Stuart Bannigan (born 17 September 1992) 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 le ...

who plays for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

club

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. ...

. A product of the club's youth setup, Bannigan played his first professional season on loan at the then Scottish Second Division side Ayr United. He also played for the Scotland U21 team.

Career

Partick Thistle

Bannigan signed permanently for the

youth development team, full-time, in May 2009, following a period of trialling prior to a full-time contract. playing in the U17s side, Bannigan made his first team debut as a substitute on 24 July 2010 against Clyde in the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish First Division. He made one more appearance before being sent out on loan. SB holding trophy

On 4 November 2010 Bannigan joined Scottish Second Division side Ayr United on a one-month loan deal. He made his debut against Dumbarton on 13 November 2010. After only 5 games his loan was extended until the end of the season. Bannigan made 24 Appearances scoring 4 goals to help Ayr gain promotion to the Scottish First Division via the play-offs. Following his loan spell at Ayr United, Bannigan would be used intermittently in the Partick first team during the 2011–12 season. He scored his first Thistle goal against Hamilton Academical, in which the result was 2–2. In 2012–13, Bannigan scored his first goal of the season against Queens Park at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

in a 5–4 thriller in the second round of the Scottish Challenge Cup. A a week later, on 25 August 2012, Bannigan set up a goal for

Kris Doolan The kris, or ''keris'' in the Indonesian language, is an asymmetrical dagger with distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). Of Javanese origin, the kris is famous for its disti ...

before scoring himself in a 3–0 win over Dumbarton. In a match against

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 ...

on 27 October 2012, Bannigan suffered a leg injury in the first half and was substituted. Forty-eight-hour later, Bannigan revealed he passed his driving test. Though it was serious at first, Bannigan managed to escape the injury, which he describe it as "relieved". On 24 November 2012, Bannigan scored his second league goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

. In the next game on 15 December 2012, he scored again in a 3–2 win over Raith Rovers. He was substituted during the extra-time period of the

2013 Scottish Challenge Cup Final The 2013 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Ramsdens Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match between Queen of the South and Partick Thistle on 7 April 2013 at Almondvale Stadium in Livingston. It was the ...

, which Thistle lost to Queen of the South. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Bannigan was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, and won the club's young player of the year award. He signed a new two-year contract in June 2013. In September 2013, Bannigan was awarded the

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 Scottish ...

Young Player of the Month award. On 14 May 2014, he signed a new two-year deal with the ''Jags''. He made his 100th league appearance for Partick Thistle against Hamilton Academical at

Firhill Firhill Stadium is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick Thistle since 1909. The stadium is commonly referred to as simp ...

on 23 August 2014. Bannigan decided to leave Partick Thistle at the end of his contract in May 2016, having rejected their offer of a new deal; However, on 27 June 2016, he reversed his decision to leave and committed to the club for a further two years. As of the 2018–19 season, Bannigan became the new club captain, as

returned to his role as vice-captain, having stood in for

Abdul Osman Abdul Haq Bin Seidu Osman (born 27 February 1987) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays for Sittingbourne. Career Early career Osman started his career at Hampton & Richmond Borough before he moved on to play at youth level for Watford, before ...

for the previous season. In late 2018, Bannigan signed an 18-month extension to remain at Partick Thistle until 2020. In early 2020, under the new management of Ian McCall, Bannigan penned a new 2-year contract extension, to remain at Partick Thistle until 2022, which would see him earn a testimonial at the club due to his decade of service. After the 2019–20 season finished early due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Partick Thistle were relegated for the second time in three seasons, being relegated to League One. Bannigan chose to stay at the club following their relegation, making him and teammate

James Penrice James Regan Penrice (born 22 December 1998) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a left-back for Livingston. Club career Partick Thistle After progressing through the club's Thistle Weir Academy, Penrice made his senior debut in a 3–3 draw ...

the only two players left at the club from their time in the Premiership. After winning

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

with the ''Jags'' in 2020–21, Bannigan (now the longest-serving player) signed a new contract adding an extra year to his deal, extending it until 2023.

Style of play

Bannigan is known for his flicks, passing, creative instinct and leadership. He has been described as a tough and tenacious player who is a consistently strong midfielder. He has struggled severely with knee injuries, being sidelined for the second half of the 2015–16 season, all of 2016/17 and most of 2017–18 before making a gradual return in late 2018.

International career

Along with teammate Stephen O'Donnell, Bannigan was called up by

Billy Stark William Stark (born 1 December 1956) is a Scottish former football player and current coach. He made 500 league appearances in total, including successful spells at Aberdeen and Celtic. He then turned to management, which has seen him take ca ...

for the Scotland U21 squad. Bannigan played his first match international debut, in a 1–1 draw against

Greece U21 The Greece national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football C ...

. He was also called up for an under-21 match against

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 ...

Career statistics

Honours

Partick Thistle * Scottish First Division:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual *

Scottish Football League 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 south ...

Young Player of the Month: January 2013 * PFA Scotland First Division Team of the Year: 2012–13

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bannigan, Stuart 1992 births Living people Partick Thistle F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Scottish footballers Scottish Football League players Sportspeople from Bishopbriggs Association football midfielders Scottish Professional Football League players Scotland under-21 international footballers People educated at Bishopbriggs Academy