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Personal
Fullname: Gary Thomson Gillespie
aka: Gary Gillespie
Born: 5 July 1960
Birthplace: Bonnybridge, Scotland
Signed: 15 August 1991
Left: 28 August 1994
Position: Defender/Central Defender
First game: Falkirk 4-1 home 17 August 1991 league
Last game: Hibernian 1-3 away 17 April 1993 league
First goal: Falkirk 4-1 home 17 August 1991 league
Last goal: Falkirk 3-2 home 21 November 1992 league
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps 13
International Goals 0
Biog
| “It was probably the wrong time to be there, but I don’t regret joining.” Gary Gillespie |
On paper, the tall Bonnybridge-born centre-half had a wealth of experience from his time with the Anfield club and had been no stranger to silverware during his time on Merseyside. In his heyday, he was a cultured, ball playing defender.
The former Falkirk and Coventry man, at a cost of £925,000, was a relatively high profile and big money signing for the Bhoys. Some thought Celtic had got a good buy but it was obvious to many it was paying over the odds highlighting our desperation and financial incompetence.
The 31-year old was injury prone and coming towards the end of a career. For all his undoubted qualities on the ball from the off, Celtic supporters were wondering if Gary Gillespie could really provide the steel needed in defence, but he was generally poor.
He got off to a great start with a goal on his competitive debut after just 9 minutes as Celtic defeated his old club Falkirk 4-1 in a league clash at Parkhead on 17th August 1991. Not helped by playing in a Celtic side far removed from the quality he was used to on Merseyside, things were never to get any better for Gary Gillespie.
His playing style too often looked casual rather than cultured and niggling injuries seemed to blight him on a frequent basis. He was simply way past his best. At his peak, he was rated highly as a player with Liverpool, and in a survey amongst Liverpool fans, he was ranked amongst their best 100 players of all time. On the other hand he was injury prone and played fewer matches than he should have.
In a more robust and resilient side than the Celtic of the early 1990s a peak-form Gary Gillespie would undoubtedly have been an asset. However in a side with a defensive spine that was already as robust as candy floss, an over the hill Gary Gillespie was simply not the answer and (unsubstantiated) rumours of a £3,000-a-week contract also did little to win over a sceptical support.
Disappointingly, he was many a time a liability, being sluggish and ponderous. He was to be a big money failed signing and if it was not for Tony Cascarino’s flop transfer as a major purchase then Gillespie’s name would be mentioned more often. In various games he lost the first team silly points by not concentrating on the basics, with various apologists trying to claim that he was just too cultured for the Scottish game. Nonsense. On the other hand, he wasn’t culpable alone, the rest of the defence was hardly much better as a unit with poor coaching and incorrect tactics not helping. The fact Celtic had overpaid so much for him was a monkey on his back when analysing his time at Celtic.
Two results mostly stand out. First was a game where late on Celtic were struggling to hold onto a 2-1 win at home to Motherwell, and with the ball at his feet, Gary Gillespie could have punted the ball out of the pitch, but he didn’t. Motherwell easily stole it and grabbed an undeserved late equaliser. The lowest was a humiliating 4-2 defeat by Rangers in a New Years Derby match, which saw Celtic go down 2-0 in the first few minutes and 3-0 down within half an hour of the game. Gary Gillespie was as culpable as anyone in the defence that day, and little helped his case. On the other hand, this game is attributed to having accelerated the demise of the old Biscuit Tin board, so Gary Gillespie unintentionally helped to bring about major boardroom changes at Celtic.
There were high moments as well. In October 1993 he showed his class when Celtic defeated Rangers 2-1 with a late goal, the result being against the odds. He started Celtic attacks from defence and even though the game was typically rowdy the Celtic team stuck to their job and it was a delight to see Gillespie, McStay, Collins and Nicholas give such a great display of passing football. Brian O’Neil’s last gasp winner was the icing on the cake.
