Patrick Liney (14 July 1936 – 10 August 2022) 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He played for clubs in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

for Dalry Thistle, Dundee, St Mirren, Bradford Park Avenue and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

. Born in Paisley, Liney was Dundee's first-choice goalkeeper during their

1961–62 Scottish Division One The 1961–62 Scottish Division One was won by Dundee by three points over nearest rival Rangers.Alan Gilzean Alan John Gilzean (; 22 October 1938 – 8 July 2018) was a Scottish professional footballer, active from 1955 to 1975. A striker, Gilzean played most prominently for Dundee and Tottenham Hotspur, and also appeared in 22 international games for ...

stated of him that "Pat Liney's contribution to Dundee's Championship season should never be underestimated and the fact that he was an ever present that year speaks for itself. He was rock solid and never let us down." After his playing career, Liney was nominated to Dundee's Hall of Fame and appointed as Honorary Club President.

Playing career

Dundee

After spending his youth seasons with

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football ...

side Dalry Thistle, Liney was signed by Dundee in 1957. He made his debut for the ''Dee'' in the final game of the 1957–58 season against Rangers at Ibrox, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 away win. Liney played two games for Dundee the following season, and took over as first choice goalkeeper beginning the 1959–60 season following the departure of Bill Brown to

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 ...

. During Liney's three seasons as Dundee's first-choice goalie, he played a further 97 league games, as well as 3 appearances in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 ...

, and five games in the

1962 International Soccer League Statistics of International Soccer League III in season 1962. League standings Section I Section II Championship finals First leg Second leg ''América won 3–1 on aggregate''. American Challenge Cup * FK Dukla Prague FK Dukla ...

. Liney's defining moment as Dundee's league-winning keeper came in the penultimate game of the season at home against his boyhood club, St Mirren. With a chance to overtake Rangers in the title race who lost to

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 ...

, Dundee gave away a late penalty to St Mirren while holding a slender 1–0 lead. Despite the weight of a title fight sitting on his shoulders, Liney clawed down

Jim Clunie Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

's shot to the top-right corner, and minutes later Dundee scored a second goal to secure a win and clear the way for a league win. After the full-time whistle, a pitch invasion ensued and Liney had to be escorted to the pavilion by four policemen. In a 2011 interview, Liney said about the penalty that he "was probably the coolest guy in the packed ground" as his father, also a lifelong ''Buddies'' fan, told him exactly where Clunie would place his penalty. Unfortunately, Liney made only two more appearances for Dundee as he was replaced as first choice by ex-

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 ...

goalie Bert Slater. By the end of his time with Dundee, Liney had made a total of 126 appearances for the ''Dark Blues'', 102 of them being in the league.

St Mirren

Liney left Dundee in 1963 to join fellow

Scottish Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

side St Mirren. A lifelong supporter of the ''Buddies'', Liney described the feeling of making his debut for them in a 2013 interview as "the best feeling in the world." Liney made 48 league appearances for St Mirren over three seasons, and left the club in 1966.

England

Liney moved to Bradford Park Avenue in 1966, before joining city rivals

the following year. He became a mainstay and fan favourite of the ''Bantams'', becoming known for regularly singing in Bradford's Edwardian Club after matchdays. During Liney's time with the club, they enjoyed promotion from the English Fourth Division in 1968–69. Liney left the club in 1972 and returned to Bradford Park Avenue, but retired the following season.

Post-playing career

A popular figure at

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they ...

, Liney spent the immediate years after retiring as Bradford City's host for pre-match hospitality until 1978, when he returned north to Scotland where he provided the same role regularly for Dundee. In 2011, Liney was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame, the first goalkeeper to receive the honour. Later on that same year, he was also appointed to be the Honorary Club President of Dundee. Liney died in August 2022, at the age of 86.

Honours

Dundee *

: 1961–62 * Dundee Hall of Fame: 2011 Legends Award Bradford City * Football League Fourth Division promotion: 1968–69

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liney, Pat 1936 births 2022 deaths Scottish footballers Association football goalkeepers Dalry Thistle F.C. players Dundee F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire