Steven Pressley

Football player infobox
playername = Steven Pressley


fullname = Steven John Pressley
height = height|ft=6|in=0
nickname = Elvis
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1973|10|11
cityofbirth = Elgin
countryofbirth = Scotland
currentclub = Randers FC
clubnumber = 3
position = Central Defender
years = 1990–1994
1994–1995
1995–1998
1998–2006
2006–2008 2008-present
clubs = Rangers
Coventry City
Dundee United
Hearts
Celtic Randers FC
caps(goals) = 034 0(1)
019 0(1)
100 0(6)
271 (19)
019 0(1) 01 0(0)
nationalyears = 1991–1994
2000–2006
nationalteam = Scotland U-21's
Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 026 0(1)
032 0(0)
manageryears = 2008–
managerclubs = Scotland (assistant coach)
pcupdate = 15 January, 2008
ntupdate = 11 October 2006

Steven John Pressley (born October 11 1973 in Elgin, Moray) is a Scottish international footballer, currently playing for Randers FC in the Danish Superliga and is also joint Scotland assistant manager with Terry Butcher. He is often known by his nickname, Elvis.

Playing career

Domestic

Early career

Pressley started his career at Rangers as a youngster. During his time at Ibrox, he won a Scottish Cup winner's medal in 1993, appearing as a substitute as Rangers defeated Aberdeen in the final. This would end up being the last cup he would win until 2006 when he won the Scottish Cup with Hearts. Despite being hailed in the media as "the new Richard Gough"Fact|date=March 2007, he struggled to establish himself as a regular and was transferred to English side Coventry City in 1994 for £630,000. He only lasted a year in England, where he had problems with his form and disciplinary record, before returning to Scotland with Dundee United for a fee of £750,000. He helped United to promotion back to the Scottish Premier League in his first season, followed by a third place finish in the top flight in season 1996-97.

Hearts

Pressley's influential style of play and his organisational skills were noticed by Hearts manager Jim Jefferies, and he was signed by the Edinburgh club on a Bosman free transfer in 1998. His time at the club during the pre-Romanov years saw Hearts usually being known as the third-best team in Scottish football. He was appointed club captain in 2001-02, only Bobby Parker would hold the Hearts captancy for a longer period.

Pressley was also at the helm when the team beat VfB Stuttgart, Bordeaux and Basel in European matches. He helped Hearts finish second in the league in 2005/06, third on three occasions, as well as reaching the Scottish Cup and League Cup semi-finals. Pressley led Hearts to success in the Scottish Cup Final on May 13 2006, albeit on a penalty shoot-out after the club were held to a 1-1 draw with Gretna after extra time. Pressley scored the first penalty for Hearts, who eventually won 4-2. His enrollment into the Hearts Hall of Fame highlights the status which he enjoyed at Tynecastle.

He acted as a spokesman for the playing squad in response to the various controversies affecting the club under the ownership of Vladimir Romanov. On October 27 2006, Pressley led a press conference, flanked by fellow internationals Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley, announcing that there was "significant unrest in the Hearts dressing room" following majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov's most recent comments.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6091336.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Romanov issues player ultimatum|date=27 October 2006] Romanov stated that he would sell players if Hearts failed to beat Dunfermline Athletic, a match which ended 1-1.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/6089772.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Hearts 1-1 Dunfermline Athletic|date=28th October 2006] However, this game was played out in front of a sell-out crowd who showed their vocal backing for Pressley, Gordon and Hartley. Pressley was then absent from the Hearts squad to face Falkirk on November 13 2006 and he had been reportedly stripped of the captaincy.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6145162.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Pressley loses captain's armband|date=13th November 2006] A month later, on December 9 2006, it was confirmed that Pressley and Hearts had parted companycite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6165375.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Pressley and Hearts part company|date=9 December 2006] and was reported to be attracting the interest of several clubs.

Celtic

Despite reported interest from Championship Derby County and Charlton, it was revealed in December 2006 that Pressley had been signed as a free agent by Celtic until May 2008.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/6216305.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Celtic win race to sign Pressley|date=29th December 2006] Having previously played for Rangers, he joined players such as Maurice Johnston, Alfie Conn and Kenny Miller in crossing the Old Firm divide.

He made his Celtic debut on January 2 2007 against Kilmarnock and then returned to Tynecastle as stand-in Celtic captain on January 14. He scored his first competitive goal for Celtic against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. He featured in the Celtic team that won the Scottish Cup, making him the first person to do so with three different clubs.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/6684941.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Celtic 1-0 Dunfermline|date=26 May 2007] He made fewer appearances during the 2007-08 season, and he left the club after his contract expired in the summer.

Randers

After his release from Celtic, Pressley continued to train with Celtic Reserves to keep his fitness up and joined Doncaster Rovers, then Blackpool on trial but failed to win a contract at both clubs. Then, on September 1 2008 he signed for Randers FC of the Danish Superliga on a four-month contract, ending in December. [ [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/football/Pressley-joins-Danish-club-Randers.4447318.jp Pressley joins Randers] ] Although he had the eagerness to play in a foreign country throughout his career, this was the first offer he had received from abroad. He said "The prospect of playing abroad excited me and it's an ideal situation for both parties. I had a couple of opportunities to go to England, but I wanted to play abroad and experience a new challenge". [ [http://www.sportinglife.com/football/transfer_centre/nw_story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/08/09/01/SOCCER_Pressley.html Pressley makes Danish move] ]

Pressley made his debut September 14 against AC Horsens. Pressley played all 90 minutes and the game ended 1-1.

International

Pressley was capped 32 times by Scotland. He is the most capped Scottish player at Hearts surpassing the record of 29 caps held by Bobby Walker. He made his debut in 2000 against World and European champions France.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/695217.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=France spoil Scottish party|date=29th March 2000] His appearance against Lithuania on September 6 2006 ensured that he surpassed Bobby Walker's 91-year old record as Hearts' most capped Scotland player. [ [http://sport.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=24&id=1295532006 Pressley set to equal Scots cap record at Hearts] "Scotsman.com Sport", 2 September 2006. Accessed 16th October 2006] He was sent off in what proved to be his last appearance for Scotland, a Euro 2008 qualifier against Ukraine on October 11 2006.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6037129.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Ukraine 2-0 Scotland |date=11 October 2006] He retired from international football in February 2008 when he was named as Scotland's assistant manager, but continued to play club football.

Coaching career

Along with Terry Butcher, Pressley was named as an assistant to the Scotland manager George Burley in February 2008.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7226604.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Butcher and Pressley join Scots|date=4 February 2008] Pressley was Hearts captain under Burley during his short reign at Tynecastle.

References

External links

*
* [http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/players/pressleysteven.html Hearts profile] at London Hearts
* [http://www.londonhearts.com/scotland/players/stevenpressley.html Scotland profile] at London Hearts