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Personal
Fullname: Steven Pressley
aka: Elvis
Born: 11 Oct 1973
Birthplace: Elgin
Signed: 29 Dec 2006
Left: 17 June 2008
Position: Defence (Centre-half)
Debut: Celtic 2-0 Kilmarnock, Premier League, 2 Jan 2007
Squad No.: 17
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 27
International Goals: 0
Trivia
- First player to win the Scottish Cup with three different clubs (Rangers, Hearts & Celtic)
Playing Career
| “People misunderstand me. For 90 minutes I do what it takes to win. I’m hugely intense about football. It’s a drug.” Steven Pressley |
Veteran defender Steven Pressley signed for Celtic on 29th December 2006 after the former Hearts skipper was released by the Tynecastle club following a fall out with maverick owner Vladimir Romanov.
Scotland international Pressley had fallen foul of the Romanov regime after he led a very public player revolt – along with Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon – against the way the Lithuanian was running the Edinburgh club. Pressley had started his career at Rangers as a no-nonsense & unforgiving defender but had really made his name as a Tynecastle stalwart. However it would be the Rangers link that the media focused on in their coverage of the signing, and it was also what was to be a bugbear for sections of the Celtic support.
Celtic saw off interest from Charlton and several other (minor) English clubs to sign Pressley on an 18-month deal but it is fair to say that his capture was not greeted with universal delight from the Hoops support. The fact Pressley once played for Rangers was not necessarily the main issue, however his age – 33 – and that the perception he was well past his sell by date was. He didn’t exactly have the best reputation either, with a legacy of hard fought out fights on the field & hard man graft rather than any kind of great talent, a bit of thug at times on the pitch in his earlier days especially at Rangers.
Critics among the support argued that even at his peak Pressley was no more than ordinary, but he was clearly valued by Bhoys’ boss Gordon Strachan for his experience and leadership qualities. So much so that little more than a month after signing for Celtic Pressley was made skipper, in the absence of the injured Neil Lennon, on his return to Tynecastle – the Bhoys winning 2-1.
In his remaining appearances that season for the Hoops the Elgin-born player proved to be a mostly reliable performer at SPL level, although there were moments where his limitations were exposed.
His commitment however was always total as Celtic took the league title and Pressley went on to create history by becoming the first player to win the Scottish Cup with three different sides as Celtic defeated Dunfermline in the 2007 final at Hampden.
A back injury curtailed his involvement in season 2007/08 – although he was a stand out in a 1-0 defeat against Milan (away) in the Champions League – and with less than a year to run of his contract Pressley’s playing career began to wind down. Although still on the Parkhead books he took up a coaching post with the Scotland set-up and was linked to several managerial jobs.
On 17 June 2008, Stephen Pressley announced he was to leave Celtic, adding:
“I thoroughly enjoyed my spell as a Celtic player, I can’t speak highly enough about the club and I was treated extremely well by everybody.”
Sadly, some Celtic supporters have a degree of antagonism towards him due to past incidents for Rangers against Celtic, however whilst at Celtic he gave his all and acted very professionally through his time. He also didn’t ever express on or off the pitch any of the negative traits that had dogged his career & reputation in years gone by.
Not said to be an easy person to play alongside by some fellow footballers, for example a hoo-haa in the Scotland squad involving some Rangers players was said to be partly the fault of Pressley’s strict authoritarian manner. Regardless, he was very loyal to his manager and to Celtic during his time at the club, and filled in very well whenever required.
For his time at Celtic, he deserves respect.
Post-Celtic
On leaving Celtic he went to Randers in Denmark and finished his playing career with Falkirk. At the start of season 2009/10 he was appointed as Assistant Manager to Eddie May at Falkirk, and in Feb 2013 was appointed as manager of what was then a self-destructing Coventry City. […]
Anecdotes
John Hartson had an interesting column in the Sun last week. Opening line: “I couldn’t stand Steven Pressley as a player.” Then he says: “I’m still not sure why he was so disliked.” And later adds: “Since those days I’ve had the pleasure of his company and that’s exactly what it was – a genuine pleasure.”
Hartson neatly sums it up. Some just don’t like him, but are not sure why. It’s irrational and, when all the weak excuses are stripped away, grossly unfair on him (from The Scotsman 2010)
“People misunderstand me. For 90 minutes I do what it takes to win. I’m hugely intense about football. It’s a drug.”
Steven Pressley
“Here’s how bigotry has affected me,” he said. “When I signed for Celtic, I never heard from certain people again. I’m talking about friendships, acquaintances that I had picked up throughout my career. Not people employed by clubs but people who were associated with certain clubs and people who would send me Christmas cards every year. When I signed for Celtic, they didn’t want to know. We were never in touch again. I’m only talking about a handful of people but it’s still very sad that bigotry or sectarianism can come between friends and associations like that.”