Gary Gillespie was released by Celtic – who were struggling on the pitch and on the balance sheet following the “Sack the Board” turmoil – in May 1994.
It was a sad but inevitable end, and a short summary of his time at Celtic would actually mirror the state of the club at the time, i.e. great old footballer with wonderful past now languishing in the depths. He deserved a better send-off from the frontline of the game, and maybe with a better set-up he could have been better utilised to pass on experience and coaching to the other defenders in the squad.
In an interview following a friendly between Celtic & Liverpool in Aug 2013, Gary Gillespie stated that he had grown up a Celtic fan but struggled with the pressure in Glasgow and failed at Celtic. An honest admission with no excuses made, for which we can respect. It was no easy environment for anyone, and that included for stalwarts like John Collins & Paul McStay too.
Regardless of his disappointing stint at the club, we wish him the best.
Quotes
“It was probably the wrong time to be there, but I don’t regret joining. It was a privilege and an honour to play for two clubs such as Celtic and Liverpool.
“I was swayed a little by the fact I was a Celtic supporter growing up in the 1960s with the Lisbon Lions, Bobby Lennox, Tommy Gemmell, Willie Wallace. Just having the chance to go to Parkhead was such a big thing for me.
“When I got to the club in 1991, though, I could already see how depressed things were and how far the club was behind Rangers. It was only when you got there that you started to understand it.
“Look, I know myself that I didn’t play my part thanks to being in and out through injury and I accept my performance level was not what it should have been.
“I can hardly sit here and pontificate about the failings of others, but Celtic are a great club and I am just pleased they got themselves back on the right track.”
Gary Gillespie (2015)
Playing Career
| Club | From | To | Fee | League | Scottish/ FA Cup |
League cup | Other | ||||
| Coventry | 28/08/1994 | 31/05/1997 | Free | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Celtic | 15/08/1991 | 28/08/1994 | £ 925,000 | 67 (2) | 2 | 4 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 6 (0) | 0 |
| Liverpool | 08/07/1983 | 15/08/1991 | £ 325,000 | 152 (4) | 14 | 22 (2) | 0 | 22 (0) | 2 | 8 (2) | 0 |
| Coventry | 10/03/1978 | 08/07/1983 | £ 75,000 | 171 (1) | 6 | 13 (0) | 0 | 16 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Falkirk | 01/08/1977 | 10/03/1978 | Junior | 22 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
none (the barren years)
Pictures
The Bhoy in the Picture
by St Anthony (link)
In the summer of 1991 the Celtic board appointed Liam Brady as their new manager and gave him the biggest war chest that a Celtic manager ever had up until that time. Criticised heavily in the early 1990’s for failing to keep up with the Rangers juggernaut under Graeme Souness, the under pressure board put themselves at the mercy of Brady’s judgement in the transfer market. The irony is that when Souness moved to Liverpool as manager in the spring of 1991 he was keen to make his mark by moving players in and out. Newspapers carried the story that Celtic were chasing three Liverpool players – Gary Gillespie, Ray Houghton and Peter Beardsley. Sadly, as it happened, only one of those moves came to fruition and Gary Gillespie moved to Parkhead for a (then) huge fee of £925,000.
Celtic fans were impressed by the ambition of this move. Gillespie was a Scottish international and a hugely experienced player. He had captained Falkirk at the tender age of 18 and after a handful of games he had moved to Coventry City in 1978. At Brockville he had trained with the great George Connelly and it’s fair to say that Gillespie’s languid style was similar to Connelly’s. After a successful spell at Highfield Road he had earned a major move to Liverpool in 1983. He had a chequered spell at Anfield. Initially he had found it difficult to displace either Alan Hansen or Mark Lawrenson in the Liverpool defence, but showed great patience, and by 1985 he had earned a place in the team.
