Daniel Joseph Swanson (born 28 December 1986) is a retired Scottish

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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Swanson started his career at

Scottish Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) f ...

side

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing f ...

before moving to

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

club

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...

in 2008. He moved to England in 2012 to play for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

. After two years with Peterborough he signed for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

, but he then moved back to Scotland on loan at

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

. Swanson was released by Coventry in September 2015 and then signed for Heart of Midlothian, where he spent five months before returning to St Johnstone. Swanson then played on Hibernian for a brief period before returning to St Johnstone once again in 2018. In 2020 he joined East Fife on a two-year deal and left in summer of 2022.

Career

Early career

Born with a

heart defect A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital heart defect is classed as a cardiovascular ...

, Swanson underwent a number of operations as a youngster, including a heart bypass at the age of thirteen. After overcoming his health problems, Swanson played for Hutchison Vale and

Leith Athletic Leith Athletic Football Club is a football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. They compete in the East of Scotland Football League, Conference A. First team matches are played at Peffermill 3G. The present club considers itse ...

before joining

, making his debut at the start of the 2005–06 season. Playing the majority of

matches that season, a knee injury restricted him to just three league appearances the following season when Berwick were promoted to the

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 ...

, although he started the 2007–08 season injury-free.

Dundee United

Swanson completed a move to the

with

on 1 January 2008 after agreeing terms in October 2007, having previously turned down a move to

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

. Making his debut the following day as a substitute in the 4–1 win over Hearts, Swanson scored his first goal for United in a 2–0 victory over Motherwell in March 2008, going on to feature in a number of matches that season. In 2008–09, Swanson was used mainly as a substitute, starting in only seven of his 30 league appearances. In the 2009–10 season, Swanson started United's opening three league matches, assisting three of the club's four goals in the process. His good performances for United meant that Swanson was selected for the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

squad in October 2011. Soon afterwards, however, Swanson strained a medial ligament. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Swanson's contract expired and he opened talks with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

over a possible move to England.

Peterborough United

On 6 June 2012, Swanson signed a two-year contract with English

club

after making over 100 appearances for Dundee United.

Coventry City

On 3 July 2014, Swanson signed a two-year contract with

after rejecting a new contract at

. Swanson signed on loan for

for the latter part of the 2014–15 season on 3 February 2015. He returned to Coventry City for close season 2015, but had his contract terminated on 1 September 2015 by mutual consent.

Heart of Midlothian

Swanson signed for Heart of Midlothian on 9 September 2015, agreeing a contract to the end of the 2015–16 season.

St Johnstone (second spell)

After just five months with Hearts, Swanson signed for his former side

in February 2016 on an 18-month deal. In April 2017, Swanson brought St Johnstone in to disrepute after becoming involved in an on-pitch brawl with teammate

Ricky Foster Richard Martyn Foster (born 31 July 1985) is a Scottish footballer. He previously played for Aberdeen, Rangers, Bristol City, St Johnstone, Ross County, Partick Thistle, and Detroit City. Foster primarily plays as a right back, although he is ...

. Both players were suspended by the club and were subsequently fined four weeks' wages.

Hibernian

On 25 April 2017, Hibernian announced that they had signed Swanson on a pre-contract agreement. Injuries restricted his appearances for Hibs in the first part of the 2017/18 season. Swanson was linked with a return to St Johnstone in January 2018, but he decided against this. His contract with Hibs was cancelled on 31 August 2018.

St Johnstone (third spell)

After his release from Hibernian, Swanson resigned for St Johnstone in September 2018, stating that he was "at his happiest" whilst playing for the Perth club. He was released by the club in May 2020.

East Fife

On 30 July 2020, Danny Swanson signed for East Fife, on a two-year deal.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the 2006 Scottish Second Division play-offs,

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

2014 Football League play-offs The Football League play-offs for the 2013–14 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2014 with all finals being staged at Wembley Stadium in London. The play-offs began at the semi-final st ...

Honours

Club

;Dundee United *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2009–10 ;Peterborough United *

: 2013–14

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanson, Danny 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Leith Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wingers Berwick Rangers F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Leith Athletic F.C. players Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players East Fife F.C. players