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 lea ...

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual football in Scotland, Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,St Mirren 2–0 at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

.

Dundee United

In order for him to gain competitive experience, in January 2006 Mulgrew was loaned out to fellow SPL side

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

for the remainder of the 2005–06 season. A successful spell at Tannadice saw him feature regularly, scoring twice (both free kicks) in 14 appearancesPlayer Profile – Charlie Mulgrew
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and being named SPL Young Player of the Month for February. He then returned to Celtic hoping to force his way into first team contention, but was transferred to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

shortly thereafter without ever appearing for the Celtic first team.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Mulgrew joined

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

in part exchange for left back Lee Naylor on 23 August 2006. He made his debut for the club on 10 September in a 1–0 win at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. However, injury kept him out of most of the campaign and he was unable to force his way back into first team contention afterwards.

Southend United

Mulgrew was loaned out to English League One side Southend United at the end of the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

for the remainder of the 2007–08 season, which saw the club lose in the play-offs to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

. He scored his only goal for the club against Carlisle United.

Aberdeen

Mulgrew was due to join

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

in July 2008 for a fee of approximately £150,000, but pulled out of the move. He eventually left for

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 15 July 2008, where he signed a two-year deal, moving for an undisclosed fee. Mulgrew scored the only goal against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

at Fir Park on 16 August 2008 with a left-footed free kick, in his second competitive match for Aberdeen. He scored two goals, a volley and a free kick, against Celtic in a 3–2 defeat on 27 September 2008. On 16 May 2009, during the penultimate league match of the 2008–09 season at

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...

against Rangers, Mulgrew and Rangers' Kyle Lafferty were at the centre of controversy. As Mulgrew made a clearance from his own half, Lafferty made a sliding tackle on him. Both players squared up to each other and Lafferty fell to the ground clutching his face as though he had been

headbutt A headbutt or butt is a targeted strike (attack), strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's Skull#Humans, cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of ...

ed. Referee Stuart Dougal sent Mulgrew off for violent conduct, but television pictures clearly showed that Mulgrew had not made clear contact with Lafferty. Lafferty was seen to wink to a teammate after Mulgrew had left the field. Mulgrew later had his red card rescinded and Lafferty was given a two-month suspension. In October 2009, Mulgrew was offered a new contract by Aberdeen, but he rejected the deal and left the club at the end of the 2009–10 season. In 83 games for the Dons, Mulgrew scored ten goals, including a string of free kicks.

Return to Celtic

On 1 July 2010, Mulgrew returned to Celtic on a three-year deal, becoming new manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic. During his playing career he represe ...

's first signing. On 2 January 2011, having played only a handful of games, he played against Rangers in a 2–0 win at Ibrox on the left wing. On 29 January, he deputised for Daniel Majstorović at centre back against former team Aberdeen in a 4–1 League Cup semi-final win at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. He scored his first goal for Celtic in that game, nodding home Kris Commons' corner from close range. Mulgrew became a regular in the centre of defence alongside Majstorović. In the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,the final against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. He scored the final goal of Celtic's 3–0 win with a free kick into the top corner, and helped earn him his first medal in football. On 25 August 2011, Mulgrew continued his set piece record by scoring a free kick in Celtic's 1–3 defeat to Sion in their second leg

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualifier. The following day, Mulgrew signed a contract extension at Celtic to keep him at the club until at least 2015. On 17 September 2011 he was sent off against Rangers for a second bookable offence, a challenge on Steven Davis. Mulgrew scored his first SPL goal for Celtic on 15 October 2011, a headed equaliser at

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

as Celtic came back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 with

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. On 7 April 2012, Celtic beat Kilmarnock at Rugby Park to confirm them as

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

champions. Mulgrew scored two and set up two in the 6–0 win. On 29 April 2012, he scored Celtic's first goal in a 3–0 victory over Rangers. His performances won him the SPL, Players' and writers' player of the year awards for 2011–12. He also picked up Celtic's Player of the Year and Player's Player of the Year awards. On 21 July 2012 Mulgrew was sent off for a deliberate

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

in a pre-season friendly against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

at the

Amsterdam ArenA The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

. As a result, he missed Celtic's opening 2012–13 SPL game with his former club Aberdeen. On 1 August 2012, Mulgrew scored the winning goal in Celtic's 2–1 victory against

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

in the first leg of the Champions League Third Qualifying Round. His contract with Celtic expired at the end of the 2015–16 season. Mulgrew was offered the use of Celtic's training facilities during the early part of the 2016–17 season.

