Gary Thompson Gillespie (born 5 July 1960) is a Scottish former professional football defender who played for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

and later

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, through much of the 1980s.

Liverpool

His three goals in that double winning season all came in the same game.

Hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...

s are rare for defenders, but Gillespie managed one against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 26 April 1986 at Anfield when he scored twice from open play and completed the threesome with a penalty, after the Liverpool fans chanted his name when it was awarded – normally he would not have taken it. Liverpool won the game 5–0 against an already relegated side, as they moved closer to the title, which was sealed on the final day of the season with a 1–0 win at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. By 1988, when he partnered

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late 1970s and 1980s, and for the Scotla ...

in all but five of Liverpool's games in the league, the Anfield club were a cut above every other side, losing just twice and coasting to the title. In April 1989, Gillespie joined his teammates in mourning the deaths of Liverpool fans at the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in ...

, during a year in which he again was a regular feature in the team. This time fortunes were reversed – Liverpool won the FA Cup with an emotional victory over fierce

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

rivals Everton, but lost the League title to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

with almost the last kick of the season. Gillespie missed that game, however. In

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, with the absence and eventual retirement of Hansen due to injury, Gillespie was once again a regular in the centre of the Liverpool defence. He played 30 league games and scored once, remaining a regular player even after the resignation of

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former football player and manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic and 515 for Liverpool, playing as a forward, and earned a record 102 full caps for th ...

in February 1991 and the arrival of Graeme Souness as manager.

Celtic

The arrival of Mark Wright at Liverpool during the close season made it clear that Gillespie would no longer be considered a first choice defender, and he was transferred to Scottish club

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 Foo ...

for £925,000 on 15 August 1991. He was among manager

Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for the Ireland ...

's first signings for the Bhoys, who were being left behind by local rivals Rangers who had been champions for the previous three seasons. His debut for the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

club came on 17 August 1991, in a 4–1 league win over his former side Falkirk at

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...

. Gillespie also managed to find the back of the net. He made 69 league appearances for the Parkhead club over three years, scoring twice, but failed to pick up any silverware. His performance was disappointing and he was not considered a good investment by Celtic's fans.

Return to Coventry City and retirement

Soon after the appointment of Tommy Burns as Celtic manager in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, it became apparent that Gillespie was not part of the new manager's plans. On 23 August 1994 he returned to Coventry City on a free transfer, making three

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 ...

appearances during the 1994–95 season. However, he played just three

FA 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 Foo ...

games before a knee injury struck him down, and he finally retired from playing in 1997 after more than two years out of action. Gillespie won 13

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Andy Roxburgh Andrew Roxburgh (born 5 August 1943) is a Scottish former football player and manager currently serving as an administrator. Roxburgh's entire professional playing career was spent in the Scottish Football League. After retiring as a player, he ...

gave him his debut on 14 October 1987 in the 2–0

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

qualifier victory over

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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 ...

. He was selected for the squad that went to the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

in Italy, but his only appearance came on 20 June against

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at the Stadio delle Alpi

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, a game the Scots lost 1–0. They failed to progress past the group stages.

Honours

;Liverpool *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

(3): 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

(3):

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

(shared),

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

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 compet ...

: 1985–86 *

European Cup 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 competit ...

(1): 1983–84 * Football League Super Cup: 1986

References

External links

*
Profile at LFCHistory.net
*
Coventry City seasonal record (part 1) 1977/78-1980/81 at sporting-heroes.netCoventry City seasonal record (part 2) 1981/82-1982/83 at sporting-heroes.netLiverpool seasonal record (part 1) 1983/84-1986/87 at sporting-heroes.netLiverpool seasonal record (part 2) 1987/88-1990/91 at sporting-heroes.netCeltic seasonal record 1991/92-1993/94 at sporting-heroes.netCoventry City seasonal record (part 3) 1994/95 at sporting-heroes.net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Gary 1960 births Living people Scottish footballers Celtic F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Association football central defenders Scotland international footballers Premier League players English Football League players Footballers from Stirling Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish Football League players FA Cup Final players People educated at Graeme High School