Gary Andrew Pallister (born 30 June 1965) is an English 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 ...

and sports television pundit. As a player, he was a defender from 1984 to 2001 and is most noted for his nine-year spell at

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

from 1989 until 1998. His honours at United include four

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 ...

titles, three

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

's, the

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 ...

, the

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

, the

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

and five Charity Shields. He is perhaps best known for his partnership at centre half with

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...

. He also had several spells with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

that yielded over 200 appearances combined over both periods, as well as briefly playing on loan with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in 1985. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

22 times by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

between 1988 and 1996, as well as nine caps for the England B team. Following his retirement, Pallister has worked in the media and has appeared as a television pundit for both

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

and

ITV Sport ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.Football Focus ''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974 covering football, normally broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. From the 2009–10 season to the 2020–21 season Football Focus ...

'' and ''

Final Score ''Final Score'' is a BBC Television football news and results programme produced by BBC Sport. The programme is broadcast on late Saturday afternoons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually on BBC One. BBC Northern Ireland opts away dur ...

''.

Club career

Middlesbrough

Although born in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, Kent, Pallister grew up in

Norton, County Durham Norton is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It stands on higher ground to the south, further away from the River Tees than Stockton town centre. They are small areas west of the area called Roseworth and ...

and supported nearby

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

His footballing career started at non-league Billingham Town. At the age of 19 he joined his boyhood club, Middlesbrough, as a defender; he made 156 League appearances over nearly five seasons, and helped them win consecutive promotions to the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

in 1987, and then the First Division in 1988. He moved to Manchester United on 29 August 1989 for £2.3 million.

Manchester United

Pallister's transfer broke the national record for a fee paid for a defender, as well as being the highest fee between British clubs, and the second highest fee to be paid by a British club (second only to

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a to ...

's return to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

from

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

a year earlier). Pallister had the rare achievement of representing the English national side before appearing in the top flight; in 1988 when playing in the Second Division for Middlesbrough. Later that year he helped 'Boro win their second successive promotion and reach the First Division, just two years after they almost went out of business, but was unable to keep them there and they were relegated on the final day of the 1988–89 season. As one of the highest regarded defenders in England, his days at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

were looking numbered as soon as Boro were relegated but he did begin the 1989–90 season still at the club in the Second Division before his move to United was completed. Although it was his excellent defensive displays that helped Manchester United to the league title along with

at the heart of the defence, forming one of the best central defensive partnerships in the club's history, in the 1992–93 season, he scored a memorable goal in the final home game of the season against

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 ...

. Into stoppage time, with his team winning 2–1, he stepped up to drive a free-kick into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area. It was his first goal of the season and just about summed up an incredible season for Manchester United. He partnered Bruce in central defence for virtually every game until Bruce left United to join

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on a free transfer at the end of the 1995–96 season. The following campaign saw Pallister partnered with either Bruce's former understudy David May or with new signing

Ronny Johnsen Jean Ronny Johnsen (born 10 June 1969) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Johnsen played club football in Norway, Turkey, and England for Sem, Stokke, Eik-Tønsberg, Lyn, Lillestrøm, Beşik ...

, and ended with United winning their fourth league title in five seasons. A highlight of this season for Pallister was scoring twice in a 3–1 win against

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. The final season Pallister played for Manchester United was the 1997–98 season in which Manchester United came second in the league table, losing by one point to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. During his time at Manchester United, Pallister won the

in 1990, 1994 and 1996, the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

in 1991, the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

in 1992 and

titles in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997, amongst other honours. He was also part of the team that came second in the league in 1992, 1995 and 1998, as well as the team that finished runners-up in the League Cup in 1991 and 1994 and the FA Cup in 1995. By the time of his departure from

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

after nine years, he was the only player to have collected winner's medals in all of the club's successes under

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

's management, and second only to

Brian McClair Brian John McClair (born 8 December 1963) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a forward from 1980 to 1998, notable for his near 11-year spell at Manchester United where he won 14 trophies includi ...