Blackburn Rovers

2016–17

On 31 August 2016, Mulgrew signed for

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for Blackburn in a 1–0 away win against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

on 26 November 2016 and later scored a free-kick against them in another 1–0 victory in the reverse fixture on 2 January 2017. He made 30 appearances and scored three times in his first season in the club, but they were relegated to League One. Following this, the ''

Lancashire Telegraph The ''Lancashire Telegraph'', formerly the ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph'', is a local tabloid newspaper distributed in East Lancashire, England. It is edited by Richard Duggan. The ''Lancashire Telegraph'' prints Monday to Saturday. There a ...

'' reported that

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and Hull City were interested in signing him.

2017–18

In July 2017, Blackburn rejected a bid of £200,000 by

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. On 24 April 2018, Mulgrew scored the only goal of the game at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

, which secured promotion back to the Championship. It was his 14th goal of the season, which set a new club record for a defender.

2019–20

On 8 August 2019, Mulgrew signed for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

on a season-long loan deal; The transfer deadline day move almost failed to happen after Mulgrew struggled to find Wigan's Euxton training ground to complete the paperwork in time. During January 2020 Mulgrew opted to end the loan.

2020–21

On 16 October 2020, Mulgrew signed for Fleetwood Town on a season-long loan deal. He scored his first goal for Fleetwood in a 5-1 win against Plymouth Argyle on 21 November 2020. Mulgrew's departure from Rovers was announced at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Dundee United

On 16 June 2021, Mulgrew agreed a two-year deal to return to former loan club Dundee United. Mulgrew announced his retirement from playing in September 2023.

Doncaster City

In February 2024, Mulgrew signed for Doncaster City.

International career

Mulgrew has represented Scotland at all levels up to and including senior international level. In June 2011, Mulgrew stated that he would consider playing for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, whom he was qualified to play for due to an American-born grandmother, if he was continually overlooked for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In February 2012, Scotland manager

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone. During his playing c ...

handed Mulgrew his first call-up to the senior squad, and he made his international debut on 29 February, starting at left back in a 1–1 draw with

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. He also played in a 5–1 defeat to the USA in Florida in May 2012. On 7 September 2014, as Scotland began their Euro 2016 qualification with a 2–1 defeat away to Germany, Mulgrew was sent off in stoppage time. Following the retirement of former club teammate Scott Brown from international football in 2018, Mulgrew was chosen as the new

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Scotland.

Coaching career

Mulgrew took his first step into football coaching in June 2024 when he was appointed U-18s coach at Hamilton Academical. In January 2025, Mulgrew became the new manager of

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

side Kelty Hearts. On 8 April 2025, he resigned as manager after just one win from his eleven matches in charge.

Personal life

Mulgrew's cousin is Canadian

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player Sean Greenhalgh, who plays for the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

in the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

. Mulgrew married Alana in 2013, and they have two sons and a daughter. In December 2010, Mulgrew and girlfriend Alana were questioned by Strathclyde Police after businesswoman Michelle Mone alerted them when she saw Mulgrew's child left alone in a car in freezing temperatures. The couple were originally charged with child neglect, although charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mulgrew goal.''

Managerial Record

Honours

Celtic *

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

/

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2010–11, 2012–13 Blackburn Rovers *

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

runner-up: 2017–18 Individual * Scottish Premier League Player of the Month: April 2012 *

PFA Scotland Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland Team of the Year (often called the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the four national tiers of the Scottish foo ...

: 2011–12 Scottish Premier League, 2012–13 Scottish Premier League * PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year: 2011–12 *

SFWA Footballer of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...

: 2011–12 *

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Players' Player of the Year: 2011–12 * Scottish Premier League Player of the Year: 2011–12 * EFL Team of the Season: 2017–18 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 2017–18 League One

References

External links

* *
Charlie Mulgrew
Guardian Stats Centre
Profile
at ''AFC Heritage Trust'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulgrew, Charlie 1986 births Aberdeen F.C. players Men's association football defenders Celtic F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players English Football League players Living people People educated at St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch Footballers from Glasgow Footballers from Kirkintilloch Scotland men's international footballers Scottish men's footballers Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Southend United F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Doncaster City F.C. players Kelty Hearts F.C. managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Scottish football managers 21st-century Scottish sportsmen

Early life

Club career

Celtic

Dundee United

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Southend United

Aberdeen

Return to Celtic

Blackburn Rovers

2016–17

2017–18

2019–20

2020–21

Dundee United

Doncaster City

International career

Coaching career

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial Record

Honours

See also

References

External links