Steven Pressley
Playing Career
| Club | From>________ | To__________ | Fee__________ | League | Scottish/ FA Cup |
League cup | Other | ||||
| Celtic | 29/12/2006 | 17/06/2008 | Free | 19 (0) | 1 | 4 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 |
| Hearts | 01/07/1998 | 29/12/2006 | Free | 270 (1) | 19 | 23 (0) | 2 | 17 (0) | 2 | 22 (0) | 1 |
| Dundee Utd | 25/07/1995 | 01/07/1998 | £ 750,000 | 100 (0) | 6 | 11 (0) | 0 | 12 (0) | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 |
| Coventry_____ | 19/10/1994 | 25/07/1995 | £ 600,000 | No appearance data available | |||||||
| Rangers | 02/08/1990 | 19/10/1994 | Signed | 34 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Inverkeithing BC | 01/08/1989 | 02/08/1990 | No appearance data available | ||||||||
| Totals | £1,350,000 | 423 (1) | 27 | 38 (0) | 3 | 29 (0) | 2 | 28 (1) | 1 | ||
| goals / game | 0.06 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.03 | |||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
| KDS Honours | ||
| MOTM Winners 2007-08 | ||
| 04-Dec-07 | AC Milan 1 v 0 Celtic | Champions League |
Pictures
KStreet
Articles
Elvis: thanks for the memories
David Friel
ELVIS has officially left the building but Steven Pressley didn’t want to finish off his Celtic career without saying thanks to the Hoops supporters for their backing over the last 18 months.
The experienced defender, signed by Gordon Strachan in January 2007, walks away from Paradise this summer with medals and a host of memories. Regardless of where football takes him in the future, he will always look back on his time at Celtic with great affection.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my spell as a Celtic player,” said Pressley, as he spoke exclusively to www.celticfc.net. “I can’t speak highly enough about the club and I was treated extremely well by everybody.
“I got on very well with the boys in the dressing room and the management team. It was a great 18 months for me and the only disappointment was not being able to play as much football as I would have liked in the last six months.
“At this stage in my career, I want to be playing on a regular basis. I need to find a club that will give me that chance, but I’ll always remember my time at Celtic.”
Pressley was with Celtic for a relatively short period, yet highlights are plentiful. Winning the SPL title at Rugby Park in April 2007, in the most of dramatic of circumstances, ranks as one of the best moments of his career.
Lifting the Scottish Cup just weeks later proved to be the perfect finale to a turbulent season for the player, which also saw him leave Hearts after eight years at Tynecastle.
Over the past 12 months, first-team chances haven’t been as frequent, but Pressley has still played his part, domestically and in Europe.
During the UEFA Champions League home match with Shakhtar Donetsk, he helped guide Celtic to a crucial win that paved the way for progression to the last 16. In the SPL, he made five appearances and admits he has never felt prouder than when Celtic won the title at Tannadice last month.
“Winning the double in my first season was brilliant,” he said. “But to be honest, even though I’d only played five league games, I took a lot of satisfaction from being involved with the squad that won the league under difficult circumstances this season.
“I didn’t play in the run-in, but I was there. I was out on the training field, I was in the dressing room and I was so pleased for all the players.
“They had been through so much over the season and the title meant a lot to everyone, especially with the tragic passing of Tommy Burns. We’d all been through a great deal and I took a lot of satisfaction from that triumph.
“The Champions League games against Shakhtar and AC Milan were great as well. I thoroughly enjoyed those experiences and this is a fantastic club to play for.”
So what does the immediate future hold for Pressley? He has never hidden his desire to move into management and his part-time role within George Burley’s Scotland coaching team will give him invaluable experience on that front.
Yet, the 34-year-old has no plans to hang his boots up. At present, he is mulling over a number of offers and will make a decision on his future in due course.
He added: “I really don’t know what will happen. I wouldn’t rule anything out, because I’ve come to learn that in football there are no certainties.
“You never know what is round the corner. I’ll wait and see what is presented to me over the next few weeks and then I’ll make my decision. Ideally, I’d like to try something different, maybe abroad.
“But if I don’t get the right opportunity to do that, then I’ll need to weigh up other options. Nothing is clear at this moment.
“Coaching remains a big ambition. At 34, the Scotland job is a great chance for me. I’ve started my UEFA Pro License and that will enable me to coach at the top level.
“That’s very important for me, but if I can continue playing then I want to. I’d be the first to hang the boots up if I didn’t genuinely feel I could contribute something, but I believe I have a lot to offer as a player and hopefully I’ll continue to do that.”
Elvis Fury At Lion Hughes
Apr 6 2008
CELTIC star Steven Pressley walked out of a dinner last night after Lisbon Lion John Hughes launched an attack on Hoops boss Gordon Strachan.
The veteran defender was a guest at the bash to celebrate Hughes’ 65th birthday.
But he left in disgust after the former Celtic striker laid into Strachan for the club’s poor run of results during a speech.
Pressley didn’t take kindly to his gaffer being publicly slated and told Hughes it was neither the time nor the place for him to have a go.
Strachan’s sister was also at the dinner held in an Edinburgh city centre hotel.
Steven Pressley reveals bigotry led former friends to give him cold shoulder
Steven Pressley: “When I signed for Celtic, I never heard from certain people again”
Published Date: 28 April 2011
By Alan Pattullo (The Scotsman Newspaper)
Steven Pressley recently urged the fans at Falkirk to give him some respect as he sought to get his side’s promotion bid back on the tracks and so is sensitive to the issue of anti-social behaviour in Scottish football.
