Derek Johnstone Townsley (born 21 January 1973, in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

) is an English 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 ...

. His clubs included Gretna, Queen of the South,

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

, Hibernian and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and ...

. Townsley was normally a

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 ...

, although he was a versatile player and also played in

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * ''Attack No. 1'', comic and ...

and

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

Career

Gretna (first spell) and Queen of the South

Prior to being a fully professional footballer, Townsley worked as a postman. While in his first spell with Gretna, who were a

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division ...

club in the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

at the time, he played in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

First round match against the First Division side

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ce ...

. Townsley scored in the match but Gretna lost 3–2. He began his senior career in 1996 when he joined Dumfries side Queen of the South, with chairman

Norman Blount Norman Blount is the Scottish former chairman of Queen of the South football club. Blount was instrumental as the new broom that swept through the Dumfries club in the mid and late 90s replacing the previous regime under which the club had gone ...

getting the wheels moving on the club's revival. Townsley's creative talents made him a mainstay of the team as the club were rebuilding in the late 1990s."Club History" on the official Queen of the South website
The club reached the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Queens lost 1–0 to First Division side

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large 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 ...

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. ...

. Townsley had a late chance to score an equaliser teed up by man of the match

Tommy Bryce Tommy Bryce (born 27 January 1960 in Johnstone) is a Scottish former footballer. Bryce had a playing career spanning 21 seasons from 1980–81 with Scottish Football League clubs Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Queen of the South, Clydebank, Ayr Un ...

, but his shot went over the bar.Tommy Bryce profile on "Queens Legends" on the official Queen of the South FC website

Motherwell and Hibernian

Townsley moved into full-time football for the first time at the age of 26 when he joined

on 31 May 1999. He was then signed by Hibernian manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps f ...

in July 2001 after his contract with Motherwell expired. Townsley struggled to hold down a place under the management of McLeish, but he got into the team more regularly after

Bobby Williamson Robert Williamson (born 13 August 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish football player and manager. Williamson played as a striker for Clydebank, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock. He then became a manager at Kilmar ...

was appointed

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

in February 2002. Townsley also popped up with a few goals, including one in a remarkable

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce r ...

that finished 4–4. Townsley left Hibs at the end of his contract to sign for

Oxford United, Gretna (second spell) and later career

Townsley only stayed with Oxford for six months before returning to Gretna. Now bankrolled by

Brooks Mileson Brooks John Joseph Mileson (13 November 1947 – 3 November 2008) was an English businessman and the owner of now dissolved professional football club Gretna as well as being a philanthropist to 70 non-League clubs. Early life The eldest ...

and in the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

, Townsley re-joined a vastly different club to the non-league outfit that he left early in his career. He played an important part in Gretna's successive promotions and played in the

2006 Scottish Cup Final The 2006 Scottish Cup Final was played on 13 May 2006 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 120th Scottish Cup. The final was contested by Heart of Midlothian (Hearts), who beat Hibernian 4–0 in the semi-final, and Gretna, who ...

. The team was then largely 'ripped apart' by

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The spor ...

Mick Wadsworth Michael Wadsworth (born 3 November 1950) is an English football coach and former player. Born in Barnsley his playing career spanned only one season in The Football League with Scunthorpe United, along with spells playing for Gainsborough Tr ...

, in preparation for their only season in the

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 ...

. He moved to

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

in February 2007, before moving onto

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, it won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Divi ...

and Penrith Town. In July 2008, Townsley signed for

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a 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 km so ...

newcomers Annan Athletic as a player and

assistant manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2009–10 season, also choosing to step down from his assistant position at the same time.Annan add Aitken, lose Townsley

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside ...

, 12 May 2010.

References

;Sources *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsley, Derek 1973 births Living people Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria Association football midfielders English footballers Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Gretna F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Newcastle Blue Star F.C. players Annan Athletic F.C. players Penrith F.C. players