Frank McGarvey

Frank McGarvey (b. 17 March 1956, Glasgow) is a retired football player. Most notable for playing as a striker for Celtic and St. Mirren, he also played seven times for the Scotland national team.

McGarvey signed with St. Mirren as a schoolboy, but was loaned to junior football club, Kilsyth Rangers to further his development. He made his debut for St. Mirren on 26 April 1975 and soon became a first team regular, scoring 17 times in the 1976-77 season and helping the club win the Scottish First Division.

His form attracted the attention of Bob Paisley and, in May 1979, McGarvey signed for Liverpool for £270,000. However, his tenure with the club lasted only 10 months. Unable to breakthrough into the first team, McGarvey sought a transfer. Liverpool accepted a bid of £270,000 by Celtic in March 1980, and for a short time McGarvey became Scotland's most expensive footballer.

McGarvey played 245 times for Celtic over five years, scoring 113 goals. In that time he won two League Championships, two Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup. However, Celtic manager David Hay decided Mo Johnston and Brian McClair would be his forward line for the 1985-86 season and declined to offer McGarvey an extended contract. His final, and perhaps most notable act as a Celtic player, was to score the winning goal six minutes from the end of the 100th Scottish Cup final in 1985.

In June 1985 McGarvey rejoined St. Mirren for £80,000 and two years later won a third Scottish Cup with them. In total he played 387 times for St Mirren, scoring 125 goals. Later in his career, McGarvey had spells with Dumfries club Queen of the South (where he was player-manager), Clyde (with which he won a Second Division Championship title at the age of 37) and Shotts Bon Accord.

Having retired from the game before footballers began earning high salaries (he notes that he "took home £190 a week after tax" while playing for Celtic) Stephen Halliday. [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=582542005 McGarvey carved place in history] . "The Scotsman", 28 May, 2005. Retrieved 11 January, 2007.] McGarvey now works as a joiner in Scotland.

Biography

In 2008, McGarvey wrote an autobiography called "Totally Frank" in which, he described the highs and lows of career and reveals how he overcame a long time gambling addiction.cite book |last=Frank McGarvey|first=Ronnie Esplin |title = Totally Frank |publisher=Mainstream|date=2008|pages= |id=ISBN10: 1845963644]

References

External links

* [http://www.stmirren.info/Players/Frank%20McGarvey.htm Profile as a St. Mirren player]
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=7717 Career statistics]