A screening of a new educational film tackling sectarianism in Scotland at his club’s stadium yesterday was an apt time to get the manager’s views on a topical issue, and once which impacted on his own life as one of the few players to have turned out for both Rangers and Celtic.
The event, organised by Show Racism the Red Card, aimed to convince schoolchildren, from Braes High School, to show bigotry of all forms the red card. “Football’s about rivalry, but we shouldn’t be enemies,” pointed out Gary Mackay, the former Hearts midfielder and enthusiastic backer of Show Racism the Red Card’s objectives.
Pressley has been troubled by enemies in his own camp at times this season as Falkirk struggled to keep pace with Dunfermline and Raith Rovers at the top of the First Division. But at least this has been passion stoked by footballing issues and opinion. Pressley yesterday reflected on how the mere act of signing for Celtic served to alienate some people to whom he had previously been close.
“Here’s how bigotry has affected me,” he said. “When I signed for Celtic, I never heard from certain people again. I’m talking about friendships, acquaintances that I had picked up throughout my career. Not people employed by clubs but people who were associated with certain clubs and people who would send me Christmas cards every year. When I signed for Celtic, they didn’t want to know. We were never in touch again. I’m only talking about a handful of people but it’s still very sad that bigotry or sectarianism can come between friends and associations like that.
“They were not my real friends, more like associates,” he added. “I have a lot of close friends from growing up in Dalgety Bay in Fife and these are who I class as real friends. But that was what brought home how powerful a force bigotry can be.”
Pressley first encountered sectarianism when signing for Rangers as a youngster. Although born in the Highlands, he was brought up in Fife and, he said, was blissfully unaware of what has now become known as Scotland’s shame.
“It was only when I signed S-Form for Rangers that I first came across it,” he said. “It was at supporters’ dances where it manifested itself. When you are 17 years old or 18 years old you are not wise and aware of the consequences of those songs and what is behind them in the real world. It was back at the time when Maurice Johnston had signed and there were people turning their back on Rangers due to that. It was deep-rooted stuff and it’s frightening looking back on it.”
Pressley was given a reminder of how the problem remains ingrained in society when Gordon Strachan signed him for Celtic, after the player’s successful period with Hearts had turned sour after a fall-out with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. Old acquaintances turned their back on him and Pressley put it down to no other reason than age-old prejudice. He described his time at the club itself as overwhelmingly positive.
“They (Celtic] embraced me with open arms,” he recalled. “I had a fabulous two years at the club. I think I experienced more [sectarianism] at Rangers because of my age and having to attend the supporters’ dances. I was older at Celtic and didn’t go to the supporters’ dances and I also lived in Edinburgh.
“But when I was first at Celtic I lived in Cumbernauld and my son Aaron was at primary school and it was a mixed school. The children all played together but they were schooled separately, Catholic and Protestant. I wanted Aaron to grow up treating everyone like an individual so that’s why I moved back east.”
Pressley’s contention that it “isn’t football’s problem, but it needs everyone in football to pull together to stamp it out” is echoed by Mackay, who stressed that no club can afford to be complacent. A boyhood fan of Hearts and record appearance holder at the Tynecastle club, he has to acknowledge the problem is not one which is exclusive to Rangers and Celtic, and did so yesterday when one pupil asked whether he had encountered sectarianism in his club career.
“[Hearts chairman] Wallace Mercer came out with a comment – I think it was in the late Eighties or early Nineties – after he was asked for a view [on sectarianism], and he said there was no discrimination at Hearts, ‘that’s why our captain is a Roman Catholic’.
“But then on the Saturday there was one or two ignorant responses from the touchline when he [Walter Kidd] got the ball.”
Although this was at least 20 years ago Mackay conceded that there is evidence that the problem still exists, even on the east coast. “You don’t want to be dragged down as a football club into something which does not have anything to do with what is happening on the pitch,” he said, as thoughts begin to turn to a clash between Hearts and Celtic on 11 May, one which promises to be explosive for a whole range of reasons.
Mackay expressed the hope that Rangers supporters can be persuaded to stop sectarian singing without the need for Uefa to close Ibrox. Although he claimed never to have experienced a completely empty stadium he did bring some levity to the serious business of yesterday by then correcting himself: “Well, except for during the period when I was manager at Airdrie.”
Neil Lennon’s Celtic power play, Gordon Strachan’s cutting one-liners and career ‘barriers’ from crossing Glasgow divide – Steven Pressley Big Interview
https://www.celticway.co.uk/features/19805548.neil-lennons-celtic-power-play-gordon-strachans-cutting-one-liners-career-barriers-crossing-glasgow-divide—steven-pressley-big-interview/
By Tony Haggerty @ahaggerty10 Celtic writer
Neil Lennon’s Celtic dressing room power play and career ‘barriers’ from crossing Glasgow divide – Steven Pressley Big Interview
Neil Lennon’s Celtic dressing room power play and career ‘barriers’ from crossing Glasgow divide – Steven Pressley Big Interview
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STEVEN PRESSLEY arrived at Celtic at the ripe old age of 33.
