Jackie Gallagher (born 6 April 1958) is an English former professional footballer who played 165 games in the lower division of the

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 Engla ...

, scoring 32 goals. In May 2009, he resigned as the Under-18 team manager of non-league

Wisbech Town Wisbech Town Football Club is a football club based near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Fenland Stadium. History Although a Wisbech Town existed in the 1890s, the current club was estab ...

, a club for whom he made first team appearances for during his teenage years, his 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Although he has no formal involvement in football any more, he still turns out for the Posh Legends, the veteran side of Peterborough United.

Career

Gallagher, a forward, began his career in the youth team at Guyhirn where an impressive appearance in a youth cup final against

in 1973 saw him switch clubs to the Fenmen, making his first-team debut at the end of the 1973–74 season in the first leg of the county cup final against Willingham. He moved on to March Town United before joining Lincoln City in February 1976. His league debut came the following season, but turned out to be his only league appearance for the ''Imps'' and he returned to non-league football, joining

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

. He moved to

in 1978, from where he joined Peterborough United in April 1980. However, he played only 13 league games for Peterborough and left league football again, playing in Hong Kong with Eastern AA alongside

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...

. In August 1982 he joined Bruce Rioch's

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on non-contract terms following his return to the UK. He was rewarded with a one-year contract, scoring nine times in 42 league games as well as the winning goal in the FA Cup tie at home to Oxford United that saw the Gulls through to the Fourth Round for only the fourth time in their history. Despite a successful season, he left at the end of it, returning to

debuting in the 1–0

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

victory at Tiptree United on 20 August 1983. He moved on to join Irish side

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

, helping them defeat

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

3–1 at Tolka Park on 5 January 1984 to lift the League of Ireland Cup. Gallagher returned to Wisbech Town for the 1984–85 season before rejoining another of his former clubs, Peterborough United, in August 1985. His second spell proved his strongest in league football, as he netted 24 goals in 82 league games, earning a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in June 1987. He found opportunities limited at Molineux due to the prolific partnership of Steve Bull and

Andy Mutch Andrew Todd Mutch (born 28 December 1963) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. During his playing career, he was widely known for his partnership with Steve Bull at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Playing career Mutch ...

, but did play at Wembley in their victory in the Associate Members' Cup Final in May 1988. He was loaned to both

and

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

during the following season before being released in September 1989, and joining

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

side

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 ...

. He made his Conference debut on 27 September 1989 at home to Enfield and remained with Boston until 1990. He subsequently went on to play for King's Lynn, Grantham Town,

Diss Town Diss Town Football Club is a football club based in Diss, Norfolk, England. Affiliated to the Norfolk County FA they are currently members of the and play at Brewers Green Lane. History The club was established in 1888 following a suggestion ...

, Fakenham Town. He linked up with Chatteris Town scoring on his debut in the 2–1 away defeat to Whitton United on 4 March 2000. He returned to Wisbech Town in 2000, where he was also reserve team manager. He was promoted to manager of Wisbech Town in June 2003, but was sacked in October 2004 after Wisbech had gone nine games without a win. He later returned to the coaching staff at Wisbech and played his last match for Wisbech in 2005, in the reserves. At the age of 50, Jackie made a celebratory final appearance for Wisbech, coming on for the final five minutes of the 2–1 home victory over Woodbridge Town on 3 May 2008.

Honours

* League of Ireland Cup **

– 1983/84 * Football League Trophy ** Wolverhampton Wanderers – 1987/88

References

External links

Lincoln City F.C. Official Archive ProfileGrantham Town F.C. ProfileWolves feature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Jackie 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Wisbech English men's footballers English Football League players Wisbech Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players League of Ireland players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Diss Town F.C. players Eastern Sports Club footballers Fakenham Town F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong March Town United F.C. players Chatteris Town F.C. players Men's association football forwards English football managers Wisbech Town F.C. managers English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Footballers from Cambridgeshire