Joseph Anthony Gallagher (born 11 January 1955) is an English former 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 played as a

centre-half 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 ...

for

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 ...

and various other clubs. He was a hard-working, competitive defender, good in the air (though less good on the ground), and his authority on the field was such that he was first chosen to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the Birmingham side at the age of only 19.

Biography

Gallagher was born in

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 popul ...

, and began his football career as a schoolboy with home-town club

When he left school at 15 he signed for

as a trainee. He turned professional on his 17th birthday and made his first team debut in October 1973 against

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 mostly ...

at Highbury. He made over 20 appearances in his debut season, and from then on hardly missed a game until a broken leg sustained in a car accident kept him out for several months. He scored on his return to first team duty in December 1977, and for the remainder of his Birmingham career he was virtually ever-present. It was due in no small part to Gallagher's partnerships with the likes of

Kenny Burns Kenneth Burns (born 23 September 1953) is a former Scotland international footballer. The peak of his playing career was Nottingham Forest, with whom he won the 1977–78 Football League title and the FWA Player of the Year award. He also won ...

and Colin Todd in the Birmingham defence that the club kept its First Division status for all but his last season with them. In 1980–81 he helped them gain promotion back to the top flight, from which they had been relegated the previous year, and was awarded a testimonial match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in recognition of ten years' service. Also that season he was capped for England B in a 1–0 win against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at his home ground of St Andrew's. He left Birmingham having made 335 appearances and scored 23 goals. Gallagher joined fellow First Division club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

for a fee of £350,000 before the 1981–82 season. Birmingham were unable to profit from the sale because when Wolves were declared bankrupt in 1982 they still owed most of the fee. Gallagher left Wolves in acrimonious circumstances. Already in the reserves despite being one of the club's highest paid players, his contract was cancelled by the club, citing his failure to turn up for an official team photograph, though the player believes this was an excuse for cutting costs. After two months unemployed he signed for West Ham United for the remainder of the 1982–83 season. He then moved on to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, where within months of signing he was sent on loan to

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

Halifax Town. It appeared that his fitness was no longer adequate to cope with the demands of League football. Despite only playing eight first-team games in his first three years with the club, in 1986–87 he played a full season, starting 41 games in the League and playing a significant part in Burnley retaining their Football League status. He retired at the end of that season, when his contract at Burnley expired, at the relatively young age of 32. He went on to manage several non-league clubs in the Midlands, and had a spell as community liaison officer with Birmingham City. He later worked for

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

and part-time for the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

, and has been involved in corporate hospitality at Birmingham matches. In 2012, Gallagher was one of seven former players elected to Birmingham City's Hall of Fame.

Honours

Birmingham City *

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

promotion: 1979–80

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Joe 1955 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers England men's B international footballers Men's association football central defenders Birmingham City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Padiham F.C. players Castle Vale F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Atherstone Town F.C. managers