Yet he could so easily have signed for Rangers had fate not intervened.
Interestingly enough Elvis – as he affectionately became known in Scottish football circles – was a man in demand after spending eight-and-a-half years at Tynecastle with Hearts.
He revealed how a deal to join Rangers fell through at the last minute which actually paved the way for him to join Glasgow rivals Celtic instead.
The former Rangers, Hearts, Celtic and Falkirk star was being chased by three clubs when he opted to leave Tynecastle in 2006 – Rangers, Charlton and Celtic after spending eight years with the Capital club.
The 27 times capped Scotland defender admits that a meeting with Rangers chairman David Murray was scrapped because the club was embroiled in a dispute with Frenchman Paul Le Guen which would eventually lead to his sacking.
Le Guen’s dismissal scuppered any chances of a return to Ibrox for the Elgin-born stopper who had started his career with the Light Blues in 1990.
READ MORE: How Tiger Woods became Celtic bait and inside Martin O’Neill’s stirring Liverpool team talk – John Hartson Big Interview
However, Pressley reckons that it was the persuasive tongue of Celtic boss Gordon Strachan as well as family issues that made him reject a move to the English Premier League with Charlton and sign on the dotted line for Celtic in an 18-month deal.
Pressley who made Scottish football history at Celtic as he became the first man to lift the Scottish Cup with three different teams – Rangers, Hearts and Celtic – said: “The truth of the matter was that when I left Hearts, I had a number of options to sign for three different clubs.
“One was Charlton who was in the English Premier League at the time. One was Rangers during the Paul Le Guen era. The other club was Celtic.
“The Rangers deal actually fell through. I was scheduled to meet David Murray up in Perth for signing talks.
“The meeting ended up getting cancelled on the back of a situation that had developed with then Rangers manager Paul Le Guen which resulted in him leaving the club.
“I met with Gordon Strachan at Celtic and they made me an offer.
“I then travelled down to London to speak to Charlton and I had gone through all aspects of the medical and everything had been agreed in principle and I was all set to become an English Premier League player.
“On the way up the road, Gordon phoned me again and I explained the situation to him and that Charlton had offered me considerably more money than Celtic.
“He told me to wait and not commit to anything and he would come back to me within the hour which he did.
“Celtic came back with an improved offer that matched that of Charlton’s.
“Gordon Strachan is a very persuasive man.”
READ MORE: Tommy Burn’s Celtic VHS Tapes, the overlooked Andy Thom and the Three Amigos – Pierre van Hooijdonk Big Interview
Football can unite as well as divide and conquer but Pressley is adamant that he joined Celtic after making a decision based on purely footballing reasons.
He is still annoyed to this day that a niggling back injury robbed him of the chance to play a greater part in his Celtic chapter during the second season.
He said: “I didn’t grow up with allegiances to any particular football club.
“I supported Aberdeen when I was a boy but when I was at Rangers I supported them because I signed for them when I was 12.
“It was all about playing football for me.
“When I pulled on the jersey of any club that I played for that was my team.
“I gave my all for those colours and Celtic was no different.
“The only disappointment for me was the second season as I had been plagued with a back injury throughout my career.
“Not long after pre-season, I had to go in for a back operation which set me back three months or so.
“It had a big impact on my second season at the club but it did not detract from my time at Celtic Park. I loved it.”
Pressley recalls that he was very much a misunderstood character on the field but that was in stark contrast to his persona off it.
Former Celtic striker John Hartson, for example, speaks glowingly of time spent in his company.
Celtic Way:
Elvis retains many of his friendships from his Celtic playing days even if he did not exactly hit it off with former captain and manager Neil Lennon straight away.
The duo has since become firm friends after an initial snub on the team bus by the Northern Irishman. Pressley can laugh about it all now.
“I have said this many times before people misunderstand me.
“For 90 minutes I do what it takes to win. I’m hugely intense about football. It’s a drug.
“I look back at some of my antics on a football park and I do think to myself: ‘What was I doing?’
“You become a pantomime villain on a football park and people seem to hate you at times.
“A lot of players would remember what I used to get up to on a park but I did what I could to win a game of football.
“A lot of my antics were what sporting people would deem being in the zone.
“Some of my behaviour did not exactly endear me to some people, mostly opposition fans and players, but that is what you did.
“I remember when I joined Celtic and I got aboard the team bus and I wasn’t available for a match against Motherwell.
“I had just signed and came into the club and I travelled with the Celtic players on the bus to the game.
“To a man, all the Celtic players came onto the bus and introduced themselves to me. All except Neil Lennon!
“Neil and I had enjoyed some real verbals and fierce moments on the football field when I played for Hearts.
“He was the only one that didn’t come and welcome me and shake my hand when I joined.
“When you come to a club like Celtic and you are a personality like I was at Hearts and Neil is at Celtic you accept that guys like Neil will test who you are. That is how it works.
“The funny thing is that Neil and I grew to really like each other and we now love each other’s company. I get on tremendously well with Neil and I always did at the club.
