Kieran Liam McAnespie (born 11 September 1979) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player. Capable of playing as a full-back or winger, he appeared in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

for

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

and Hearts. Born in England, he represented the Scotland U21 national team internationally McAnespie was manager of

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 ...

but left when he became a fireman in 2019. He managed Cumbernauld United from 2020 to 2021. McAnespie then took up a coaching role at

Darvel Darvel ( sco, Dairvel, gd, Darbhail) is a small town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is at the eastern end of the Loudoun, Irvine Valley and is sometimes referred to as "The Lang Toon" ( en, the Long Town). The town's Latin motto, , means "No ...

Playing career

McAnespie graduated from the youth ranks at

, making his first team début against

on 4 February 1997. He made one further appearance that season as Saints won promotion to the Premier Division. He scored on both occasions. He went on to make 50 league appearances for the Saints, notably scoring in wins against both

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 Rangers in the 1998–99 season. In 1998, McAnespie was one of four younger players asked to accompany the Scottish national side to 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 ...

to gain experience. He was already a member of the Scotland U21 side and Craig Brown's idea was designed to ease the transition of younger players into the full national side. McAnespie, however, would never gain a full international call-up. McAnespie joined

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in 2000, for a reported fee of £80,000. Considered an investment for the future, he managed only two

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 ...

appearances during his three years with the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

side. This period was punctuated by brief loan spells with Hearts and

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

. At Bournemouth he scored once against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Upon returning to Fulham, he spent the rest of the season playing in the reserve team. McAnespie would recall his disappointment at his loan spell at Bournemouth. He was released in early 2003 and turned out four times for

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

at the end of the 2002–03 season before returning to Scotland with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. Having returned to Scottish football, McAnespie spent several short, injury-disrupted spells with lower division clubs. He left Falkirk in October 2004 to return to St Johnstone, before joining

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 ...

in January 2006. He rejected Ayr's offer to re-sign in the summer and instead joined

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

. On 21 June 2007, McAnespie was sold by Alloa to

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 ...

for a five figure fee (rumoured to be £11,750). At Morton he scored his first and only goal for the club against

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. ...

. In the summer of 2008, McAnespie went on trial with

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, where he scored against

Flackwell Heath Flackwell Heath is a village in the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Chepping Wycombe on the outskirts of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. With an elevation of about , in the Chiltern Hills. It has a population of around 6000. ...

, but was unsuccessful in getting a move to ''the Chairboys'', and remained with Morton for a further season. This included a loan spell at near-neighbours Third Division side

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, until the end of the season. Sadly for McAnespie, he injured himself again after only one game for Dumbarton so spent most of his time at the Rock on the sidelines. McAnespie was released after the end of the 2008–2009 season, as confirmed by

Davie Irons David John Irons (born 18 July 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Irons' playing career spanned 26 years as a central defender or midfielder for a host of clubs, most notably for Ayr United, Clydebank, Dunfermli ...

on 8 May in the

Greenock Telegraph The Greenock Telegraph is a local daily newspaper serving Inverclyde (the council area containing the towns of Gourock, Greenock and Port Glasgow), Scotland. Founded in 1857, it was the first halfpenny daily newspaper in Britain. It was for a ...

. McAnespie's time in retirement was short, with

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

picking him up on a one-year contract for the 2010–11 season. In June 2012, he joined

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

, having been released by Arbroath at the end of the 2011–12 season. On 4 April 2014, McAnespie left Stirling Albion due to work commitments. McAnespie signed for

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

side Kilbirnie Ladeside in July 2014. He then moved onto Petershill before a coaching stint at Glenafton. McAnespie was unveiled as player-manager of

in 2017, making 12 appearances for The Bankies before resigning in 2019.

Coaching career

McAnespie was a coach at junior club Glenafton in 2016. He coached at

from 2021 until June 2022.

Managerial career

On 19 January 2017, McAnespie was appointed manager of

. After a torrid start to his managerial career, McAnespie guided his side to six wins in a row in the final matches of the season and won promotion to the top flight. After leaving Clydebank in 2019, he was assistant manager of Cumbernauld United until April 2020 where he was named manager to take them into the new

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 ...

. He resigned in 2021 before taking up a coaching role at

later in the year.

References

External links

*
Appearances
at londonhearts.com
Profile
at honestpage.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:McAnespie, Kieran 1979 births Living people People from Gosport Scottish footballers St Johnstone F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scotland under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Anglo-Scots Scottish Junior Football Association players Bellshill Athletic F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Kilbirnie Ladeside F.C. players Scottish football managers Scottish Junior Football Association managers Clydebank F.C. managers