bellshill Athletic Bellshill Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. It plays in the . History The history of the club can be traced back as far as 1897 when Bellshill Athletic were founded as a Ju ...

. On 12 October 2010, Creaney become manager at Bellshill Athletic after Danny Drew resigned. He was appointed head of youth development at

in October 2014, but left by this position by mutual consent in November 2015. He is married to Scottish Film Director Wilma Smith.

Honours

;Celtic *

runner-up (1): 1990–91

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Creaney, Gerry 1970 births Burnley F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Clydebank F.C. (1965) players Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Men's association football forwards Ipswich Town F.C. players Living people Manchester City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Footballers from Coatbridge Portsmouth F.C. players Premier League players Queen of the South F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Scottish men's footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish Football League players St Mirren F.C. players Scotland men's B international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Tampereen Pallo-Veikot players Veikkausliiga players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Finland English Football League players Dundee F.C. non-playing staff