“These things are part of football and we were both fierce competitors.
“I bumped into him in the Sky Sports studio recently and we had a great chat. We’ve always got on great.
“I made so many good friends at Celtic that I still retain to this day.”
For every friend he made in Glasgow East End, Elvis refuses to shy away from the ones that fell by the wayside.
He readily admits there is another side of life that exists even if you are brave enough to cross the Glasgow divide.
Elvis never shirked a tackle in his life and doesn’t shirk the issues off the park either.
He said: “When I signed for Celtic, I never heard from certain people again.
“I’m talking about acquaintances more than friends that I had picked up throughout my career.
“People who would send me Christmas cards every year and get in touch when it was your birthday.
“When I signed for Celtic, there were certain people who stopped doing that. It says more about them than it ever will about me.
“It was an eye-opener in that respect.
“At my old club Hearts where I spent the best part of eight-and-a-half years, it changed a lot of people’s opinion of me but again that says more about them than me. That is just the way of it.
“It is sad that this is the case. From a career perspective and beyond the playing aspect of signing for Celtic it has its barriers. It has created barriers because of that.
“That is a sad reflection of society rather than my choices. I wouldn’t change my choices for the world but they do put certain barriers in front of you but that is problematic in society, not me.”
READ MORE: Jock Brown on plugging Celtic dressing room leaks, saving a fortune on Larsson, Jansen mistakes and debates with McCann – The Big Interview
Whilst Pressley was not subjected to poisonous bigotry per se, there was one particular incident that led to him uppings sticks from Glasgow and moving to the safe haven of Edinburgh.
He admits that it is one of the sadder, more deep-rooted aspects of Scottish life that attaches itself to football but has nothing at all to do with the beautiful game.
“I remember one particular day, walking through Glasgow city centre with my young son.
“I watched on as a bus stopped for no apparent reason in the middle of the road.
“The doors opened and the driver was shouting abuse at me and then he drove off.
“After that, I decided to move out of Glasgow and go to Edinburgh because that wasn’t the sort of culture I wanted to bring my kids up in and I did not want to expose my kids to that side of life.
“It was less intense in Edinburgh and I was able to breathe a little bit more.”
Celtic Way:
In fact, one of his neighbours in the same estate was none other than future Celtic and Scotland skipper Scott Brown.
From being ferocious Edinburgh derby rivals with Hearts and Hibs both men formed a solid bond.
Pressley said: “When I moved to Edinburgh, Scott Brown lived in the same area.
“We used to travel together to training every day in the car.
“You can imagine what those car journeys were like. Scott was another boy, I grew to really like and we have a cracking friendship.
“I remember saying to the other Celtic players before Scott arrived never to judge him by what you have witnessed on the football field.
“Scott grew to become one of the most popular Celtic players ever in the dressing room.
“I travelled with him every day and I cannot speak highly enough about him as he was a brilliant boy.
“He was a fantastic listener at a critical time in his career.
“He was quite impressionable at the time and he was lucky though as he had a strong manager in Gordon Strachan who shaped and moulded him.
“Broony took everything on board that Gordon Strachan told him and he absorbed it like a sponge.
“There were a lot of big personalities at the club like Stephen McManus, Gary Caldwell, Neil Lennon who were all strong professionals and Broony needed that at that time in his career.
“Celtic, due to the quality of the personnel they had at the club, was the making of Scott Brown.
“In the end, he became the strong, dominant personality in the Celtic dressing room himself and he was the lynchpin of that football club for many years and that was why he was hugely successful and won so many trophies.”
READ MORE: Paul Hartley on picking Celtic, why Scott Brown is misunderstood and Nakamura’s intense regime
Pressley won the Scottish Premiership title and Scottish Cup in his first season at the club. Uniquely, it was the defender’s third trophy with a different Scottish team.
He also experienced the wonder of Champions League nights at Celtic Park as Gordon Strachan’s Celtic reached the last 16 in back-to-back campaigns.
During the UEFA Champions League home match with Shakhtar Donetsk, he helped guide Celtic to a crucial win that paved the way for progression to the last 16.
He credits Gordon Strachan for creating a harmonious dressing room and wonderful culture at Celtic during his tenure.
He also enjoyed Strachan’s wicked sense of humour.
Celtic Way:
The former Falkirk, Coventry and Carlisle manager said: “I am immensely proud of the fact that I have won the Scottish Cup with three different clubs. I don’t really harp on about the past.
“I don’t have my medals out on display or on show round my neck when I walk down the streets.
“They are tucked away somewhere.
“I told my sons at the end of my career, I wanted to look back at some tangible evidence of success and they mean a lot to me and my family.
“I won both the title and the Scottish Cup at Celtic at a very late stage in my career and I am proud of those achievements.
“I always felt under Gordon Strachan the dressing room was very united and together even with players who really didn’t feature all that much.
“It was strong in that respect as we had really good professionals at the club.
“That had a big bearing on Scott Brown’s development.
“I really enjoyed Gordon Strachan’s sense of humour.
