Gary Bollan

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Gary Bollan bigraphy, stories - Scottish footballer and manager

Gary Bollan : biography

24 March 1973 –

Gary Bollan (born 24 March 1973 in Dundee) is a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played for seven senior Scottish clubs in his career, and is a former Under-21 internationalist. Bollan managed Livingston from 2009 to 2012, earning two promotions for the club.

Coaching career

In July 2007, Bollan was appointed as Head of Youth Development at Clyde, though he has appeared in the dugout in a coaching role since January 2008, and was in joint-caretaker charge of the team alongside Dougie Bell for two matches after the resignation of Colin Hendry. In April 2009, following reported financial troubles at Clyde, Bollan left the club.

On 14 August 2009, Bollan became the new manager of his former club, . In October 2009, Bollan won SFL manager of the month following 3 victories and a draw in the league and a 3–1 victory over Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup 2nd Round. He followed this up by winning it again the following month, winning three out of three in the league. Bollan then won Third Division Manager of the Year, after leading his team to promotion by a margin of 15 points. Livingston won promotion from the Second Division, but Bollan was sacked by Livingston in February 2012. The club cited his alleged failure to develop young players as their reason for his dismissal.

Playing career

Bollan came up through the youth system and into the first team at Dundee United as a teenager in the early 1990s. He sparked interest from Rangers, who signed him in January 1995. Bollan spent three years at Ibrox but made only a handful of appearances due to injury. He was transferred to St. Johnstone in 1998 and spent three years there.

A move to Heart of Midlothian stalled in March 2001 due to a failed medical before Bollan moved to First Division champions Livingston four months later. His appearance for Livingston in the UEFA Cup meant that he had made appearances for four different Scottish clubs in European competition. He returned to Dundee United in February 2003 for a year, before having a brief spell with Motherwell in 2004. In August 2004, Bollan began the first of two spells with Clyde, joining as a player/coach.

He spent the 2004–05 season as a player-coach for Clyde. He made his debut on the opening day of the season, in Clyde’s derby win over rivals Partick Thistle. He is best known for his time at Broadwood Stadium, when he scored a free-kick from 40 yards to knock Falkirk out of the Scottish Cup. He was voted Clyde man of the match in their encounter with Celtic in the latter stages of the competition. He was briefly caretaker manager at the end of the season. Bollan signed for Brechin in July 2005 but was made available for transfer shortly afterwards. In November 2006, Gary Bollan signed for Carnoustie Panmure.

Honours

Scotland
  • FIFA U-16 World Championship Runner-up: 1
1989
Dundee United
  • Scottish Cup: 1
1993–94
Livingston FC
  • Scottish Third Division: 1
2009–10
  • Scottish Second Division: 1
2010–11

Statistics

Player
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Scotland League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1990–91 Dundee United Scottish Premier Division 2 0 2 0
1991–92 10 1 1 0 2 0 13 1
1992–93 15 3 1 0 16 3
1993–94 12 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 18 0
1994–95 7 0 1 0 8 0
Rangers 6 0 N/A N/A 6 0
1995–96 4 0 N/A N/A 6 0
1996–97 0 0 N/A N/A 6 0
1997–98 1 0 N/A N/A 6 0
St Johnstone N/A N/A N/A 0 0
1998–99 Scottish Premier League 33 4 N/A N/A N/A 33 4
1999-00 34 2 N/A N/A N/A 34 2
2000–01 28 1 N/A N/A N/A 28 1
2001–02 Livingston 21 0 2 0 2 0 25 0
2002–03 22 1 1 1 2 0 3 0 28 2
Dundee United 13 0 13 0
2003–04 2 0 2 0
Motherwell 3 0 1 0 4 0
2004–05 Clyde Scottish First Division 25 2 4 1 1 0 30 3
2005–06 Brechin City 18 0 18 0
Career total 252 14 11 2 12 0 4 0 279 16
Manager
Team Nat From To Record
P W D L GF GA Win %
Livingston Scotland}} 14 August 2009 February 2012
Total