Frank McGarvey

Education

He finished the season as top scorer with 21 goals ( Source: Kilsyth Rangers A History 1945–1995 by John Ferguson).

Career

Most notable for playing as a striker for Celtic and Street Mirren, he also played seven times for Scotland. McGarvey was signed from Colston Y.C. by Kilsyth Rangers F.C. for the start of the 1974-1975 season. He was signed by Alex Ferguson for Street Mirren after a tip off from Willie Thornton the ex Rangers player and assistant manager.

(Source: Managing My Life -Alex Ferguson).

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 break 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 football player.

McGarvey played 245 times for Celtic over five years, scoring 113 goals.

However, Celtic manager David Hay decided Mo Johnston and Brian McClair would be his forward line for the 1985-1986 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 1985 Scottish Cup Final. In June 1985 McGarvey rejoined Street Mirren for £80,000.

In total he played 387 times for Street Mirren, scoring 125 goals.

Having retired from the game before football players began earning high salaries (he notes that he "took home £190 a week after tax" while playing for Celtic) McGarvey now works as a joiner in Scotland. In 2008, McGarvey wrote an autobiography called Totally Frank in which he described the highs and lows of his career and revealed how he overcame a long-time gambling addiction.

McGarvey sparked controversy among Rapid Vienna officials and fans by urging the club to apologise for what he classed as "cheating" in the form of their fans behaving in a manner which caused the game to be cancelled in hope of being able to get through to the next stage of the competition.

Achievements

• He made his debut for Street Mirren on 26 April 1975 and soon became a first team regular, scoring 17 times in the 1976-1977 season and helping the club win the Scottish First Division. In that time he won two League Championships, two Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup. Two years later, he won a third Scottish Cup with them. Later in his career, McGarvey had spells with Dumfries club Queen of the South (where he was player-manager), Clyde (with whom he won a Second Division Championship title at the age of 37) and Shotts Bon Accord. In 2009, Celtic were drawn with Rapid Vienna of Austria in a Europa League (formerly Union of European Football Associations Cup) tie – 25 years after a controversial Cup Winners" Cup game at Parkhead when a Rapid Vienna player claimed to have been hit by a bottle thrown by a Celtic fan. Celtic were in the lead, but Union of European Football Associations ordered a replay of the match at a neutral venue – and the Austrian side ultimately won the re-match at Old Trafford, Manchester.