“After my back injury on my return to Celtic, during my first training session we did the boxes and I was outstanding.
“Gordon quipped: “Hey Elvis was it your feet that they operated on?”
“That was so typical of Gordon as a manager.
“The thing I always found about Gordon was all he ever asked of you as a player was to be a good teammate and an even better professional in terms of applying yourself.
“If you did that he was super supportive of you as Gordon accepted your failings as a player.
“He did not over-complicate things.
“His training was intense and he demanded standards which all good professionals want.
“It was an enjoyable time. Gordon was a brilliant football manager.
“He had a good group with the coaching staff around him too.
“Gordon, without a doubt, worked with one of the lowest budgets any Celtic manager in recent times has had.
“And yet, he gave them the highest return with two consecutive last 16 Champions League qualifications which no other Celtic manager has achieved.
“Gordon assembled a squad of players like Paul Hartley, Gary Caldwell and myself.
“It was a strong core of Scottish players with a sprinkling of icing on the cake type players like Shunsuke Nakamura.
“It was Gordon who instilled that mentality and togetherness at the club.
“He won three titles in a row after Martin O’Neill who was a hugely popular figure at the club left.
“That is no mean feat especially when you consider that many thought Martin O’Neill was irreplaceable but Gordon stepped in and filled those managerial shoes very well and enjoyed great success.”
Celtic Way:
Pressley insists that he has never once regretted the career move to join Celtic.
He said: “It made sense to my family at the time and it is a choice that I certainly do not regret.
“I am delighted that I did it. I loved being there and it is amazing to look back on.
“I appreciated it a lot more because I was older and knew how lucky I was to be signing for a club at Celtic at 33. It was a really enjoyable 18 months in my career.
“Celtic was a great club to be at and I would have loved to have spent longer at it. I wish I had arrived sooner rather than at the tail end of my career.”
Steven Pressley was the very definition of a heart-on-your-sleeve type player.
He was also a born leader of men who gave his honest toil, blood, sweat and tears for every club he represented every time he stepped out onto a football field.
For possessing those qualities alone and for being brave enough to cross the Glasgow divide Elvis commands and deserves respect from the Celtic faithful.
It was perhaps fitting that Elvis enjoyed an Indian Summer in the twilight of his career.
Misunderstood on the park.
Elvis remains genuinely affable, engaging and brilliant company off it.
Celtic legends John Hartson and Neil Lennon and countless others involved in football will certainly vouch for that.
Former Celtic star Paul Hartley recalls crazy prank Thomas Gravesen pulled on Steven Pressley
Gravesen’s stunt after a Champions League qualifier in Moscow did not impress his colleague.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-celtic-star-paul-hartley-13984128
ByRecord Sport Online 13:59, 11 FEB 2019
Former Celtic star Thomas Gravesen was well-known as a practical joker and prankster during his time with the Hoops.
Just about every one of his team-mates was on the receiving end at some point, and Paul Hartley has recalled the time that one of the Danes stunts did not end well for Steven Pressley.
Speaking to the Open Goal , Hartley revealed a dressing room incident involving the pair following a 1-1 draw in a Champions League qualifier at Spartak Moscow.
The former Real Madrid flop was known for his pranks and host of former Parkhead stars have shared details about his wild stay in Glasgow in the past.
Hartley, who netted the Hoops’ goal in the game, said: “It was a recovery session and he got big Elvis in a headlock.”
Elvis was just walking in with the shorts on for a recovery session in the pool. The next minute Tam gets Elvis with the head and – dunk!”
Elvis couldn’t get out.. he’s the strongest man in the world!”
Big Elvis is drowning and we’re all like, ‘What’s going on here?’”(Gravesen said) ‘It’ll be all right lads, it’s alright.’
”Elvis was going to kill him.”
Steven Pressley lifts lid on Dundee, difficult times, part in Boozegate and being back in Scotland
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership/latest-premiership-news/steven-pressley-opens-up-on-dundee-difficult-times-part-in-boozegate-and-being-back-in-scotland-5220989
New Dens Park boss speaks to The Scotsman ahead of his first match
Alan Pattullo
By Alan Pattullo
Specialist Sports Writer
Published 12th Jul 2025, 08:15 BST
Updated 12th Jul 2025, 09:59 BST
In the former temperance hotel where Dundee Football Club were formed, Steven Pressley is explaining his part in the Boozegate scandal.
Sipping nothing more potent than a decaf Americano, the new Dens Park head coach has had it put to him that he has been front and centre in so many of Scottish football’s most enduring episodes of the last quarter of a century, literally so in the case of the Riccarton Three rebellion. That was when he sat at a table between Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon and voiced grave concerns about how Heart of Midlothian Football Club were being run under Vladimir Romanov.
He hadn’t wanted to be there but felt it had reached a point where saying nothing was no longer an option. Likewise, one imagines, he hadn’t wanted to see Barry Ferguson sitting with Allan McGregor at a table at breakfast time the morning after a Scotland game.
Nothing so strange about that, perhaps. Except they were still in the suits they had been wearing the previous evening as they travelled back from Amsterdam following a chastening 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands in 2009. It was instantly apparent they hadn’t yet been to bed.
