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 ...
who played as a defender. Narey spent 21 years with Dundee United, winning the Scottish championship once and the league cup twice. He also played in numerous cup runs in Europe, including playing in the 1983–84 European Cup semi final and the 1987 UEFA Cup final. Although best remembered as a central defender, he occasionally played in midfield. After leaving United, he won the 1994–95 Scottish League Cup with Raith Rovers.
He collected 35 full caps for Scotland including playing in two World Cups. Narey opened the scoring for Scotland against
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
with a 20-yard drive in the
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...
. He is a Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee as he is also at Dundee United.
Early life
Narey was born and brought up in
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
and attended St John's Roman Catholic High School. He played football for St Columba's Boys Club and signed schoolboy forms with Dundee United in January 1972.
Playing career
Club
Narey signed professionally with Dundee United in 1973 and made his senior debut in a
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
match against
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
on 21 November that year, playing as an
attacking midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
.
Narey won three trophies in his career with Dundee United, the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
and again in 1980 and the
Scottish Football League Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League Scottish Football League First D ...
title in 1983. He also captained United when they played in the 1987 UEFA Cup final against IFK Gothenburg, which they lost 1–0 in the first leg in Sweden and drew the return leg at Tannadice 1–1, for a 2–1 defeat on aggregate.
Narey played in four
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1981 Scottish Cup final replay) while with United, but on each occasion the side failed to win the trophy.
Upon leaving United, Narey joined Raith Rovers, who were playing in the Scottish Football League First Division. He was part of the Raith team that won promotion to the Premier Division as First Division champions. He also played in the Raith team that defeated
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 ...
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 ...
against
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
in April 1977, becoming the first Dundee United player to represent Scotland at full international level. He played in both the 1982 and
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...
s and scored his only international goal during the 1982 tournament, a long range shot in a 4–1 defeat against
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
in the first round. Television pundit
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...
upset Scottish fans by describing the goal as a "toe poke". By contrast '' The Glasgow Herald'' correspondent at the match, Jim Reynolds, described Narey's goal as "a wonderful right-foot shot which no goalkeeper in the world would have stopped." In 2018 the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
named the goal as number 16 in their 50 Great World Cup moments. Narey made the last of his 35 appearances for Scotland in 1989.
After football
David Narey was one of the first inductees of the Dundee United Hall of Fame in January 2008. He was also inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in November 2010.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
runner-up: 1986–87
Raith Rovers
* Scottish League Cup: 1994–95
*
Scottish First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...