Brian Martin (born 24 February 1963 in
Bellshill
Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...
) is a Scottish former
footballer who played as a
central defender, best known for his seven-year spell at
Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
.
Club career
Martin began his career in the Scottish lower leagues with
Albion Rovers and
Stenhousemuir. He then dropped back into the
Junior grade with
Shotts Bon Accord for three years before joining second-tier
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...
in 1985. In his
first season with the ''Bairns'' the club achieved promotion to the top division, and maintained their status in
the second.
In 1987 Martin moved to
Hamilton Academical, and in his
single campaign there he again helped the ''Accies'' win promotion, this time as champions. By then he had already moved on to
St Mirren, where he stayed for three seasons in the
Scottish Premier Division before being signed by fellow top-level club Motherwell in November 1991 for £175,000. He made 237 appearances for Motherwell between 1991 and 1998, and was part of the side which finished
league runners-up in 1995. He was named in
SPFA Team of the Year for 1994.
Martin left Motherwell in 1998 and had spells with
Stirling Albion and
Partick Thistle before retiring from the professional leagues in 2000, aged 37. He returned to local Junior football, appearing for
Lanark United,
Stonehouse Violet, Shotts - two decades after his first spell there,
[ and Cambuslang Rangers, also playing the occasional game for the 'Motherwell Legends' team.
]
International career
While playing for Motherwell, Martin earned two caps for the Scotland national team (making his debut aged 32) in the 1995 Kirin Cup
The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...
matches against Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
and Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
alongside clubmates Rab McKinnon and Paul Lambert. He also represented the B side on three occasions in the same era.
References
External links
*
*
International stats
at Londonhearts.com
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Brian
Living people
1963 births
Footballers from Bellshill
Scottish men's footballers
Scotland men's international footballers
Scotland men's B international footballers
Shotts Bon Accord F.C. players
Lanark United F.C. players
Stonehouse Violet F.C. players
Cambuslang Rangers F.C. players
Albion Rovers F.C. players
Stenhousemuir F.C. players
Falkirk F.C. players
Hamilton Academical F.C. players
St Mirren F.C. players
Motherwell F.C. players
Stirling Albion F.C. players
Partick Thistle F.C. players
Scottish Football League players
Men's association football central defenders
Scotland men's junior international footballers
Scottish Junior Football Association players