In May 1985 he appeared in the fateful European Cup final in the Heysel stadium and he brought down the Polish international Boniek for the penalty that allowed Michel Platini to score the winner on that tragic night. The Liverpool team who won the league title in 1987/88 is generally regarded as one of the best English sides of all time. Gillespie played a major part amongst the greats of Beardsley, Barnes and Aldridge and he scored in the famous 5-0 rout of Nottingham Forest at Anfield in April 1988 when Tom Finney declared it as the greatest club performance he had ever seen.
Gillespie had been linked with Celtic several times up until that point. In 1978 Jock Stein was said to have been close to bidding for him and whenever Celtic where looking for a centre back then Gary’s name would invariably crop up. The added bonus to the rumours was that he was a boyhood Celtic fan and it was always felt that both Gillespie and Celtic would eventually hook up one day.
The initial reaction to Gillespie’s arrival at Parkhead was positive. It was felt that Brady had pulled a coup by obtaining him, and his technique and experience was seen as a major asset to Celtic. However some observers noted that Gillespie was 31 and had been injury prone in his latter years and that £925,000 would represent a major gamble.
Gary Gillespie made his debut on 17 August 1991 at Parkhead against Falkirk. Celtic won 4-1 with Tommy Coyne bagging a hat trick but the highlight of the game was a goal by Celtic’s new defender. On the stroke of half time he took a pass from Steve Fulton in the area, moved forward, drew the goalkeeper and rounded him, before slipping the ball into the net from a tight angle. It was an exquisite goal and one that would be recalled for some time.
After an initial good start under Brady things deteriorated for Celtic and Gillespie. His cultured style in defence did not suit the hurly-burly of the Scottish game where physical centre forwards rather than forwards with technique were the order of the day. In his Old Firm debut his ex Coventry team mate Mark Hateley had destroyed the Celtic defence who had looked totally uncomfortable with Hateley’s aggressive style.
For this reason Brady splashed out another one million ponds for the rugged Middlesbrough centre half Tony Mowbray. The hope was that Mowbray’s rough edged action style would compliment the classy play of Gillespie. Sadly, both of them rarely played together through injuries and they were never able to form the intended partnership.
Gillespie still left Celtic fans with some favourable memories. In February 1992 he went on a glorious run from defence down the left wing, beating four opponents and gained Celtic a corner. He was interviewed after the game and he stated that footballers should be able to improvise during the course of a game and if you get the ball on the left wing, even as a defender, you should be able to play as a winger.
In October 1993 he showed his class when Celtic defeated Rangers against the odds. He started Celtic attacks from defence and even though the game was typically rowdy the Celtic team stuck to their job and it was a delight to see Gillespie, McStay, Collins and Nicholas give such a great display of passing football. Brian O’Neil’s last gasp winner was the icing on the cake. Days later he showed his experience to great effect when Celtic beat a Luis Figo/Jorge Cadete inspired Sporting Lisbon was beaten 1-0 at Celtic Park on a night that Celtic weathered tremendous pressure during the 90 minutes.
Gillespie was given a free transfer by Lou Macari in the summer of 1994. His cultured style was never going to sit easy with wee Louie’s team of runners and, in truth, Gary’s Celtic career had rather fizzled out.
Gary Gillespie was a class act and on his day was as good as any Celtic defender in the modern era. He had a football pedigree few can match and it is a huge regret that the big man could not have played at a better time in Celtic’s history when his talents would have been more noticeable and more appreciated.
Gary Gillespie: Protesting Celtic fans have only known success – they should have been at Parkhead in the 1990s
Exclusive by Matthew Lindsay @MattLindsayHT Chief Football Writer
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/18927554.gary-gillespie-protesting-celtic-fans-known-success—parkhead-1990s/
IN the three bitterly disappointing and trophyless years that Gary Gillespie spent as a player at Celtic back in the early 1990s, there was an almost constant backdrop of supporter unrest on the terraces.
Fans of the Parkhead club were deeply unhappy about how poorly the team was performing on the park and incensed with how ineptly the board was running affairs off it during that troubled era.
An organised campaign was launched to oust the reviled regime, attendances plummeted and some matches were boycotted altogether before Fergus McCann finally seized control.
