Kieran Tierney (born 5 June 1997) is 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 ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or centre-back for

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 Fo ...

club Arsenal and the Scotland national team. Tierney came through the

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 ...

youth system and made his first team debut in April 2015, and his full international debut in March 2016. He joined Arsenal in August 2019 for a fee reported at £25 million, a record amount both for a Scottish national and for a player from the Scottish league.

Club career

Early life and youth football

Born in

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, Tierney moved to

Wishaw Wishaw ( sco, Wishae or Wisha ; gd, Camas Neachdain) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it form ...

in Scotland aged 10 months. He supported

as a child and signed for the club when he was 7 years old. He was educated at Motherwell schools St Brendan's RC Primary and Our Lady's High (one year group behind fellow footballers, twins Nicky and Chris Cadden) then attended St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch, which has a development partnership with Celtic. He has spoken of his hope of emulating the late

Tommy Gemmell Thomas Gemmell (16 October 1943 – 2 March 2017) was a Scottish football player and manager. Although right-footed, he excelled as a left-sided fullback and had powerful shooting ability. Gemmell is best known as one of the Celtic side who w ...

, a member of the

Lisbon Lions The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic F.C., Celtic team that won the UEFA Champions League, European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967 European Cup Final, 1967, defeating Inter Milan 2–1. The name i ...

team who also grew up in Wishaw (specifically,

Craigneuk Craigneuk is a suburb of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The original village of Craigneuk was located in the area where Meadowhead Road meets the A721 at Craigneuk Street. It was originally part of Dalziel parish, along with the other rur ...

) and played in the same position. He progressed through the various youth ranks and earned a reputation as a dependable wide player in the club's development squad, both in defence and attack. He travelled with the first team squad on a pre-season trip to Finland in August 2014, and made his debut in a friendly against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

there. Although Celtic lost, Tierney described his first appearance for the first team as a "dream come true". He continued to play in the development squad throughout 2014–15, and in October 2014 during a Development League match against Heart of Midlothian he scored a goal from the edge of his own penalty box.

Celtic

2015–16: Debut and breakthrough

Tierney made his competitive senior debut for Celtic on 22 April 2015, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute in a

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

match against Dundee. He made one further first team appearance that season, playing over an hour in a league match away at St Johnstone. Tierney enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2015–16, appearing in over 30 matches and displacing the more experienced

Emilio Izaguirre Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Girón (; born 10 May 1986) is a Honduran former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He became the new sporting director of Motagua in October 2022. Izaguirre started his career at Motagua, where he playe ...

as first-choice left back. For his performances he was awarded with both the Players' and Writers' Young Player annual awards, while Celtic also won the league title. Despite interest from

clubs, Tierney signed a new five-year contract on 24 June 2016, keeping him at Parkhead until 2021. After making his first appearances in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, Tierney suffered ankle ligament damage during training on 27 October 2016 and was initially ruled out of action for two months. During the layoff, which caused him to miss the League Cup Final, he received treatment on a recurring shoulder injury and attended several Celtic matches as a typical supporter in the company of his childhood friends.

2017–2019: Back-to-back domestic trebles

On 22 January 2017, after missing three months, he made his long-awaited return to the Celtic team in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Albion Rovers. Tierney was crowned PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year for the second consecutive season on 7 May, making him the first to achieve this since

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently a full-time advisor to the board of directors at Highland Football League club Brechin City. During his playing care ...

in 1986. He suffered a jaw injury early in the

2017 Scottish Cup Final The 2017 Scottish Cup Final was the 132nd final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2016–17 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Hampden Park on 27 May 2017 and was contest ...

and had to be substituted for treatment. Celtic won the match 2–1 to complete a

domestic treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

and

undefeated season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the ...

. In spite of his lengthy injury absence, he featured in 40 matches during the campaign. On 8 August 2017, Tierney was named as captain while also moving to

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

to command a back line of teenagers in a

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 ...

fixture against Kilmarnock; Celtic won the game 5–0, with Tierney providing an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

and scoring with a "wonderful strike" from 40 yards. On 30 October, a week after scoring in an important

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victory away to closest challengers

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, he extended his contract with Celtic until 2023. By the end of the season, he had collected further personal accolades—winning both the Players' and Writers' Young Player awards for the third campaign in succession—and performed a major role in securing a historic 'double treble' for the club, making more than 50 appearances and playing the entirety of the domestic cup finals, both being 2–0 wins over Motherwell. Tierney played in Celtic's victory over Aberdeen in the 2018 Scottish League Cup Final on 2 December 2018. Soon afterwards a hip injury meant that he was ruled out of action, returning on 24 February 2019. He then suffered from a hernia, which subsequently required surgery.

Arsenal

2019–2022: FA Cup win and injuries

On 8 August 2019, Tierney signed for

club Arsenal, for a reported £25 million fee. Tierney missed the early part of the 2019–20 season, having undergone a double hernia operation in May 2019. He made his first-team debut for Arsenal in a 5–0 win against

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 EFL Cup on 24 September. Tierney assisted the first goal in a 4–0 home win against

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

scored by

Gabriel Martinelli Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva (born 18 June 2001), known as Gabriel Martinelli, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Arsenal and the Brazil national team. Born and raised in Guarulhos, Martinelli began h ...

a week later. He made his first appearance in the Premier League on 27 October, in a 2–2 draw with

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. His season was further disrupted after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the game against West Ham United. Tierney's impressive performances for Arsenal following the resumption of the Premier League after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

saw him receive Arsenal's Player of the Month award for June. He scored his first goal for Arsenal on 26 July, in a 3–2 win against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on the final day of the 2019–20 Premier League season. On 1 August 2020, Tierney was selected to start in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

against Chelsea, as Arsenal won their 14th FA Cup. On 28 August 2020, Tierney was in the starting 11 in the

2020 FA Community Shield The 2020 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 98th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League, ...

