Keith Gillespie
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| Keith Gillespie | ||
 |
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Keith Robert Gillespie | |
| Date of birth | February 18, 1975 | |
| Place of birth | Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland | |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |
| Playing position | Winger | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Sheffield United | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| St Andrews FC Manchester United |
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| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993–1995 1993 1995–1998 1998–2003 2000–2001 2003–2005 2005– |
Manchester United → Wigan Athletic (loan) Newcastle United Blackburn Rovers → Wigan Athletic (loan) Leicester City Sheffield United |
9 (1) 8 (4) 113 (11) 115 (6) 5 (0) 42 (2) 96 (4) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1994– | Northern Ireland | 80 (2) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Keith Robert Gillespie (born 18 February 1975 in Larne, County Antrim) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays in midfield. He currently plays for Sheffield United of the English Football League Championship.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Early career
His first years were spent in Islandmagee, County Antrim where he attended Whitehead Primary School. He later moved to Bangor, County Down where he attended Rathmore Primary School and Bangor Grammar School. He was scouted playing for St Andrews FC from Belfast, and was the first professional footballer to come from this club.
[edit] Manchester United
Gillespie began his career at Manchester United where he struggled to establish himself as a first-team player. However, he was a member of the famous Manchester United Youth Cup winning side of 1992, a team that included Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary Neville and Robbie Savage.
After a loan spell at Wigan Athletic, he moved to Newcastle United as part of the £7 million deal which took Andrew Cole to Old Trafford.
[edit] Newcastle United
Gillespie stayed at Newcastle for five seasons and during this time he played 143 games, including 15 European ties primarily in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, and scored 13 goals. In both the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons he helped Newcastle to finish second in the Premier League (runners up to Gillespie's former club, Manchester United, on both occasions), being a key member of "The Entertainers". In his final full season at Newcastle, the 1997-98 season, Gillespie helped Newcastle to reach the FA Cup final. However, he was not in the squad for the final and Newcastle lost to Arsenal The following season saw Gillespie depart St James' Park, moving to Blackburn Rovers for £2.3 million.
[edit] Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City
Five seasons at Ewood Park brought another 138 games and 6 goals as well as another loan spell at Wigan Athletic, bringing his total appearances for Athletic to 15 from which he scored 4 goals. He then moved to Leicester City on a free transfer playing 48 games and scoring two goals in two seasons.
[edit] Sheffield United
Gillespie signed for his current club, Sheffield United, on 5 August 2005, signing a one-year contract. This was then extended to June 2007 a month later. In his first season at the club, Gillespie played a role in Sheffield United's successful promotion campaign to the Premiership.
On 20 January 2007, during a Premiership match against Reading at the Madejski Stadium, Gillespie was sent off for violent conduct (elbowing Reading's Stephen Hunt) twelve seconds after coming on as a substitute. As he made his way off the pitch, Gillespie pushed Hunt in the face.[1] He thereby achieved the dubious honour of becoming the fastest sending-off of a substitute in English football. He was sent off before the ball had come back into play, and so technically sent off being on the pitch for zero seconds of play.[2]
The day after this incident, he stunned Sheffield United when he handed in a transfer request to the chief executive Terry Robinson.[3]
In the summer of 2007 he was linked with a move back to the Premiership with Bolton Wanderers but, in July, Gillespie signed a new two-year contract.
[edit] International career
He is currently 4th place in the list of appearances for Northern Ireland with 80 caps. He made his debut in September 1994 in a 2-1 home defeat by Portugal. He played an important role in his country's 3-2 qualifying win against Spain at Windsor Park on 6 September 2006. Gillespie was investigated by the Irish FA for his involvement in a fracas with George McCartney on the trip back home from a game in Iceland. [4]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gillespie, Keith Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Footballer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 18 February 1975 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Larne, Northern Ireland |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