“We’ve talked about my principles,” Pressley says, referencing the earlier discussion about the Riccarton protest. “My principles got in the way of many things. I was someone who would not use the media to get the correct narrative out there. I was one who said, no, this is the right way. I learned to understand that of course in time. False narratives developed around certain things and I did not manage them properly. Boozegate was certainly one of them.
“On reflection, I should never have taken the position of assistant coach for the national team. Being at Celtic at the time, it was never going to work still being a player.” It also saw him lose focus as a footballer, leading to what he considers was his premature retirement aged 35. Like Zinedine Zidane, he was sent off in his last ever game. Unlike Zinedine Zidane, whose career came to slightly quicker than planned ending in a World Cup final against Italy, Pressley was sent off playing for Falkirk against St Mirren.
‘Everything transpired from there’
“As for Boozegate, and my part in this whole situation,” he continues. “I had come down in the morning to meet my family on the Sunday morning after the Saturday game. I met them in the bar area. And then just as I was ready to leave, I noticed Barry was still there. Of course, he was there in his suit. Him and Allan. Me and another member of staff escorted them up to their room. We hoped that was the end of it. Of course, Barry left his room again. Everything transpired from there. That was the crux of the story.”
Scott Brown had already skedaddled, which was an additional complication. “The situation escalated. It became a really difficult situation to manage, especially for George (Burley) who at the time was going through his own difficulties.
“The feeling from Barry and Allan was that they had been persecuted because of the club they played for (Brown was of course Pressley’s teammate at the time). I have spoken to him (Ferguson) a couple of times since, there’s never been any problem,” he says.
The fact they’ve only spoken a couple of times since nevertheless suggests some simmering rancour. Or it might just be down to the fact that Pressley, having loomed large in Scottish football’s orbit for so long, seemed to suddenly slip away from it all. From 2013, when he took over at Coventry City, to last month, when forums were abuzz with news that he had been chosen to replace Tony Docherty at Dundee, he was out of sight and, perhaps, out of mind.
“I’ve enjoyed being out of it,” he says. “It’s been quite sobering for me. I have probably never been so comfortable with myself and honest about myself. There’s been a big change in me. There’s not this kind of person that you think people want to see. I grew up in this era where you have to show strength all the time. But strength, I know now, can be shown in many different ways. At the time, vulnerability couldn’t be shown. As a football player, you get into that costume, pretend to be a great leader…”
It’s perhaps incumbent to note mention it was Pressley’s fate to be seeking to make his presence felt in the dressing room of one of British football’s biggest clubs while his father, Gene, was dying of cancer. He passed away aged 47 in 1994.
Looking back on difficult times
Pressley, at Rangers at the time, was just 20 and felt the floor give way from under him. The manager, Walter Smith, understandably took his young defender out of the firing line, which only compounded matters for Pressley. He had what can only be termed as a breakdown during a training session. “I actually remember two or three months after he’d taken me out of the team, it was a possession-type drill we were doing,” he says. “I was in the middle and our team was struggling to get the ball back.” Pressley describes bursting into tears.
No wonder he subsequently sought to erect a shield around him. There’s probably no better time to bring up what some still argue negates nearly nine years of impressive Hearts service. Wearing, on this occasion, a green and white hooped costume, he made a very public show of thumping his chest following a 2-1 comeback win for Celtic at Tynecastle in 2007. “Of course, I regret it in some ways,” he says. “You know, beating my chest, in hindsight, was not the right thing to do. It was certainly not directed in the manner it was perceived. It was an emotional action.”
God bless Steven Pressley. In a world where players, most recently Joao Pedro at Chelsea, cannot celebrate scoring a goal, even when it’s their first for their new club, because it is against their former team, he kicked this unwelcome 21st century confection firmly into touch.
He was once sore at not being invited back to Tynecastle since leaving. However, he says he accepts it now. Not that he will require an invite on 1 November, when Dundee are due in Gorgie for the first time this coming season. Always tasty encounters, this one will contain an additional spicy ingredient. “As long as I make it that far,” Pressley smiles, as if to underline that he now realises no one is bullet proof.
The self-deprecation is also a sign that he knows what people are saying: Dundee have made an absolute ricket of this one, replacing the dependable Docherty with someone who hasn’t been in the dugout for a competitive game since pre-Covid days.
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That all changes on Saturday afternoon when Dundee entertain Airdrie in the League Cup. Surprisingly, the occasion of his first game will be Pressley’s first visit to the club’s home since he was appointed over five weeks ago amid considerable hostility.
Not only were many Dundee fans up in arms on social media, but his own mother, Norma, was unhappy. She did however stop short of visiting fans’ forums to register her disgust, with a thread on one such site reaching 150 bristling pages. Now 77, his mum’s “doing great” reports Pressley. She still lives in Dalgety Bay, where he moved with his family from Elgin aged three. He adds: “She is obviously happy her boy is back in Scotland. She is not happy I am back in management. She enjoyed my time out of it.”
