| Eddie Gallagher |
 Edward Adam Gallagher was born on Saturday, 21st November, 1964, in Glasgow. The 5' 9 (8st 6lbs) forward signed for Benny Rooney's Thistle circa Saturday, 25th May, 1985, having most recently been with Campsie Black Watch. Aged 20, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 14th September, 1985, in a 2-1 defeat at home to Alloa Athletic in the SFL First Division. Eddie scored his first goal for Thistle on Saturday, 21st September, 1985, in a 2-1 defeat at home to Hamilton Academical in the SFL First Division. He scored the last of his 34 goals on Saturday, 1st October, 1988, in a 2-1 defeat away to St Johnstone in the SFL First Division. That turned out to be his last game for the club, having clocked up 106 appearances as a Jag. Eddie's club-list included Campsie Black Watch, Partick Thistle, Hamilton Academical, Dunfermline Athletic, Linfield, Dundee, St Mirren and Instant-Dict. |
 Signed from Campsie Black Watch, he played fairly regularly in his first two seasons, although he was not consistent enough for a regular place, and often appeared as a substitute. In his last full season he became a regular goalscorer at last, finishing top of the Thistle charts with 18 competitive goals, his tally of five in the Scottish Cup being particularly enjoyable. Eddie left Firhill to join Hamilton (October 1988), before moving on to Dunfermline (March 1989). The striker had a short loan spell at Linfield in October 1990, and later signed permanently with Dundee in November 1991. There, he earned his nickname 'Fast Eddie' after scoring a brace in his first game against Hamilton Accies at Douglas Park on 9th November 1991. Both goals came within the opening five minutes of his debut! Eddie continued his hot start at Dens by smashing a first-half hat-trick against Partick Thistle the following week. Groan. His goals were vital that season as Dundee marched on to the First Division title. When it became apparent that game time would be limited for Eddie in the top-flight, he transferred to First Division St Mirren in December 1992 where he found good form, appearing 32 times in the three main competitions over one and a half seasons, scoring 18 goals. A bust up with manager Jimmy Bone signalled the end at Love Street, and the 29-year-old made a surprise move to Hong Kong where he played with Instant-Dict in 1994-95, a side who had most recently finished as runners-up in the Hong Kong top-flight. Instant-Dict were a company specializing in English-Chinese translation machines and dictionaries. They took on the membership of the 'Double Flower' club from 1991 to 2001 so they could promote their brand, a manoeuvre which was effectively a highly prominent sponsorship deal. Unfortunately, injuries and suspension hampered Eddie's game time, although he did show signs of his old form as the season drew to a close. The club (who would be champions in 1995-96) were miles off the pace in 1994-95, finishing third bottom of the ten club League. After retiring, Eddie did a bit of coaching at youth level back in Scotland and, in 2007, his sense of adventure took him to the Ghanaian Second Division where he's said to have managed a club to promotion, before leaving after a punch-up with one of his players! |
| (NK/WS) |