Yet, at no stage in his time at his boyhood heroes was the former Coventry City, Liverpool and Scotland centre half ever subjected to the sort of treatment the current side has endured in the past fortnight.
Gillespie has been staggered by the extreme and at times ugly reaction to the Betfred Cup defeat to Ross County and the Premiership draw with St Johnstone given the unprecedented success Celtic have enjoyed in the past nine years.
“We didn’t have missiles thrown at us or have our bus attacked,” he said. “We didn’t experience anything like that in my day. Some supporters are too quick to show their anger now. I think it is misguided and misdirected. If they think they’ve got it bad now they should have been there during the 1990s.
“They have short memories. They have to put it into perspective. It isn’t as if Celtic haven’t done well. They are going for the quadruple treble this month. They still have the time to turn things around as well.”
Gillespie believes that Celtic’s total dominance of the domestic game has been responsible for the fans’ response – manager Neil Lennon has faced calls be sacked and chief executive Peter Lawwell and major shareholder Dermot Desmond have also come under attack – to their dire slump in form.
“There is always discord when you aren’t winning football matches,” he said. “Especially in a city like Glasgow where it is all about Celtic and Rangers. If your near neighbours are doing well and you’re not the fans are always going to be upset.
“But there is a generation of Celtic fans that has been brought up on solely success. When that doesn’t happen and when things don’t work out the way they think they should there is going to be unrest.
“I can understand the fans’ unhappiness at this moment in time because they have been brought up on nothing but success. When that s all you have known and suddenly you are not winning that causes problems.”
Gillespie continued: “But they have to remember, that only lasts so long, it can’t last forever. Unfortunately in football there are always two teams. You just can’t win everything all the time. It’s just an impossibility.
“You have got to give Rangers a little bit of credit for how they have dragged themselves up and got themselves into a dominant position. But of course I know Celtic fans won’t do that.
“There hasn’t been anything like this at Parkhead for a long time. You have to go back to when I was at Celtic and Rangers were on their way to winning Nine-In-A-Row.”
Gillespie played at a time when there was the infamous biscuit tin mentality at Celtic – which had led the Glasgow club to the brink of bankruptcy by the end of his tenure – and their city rivals were lavishing millions of pounds on foreign stars.
Having spent eight years at the all-conquering Liverpool team of the 1980s and won three English titles as well as the European Cup at Anfield, it was something of a shock to his system.
“It was certainly different,” he said. “Liverpool was like a smoothly run ship. But the Celtic stadium was needing renovated, there wasn’t an awful lot of money getting spent, the board of directors were coming in for flak.
“We played second fiddle to Rangers for a long time. We would look across at Ibrox and see their stadium, the players they were bringing in and the money they were spending. Liam Brady tried to change that by bringing in myself, Tony Cascarino and Tony Mowbray. But we continued to struggle.
“If you’re not winning football matches you can expect to get a bit of criticism. The players did feel that on the pitch. But as a football club, Celtic were a million miles behind Rangers, not just on the field, off the field as well.”
Gillespie feels the fact that Celtic, who are bidding to make Scottish football history by winning 10-In-A-Row in the 2020/21 campaign, have vastly superior resources to Rangers has increased the disaffection among the supporters.
But he is adamant that Lennon and his players, who take on Lille in the Europa League on Thursday evening and then Kilmarnock in the Premiership on Sunday, can still recover.
“If any football club is to be successful it starts at the top as much as at the bottom,” he said. “You need to have a good board of directors and you need to be on a sound financial footing. In the early 1990s that wasn’t the case at Celtic. But it is now. The football club is run pretty well. It is a far more level playing field now.
“But Celtic can still win the league. Sure, they are not playing well and are 13 points behind with two games in hand. But it is far from decided at this moment in time. I think the manager and the team deserve greater support at this time given the success that they have had in recent seasons. It is a bit premature to be calling managers out and the board of directors out just now.”