No disrespect to his mother, but it’s good to have Pressley back in Scottish football. He’s already been the source of some mild entertainment at his unveiling press conference, when he admits he was nervous having been away from the media limelight for so long. Maybe his clearly prepared-in-advance line about him not being the right man if Dundee fans want someone with a history of winning titles was evidence of this unease.
It was quickly seized upon and ridiculed when, in reality, winning titles, or indeed any honour, has not been something Dundee managers do since Davie White in December 1973. A month after Pressley was born, as it happens. “Really?” he says. It would be a mic drop moment to rival Ange Postecoglou leading Spurs to a trophy in his second season at the club if Pressley can be the one to end this drought. As for him personally, he’s won everything else in Scotland bar the League Cup as a player (he lost a final with, whisper it, Dundee United in 1997)
“I don’t regret saying that at all,” Pressley reflects. “As I was saying earlier, I am comfortable speaking the truth. And not trying to be something I am not. That’s the fact. My history as a manger has been very much about developing players and teams. I won one trophy at Falkirk, the Challenge Cup. But my history would certainly not suggest I am a manager who will win things.
“Now I hope my experiences at Brentford (where he was head of individual player development) have changed how I go about things and how I look at football. But at the same time, it is not history where I have a lot of titles.”
Former Dundee bosses make contact
For Dundee, sadly, it’s a similar story. Their only manager to win the actual Scottish league title is Bob Shankly, something Pressley is aware. One of his mentors, Alex Smith, worked under Shankly at Stirling Albion. “Alex speaks so fondly about him, his management style,” says Pressley, who reveals Smith has been in touch from his base in Australia, as has Archie Knox, who was assistant manager at Ibrox when he was a Rangers player and is one of many predecessors in the Dens Park hot seat (Knox is also a Dundee fan). No pressure, Steven.
Although technical director Gordon Strachan will be in the Dens Park directors’ box against Airdrie, and it’s been announced that Pressley’s backroom staff has expanded with the appointment of first-team coach Barry Nicholson and goalkeeper coach Glen Johnson, he aims to be his own man.
It’s hardly penetrating analysis to describe the Dundee squad as light, even given several new signings. Pressley wants “five or six” more, ideally at least two before the league start v Hibs. He does have three goalkeepers, with Trevor Carson and Jon McCracken vying for the No.1 jersey.
Fight for the gloves
“They will get equal minutes over the next couple of games and I want them to grab the jersey,” he says. “I have come in here with an open mind about quite a lot of players. Sometimes you can come in with a preconceived idea and that can be dangerous. When you come in with an open mind sometimes players can surprise you.
“We still need five or six players in the group. One of the discussions we had prior to me coming in was we wanted a smaller group of say 20 players plus the goalkeepers, which I actually think is a good thing.”
He’s continuing to rediscover Dundee from his current city centre base. He’s already made new friends at the local trendy optical boutique Land O’ Spex (nee Spex Pistols). They quickly posted a picture of Pressley – “the king is in the building!” – sporting his new pair of stylish goggles on social media. “About four months ago, at night when I put the TV schedule on I realised it was a little bit faint,” he explains. “Of course, I got my eyes tested and I needed glasses. I have been putting it off. Then I decided the other day that I need to go and get them. I went there and the gentleman looked after me. It’s a lovely shop.” He’s yet to decide whether he needs to wear them to watch games.
The personal housekeeping has continued. On the day we meet, he’s about to get his hair cut. “Nothing too severe, my wife told me that,” he says. “She said that when she left.”
When Pressley says ‘left’, he doesn’t mean for good, as many might have expected would be the likely outcome after June was informed by her husband that their long-planned trip to Vietnam to celebrate 25 years of being married was being cut short because he needed to get to Dundee. She has in fact just visited from their family home in Leamington Spa for the first time since her husband was appointed.
They once lived together in the city. Ah yes, another tricky part of his history. Not only is he a former Dundee United player, but Pressley remains the Tannadice club’s most expensive one 30 years after joining from Coventry City for a fee of £750,000. He says he can see the top of the roof of his old digs from Dundee’s training base as he puts his players through their paces.
Time at Dundee United
“I used to stay over the fence, in a flat converted by Geoff Brown,” he says. He has made few return visits other than when playing at Tannadice or Dens, although he did come back to watch his striker son Aaron, now at Walsall, play for Scotland Under-21s against Kazakhstan at Dundee United’s ground.
Pressley recalls his first experience playing at Dens. Deployed at right back for Rangers, he was given an uncomfortable afternoon by flying Dundee winger Andy Kiwomya, although the visitors did emerge 3-1 winners in that Boxing Day 1992 fixture. “It was a good lesson for me as a young player,” he says.
It’s also a reminder just how long Pressley has been operating at the top. That was the season Rangers came close to reaching the Champions League final. Pressley even came on against Marseille at Ibrox. As we were saying, he’s been involved in so many memorable moments, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, including winning one of 32 caps in Scotland’s 1-0 win over France in 2006. He is the only player to lift the Scottish Cup with three different clubs and one of the few to have crossed the great Glasgow divide.
Viva Elvis. If nothing else, he deserves some respect as he prepares to enter centre stage again.