, which Arsenal clinched a 5–4 victory over

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 populat ...

in the penalty shootout after the match was 1–1 after 90 minutes. On 2 January 2021, Tierney scored the opening goal in a 4–0 away league win over

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and later assisted the final goal, scored by

Alexandre Lacazette Alexandre Lacazette (born 28 May 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for and is the captain of club Lyon. He plays mainly as a striker but has also been deployed as a second striker and wide forward. Lacazette ...

. His stunning strike was subsequently voted the January Goal of the Month on the Arsenal official website. On 25 February, he scored a goal in a 3–2 win over Benfica in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

round of 32, making him the first Scotsman to score for Arsenal in a European competition since Willie Young in March 1980. In June 2021, he signed a long-term contract with Arsenal. Tierney played regularly for Arsenal during the 2021–22 season until suffering a season-ending knee injury in March. Arsenal lost league games against

, Brighton,

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

following his injury, and they narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification. It was later revealed in the '' All or Nothing: Arsenal'' series that Tierney had hyper-extended the knee during a game in February, but aggravated it a month later while walking in the Arsenal training ground. He returned to action at the start of the 2022–23 season.

International career

Tierney played for Scotland at Scotland U18 and Scotland U19 levels. He had also considered playing for the Ellan Vannin team that represents the Isle of Man when the

ConIFA The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are not affiliated with FIFA. Competitions Women's football All members of CONIFA are encouraged to inv ...

World Cup competition was being held. Tierney received his first call-up to the senior

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

squad on 10 March 2016 for a friendly against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Tierney played for the first half of the match, which Scotland won 1–0 at Hampden Park; he was replaced at the break by his Celtic teammate Charlie Mulgrew. Due to his greater adaptability compared to fellow left-back

Andrew Robertson Andrew Henry Robertson (born 11 March 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Liverpool and captains the Scotland national team. Robertson began his senior career with Queen's Park in 2012 before joini ...

, Tierney was deployed at right-back in Scotland's matches against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, Lithuania and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, and on the left of a three-man defence in the fixture at home to

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 ...

during

World Cup qualifiers The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

in 2017. Tierney was selected as Scotland captain for a friendly match against

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in November 2017, where he played as a central defender in a 1–0 defeat. In October 2018, Tierney scored a decisive

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

in a 2–1 loss to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in a

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

fixture. Speaking after the game, Robertson said that both he and Tierney were being played out of position in the 3–5–2 system adopted by

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

to accommodate both players. In November 2019, Tierney withdrew from the Scotland squad ahead of their

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

qualifiers against Cyprus and Kazakhstan due to a hip injury. In October 2020, he was required to pull out of the squad for a Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Israel after being in close contact with Stuart Armstrong, who had tested positive for COVID-19. It was later confirmed by Armstrong, Tierney and

Ryan Christie Ryan Christie (born 22 February 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and the Scotland national team. He began his career with Inverness Caledonian Thistle before joining ...

that they had been playing video games in the same room. Tierney provided three assists in a 4–0 win against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

on 31 March 2021, despite playing from a central defensive position. He then played in two of Scotland's matches at the delayed

finals in June 2021, as he missed the opening match with

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due to injury. Tierney scored his first goal for Scotland on 24 March 2022, in a friendly against

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 populou ...

at Hampden. Soon afterwards he suffered a training ground injury that kept him out of action for the rest of the 2021–22 season. This caused him to miss a World Cup playoff against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in June, which Scotland lost 3–1.

Media

Tierney was involved in the Amazon Original sports

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' All or Nothing: Arsenal'', which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.

Personal life

Tierney became an ambassador for the

Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (also known as the Scottish SPCA and SSPCA) is a charity to promote animal welfare in Scotland. History and operations It was founded in Edinburgh in 1839 and one of its first aims ...

(SSPCA) in June 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scotland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Tierney goal.''

Honours

Celtic *

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2016–17, 2017–18 *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 Arsenal *

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 ...

: 2019–20 * FA Community Shield:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Individual *

Breakthrough XI: 2017 *

PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year The PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year, formerly known as the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year, is named at the end of every Scottish football season. The members of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland vote on which of its ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 *

SFWA Young Player of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the SFWA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer in the Scottish football league system, who is se ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 * Celtic Young Player of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 *SFSA Supporters' Player of the Year: 2017 * Scottish Premiership Player of the Month: October 2017 *

PFA Scotland Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland Team of the Year (often called the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the four national tiers of the Scottish foot ...

(Premiership): 2015–16, 2016–17 2017–18 * PFA Scotland Goal of the Season: 2017–18 * Celtic FC Goal of the Season: 2017–18

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website
Profile
at the Premier League website * * * *
Fitba Stats profile (Scotland)

Fitba Stats profile (Celtic)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tierney, Kieran 1997 births Living people People from Douglas, Isle of Man People educated at Our Lady's High School, Motherwell People educated at St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch Sportspeople from Wishaw Manx footballers Scottish footballers Footballers from North Lanarkshire Association football fullbacks Scotland international footballers Scotland youth international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players FA Cup Final players Scottish Professional Football League players Premier League players Celtic F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players