(who left United at the same time) he was the club's longest serving player. He also scored some crucial goals for United. He scored an equaliser in extra time against

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 * ...

in the

1994–95 FA Cup The 1994–95 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th staging of the FA Cup. The competition was won by Everton, with a shock victory over Manchester United, who were strong favourites to reta ...

semi-final at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

, forcing a replay which United won and in which Pallister made the scoresheet once again. In April 1997, he scored twice against

in a match billed the "title decider" which ended in a 3–1 United win at

. These would be the last two goals he scored for the club, who went on to win their fourth league title in five seasons shortly afterwards. His first goal for United had come on 12 November 1989, as he scored their only goal in the 1–0 home win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in the First Division.

Return to Middlesbrough

With Pallister now aged 33 and United having signed

Jaap Stam Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Stam played for several European clubs including P ...

from

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

, Pallister was sold back to

in July 1998 for £2.5 million, £200,000 more than when he first moved to Manchester United. He was brought back to

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

by manager

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...

, who had played alongside Pallister at

until 1994. He scored once against Southampton in 55 league appearances, as well as appearing in two FA Cup matches and four League Cup matches. His final playing season, in which Middlesbrough finished 14th in the table, was season 2000–01. He retired from playing due to a succession of injuries on 4 July 2001, at the age of 36, just three weeks after the appointment of

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching care ...

as manager following the departure of Robson.

International career

B team

Pallister made his debut for the England B team in May 1989; he started the match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

before being replaced by

Alan McLeary Alan McLeary (born 6 October 1964) is an English football former defender. He spent the majority of his career at Millwall, but also had spells at Charlton Athletic and Bristol City, as well as loan spells at Sheffield United and Wimbledon. I ...

in the 2−0 win at

Stadion Schützenwiese Stadion Schützenwiese is a football stadium in Winterthur, Switzerland. It has been the home ground of FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the firs ...

. He made eight more appearances over the next three years with the last coming in the 3−0 victory against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in February 1992.

Senior

Pallister made his debut for

in the friendly with

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

in April 1988. He played the whole game in the goalless draw at Népstadion in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. He had to wait over three years to make his competitive debut when he played in the win against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

during

qualifying Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...

. England qualified for the tournament finals in Sweden but Pallister was not selected in the squad. He featured in the

United States Cup U.S. Cup (also known as the USA Cup, United States Cup and Nike U.S. Cup) was a Association football, soccer competition held annually in the United States from 1992 to 2000, except for the World Cup years of 1994 and 1998. The tournament, hoste ...

in June 1993; he started the defeats against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and the draw against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, as England finished last place in the group. Pallister played three matches as England failed to

qualify Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. He was used sporadically over the next three years, mainly playing in friendlies, before making his last appearances in the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

qualifiers against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in the autumn of 1996. Overall, Pallister won 22 caps and scored no goals.

Media career

He has since become a regular TV football pundit, appearing on the BBC and ITV.

Personal life

In September 2010, Pallister became an Operations Director with former club

Honours

Manchester United *

: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97 *

: 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96 *

: 1991–92 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

(shared),

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

: 1990–91 *

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Individual *

Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, previously known as the MUFC Members Player of the Year (1988–1995), is an award presented to the Manchester United fans' player of the season. It is named after former Manchester United manager Sir Matt B ...

: 1989–90 *

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

: 1991–92 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1986–87 Third Division, 1987–88 Second Division, 1991–92 First Division,

1992–93 Premier League Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

, 1993–94 Premier League, 1994–95 Premier League, 1997–98 Premier League

References

External links

Gary Pallister blog
at 4sportsake.com *
Gary Pallister profile
at thefa.com
Gary Pallister - Official Manchester United Website
at manutd.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Pallister, Gary 1965 births Living people Footballers from Kent English footballers Association football defenders England international footballers England B international footballers Billingham Town F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players People from Ramsgate People from Norton, County Durham Footballers from County Durham FA Cup Final players