Derek Johnstone Townsley (born 21 January 1973, in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

) 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 lea ...

. His clubs included Gretna, Queen of the South,

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 ...

, Hibernian and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. Townsley was normally a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, although he was a versatile player and also played in attack 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. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

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 ...

at the time, he played in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

first round match against the First Division side

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

. Townsley scored in the match but Gretna lost 3–2. He began his senior career in 1996 when he joined

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

side Queen of the South, with chairman Norman Blount 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 Queens lost 1–0 to First Division side

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 ...

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 2007–2008 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) is a Scottish former footballer. Bryce had a playing career spanning 21 seasons from 1980 to 1981 with Scottish Football League clubs Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Queen of the South, Clydebank, Ayr United and Ar ...

, 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) 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 manager of Kilmarnock, winning ...

was appointed

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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 association football, football match played between Football in Scotland, Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs), the two o ...

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 team was then largely 'ripped apart' by

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, 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 typ ...

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 Trin ...

, in preparation for their only season in the

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 ...

. He moved to

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

in February 2007, before moving onto

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

and Penrith Town. In July 2008, Townsley signed for

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 ...

newcomers Annan Athletic as a player and assistant manager. 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 BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, 12 May 2010.

References

;Sources *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsley, Derek 1973 births Living people Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria Men's association football midfielders English men's 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 A.F.C. players