Ian Stewart Gibson (30 March 1943 – 25 May 2016) was 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 ...

Career

Early career

A Scottish schoolboy international, Gibson began his career at

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

, making his league debut at the age of 15, before joining

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

in 1960. He spent two years in Bradford.

Middlesbrough

Gibson's form in Bradford saw

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 ...

pay £30,000 to sign him in March 1962. He joined the club as it was entering a steady decline which saw them fall into the third division.

Coventry City

With Middlesbrough relegated in 1966 Gibson was signed by

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

for £57,000 and despite a major fall-out with manager

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...

he helped them win promotion to the First division in his first season, becoming one of the fan's most popular players. Despite numerous injuries in his four years at Coventry, under

Noel Cantwell Noel Euchuria Cornelius Cantwell (28 February 1932 – 8 September 2005) was an Irish footballer player and sometime cricketer. Club career Cantwell was born in Cork, Ireland, and was educated at the Roman Catholic Presentation Brothers College ...

he helped them qualify for Europe in 1969–70 by virtue of finishing sixth in the First Division. During his four years at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game o ...

he played alongside the likes of

Willie Carr William McInanny Carr (born 6 January 1950) is a Scottish former footballer, who played in the Football League for Coventry City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Millwall. During his time with Coventry, Carr played in six full international matches ...

Neil Martin Neil Martin (born 20 October 1940) is a Scottish former football player, who scored 100 league goals in both Scotland and England and won three full international caps for Scotland in the 1960s and 1970s. Known for his strength, power, bravery ...

, George Curtis and

Ernie Hannigan Ernest 'Ernie' Hannigan (23 January 1943 – 21 May 2015) was a Scottish footballer. Hannigan was a fast, tricky, right winger. He is perhaps best known for his games at 3 clubs and the partnership he forged with Scotland international centre fo ...

. 'Gibbo' as he was nicknamed was an active member of the Coventry City Former Players Association and attended a couple of matches every season at Coventry until his death.

Cardiff City

Gibson was sold to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in 1970 for £35,000. He made his Cardiff debut on the opening day of the 1970–71 season in a 1–0 win over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and went on to provide numerous chances for the strikers he played alongside such as Brian Clark,

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for th ...

and Alan Warboys. After helping the side avoid relegation in his second year he was sold.

Bournemouth

Gibson went to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

in October 1972 for £100,000 but after only a few months a serious injury saw his professional career ended.

Honours

* Coventry City F.C. Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Ian 1943 births 2016 deaths Scottish footballers Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players English Football League players People from Newton Stewart Footballers from Dumfries and Galloway Scotland under-23 international footballers Whitby Town F.C. players Berea Park F.C. players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Highlands Park F.C. players Association football midfielders