Ian Westwater (born 8 November 1963) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, spending the majority of his career with Scottish side

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

Playing career

Westwater was born in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

, England. He started his career with Scottish Premier Division side Hearts, making his debut for the Tynecastle side at just 16 years of age. He went on to play only one other game for the side, before being signed by

for £4,000 in March 1985. It was with Dunfermline that Westwater would be most prosperous, playing in over 190 games in his first spell at the club. His debut came against Stranraer in April 1985. Westwater moved to local rivals Falkirk in a player swap deal in August 1991, where in his first season he helped the club gain promotion to the Scottish Premier Division. After being relegated in 1993, he again helped the side in 1994 in their promotion winning season before moving on a short-term deal to Dundee. After playing no games for Dundee, Westwater moved back to Dunfermline Athletic for his second spell with the club, signing for £15,000. He stayed with the Pars, helping them achieve promotion to the Scottish Premier Division in 1996. He played in over 110 league games in his second spell but towards the end of his Dunfermline career, he was ousted by younger goalkeepers. He made the short move across the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of t ...

Easter Road Easter Road is a association football, football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity ...

side Hibernian in 2000, where he would fail to play any matches before hanging up his gloves in 2004.

Coaching career

During his spell with Hibernian, Westwater was the goalkeeping coach for the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

side. He had to retire from football completely in 2005 due to injury and was replaced by Gordon Marshall as Hibs' goalkeeping coach.

Honours

Dunfernline Athletic *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

: 1988–89, 1995–96 *

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

: 1985–86 Falkirk * Scottish Challenge Cup: 1993–94 Scotland U18 *

UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

: 1982

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Westwater, Ian Living people 1963 births Sportspeople from Loughborough Footballers from Leicestershire Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players