Peter Joseph Weatherson (born 29 May 1980) 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 ...

who mainly played as a striker for Greenock Morton. Weatherson also played for

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 ...

, Queen of the South and Annan Athletic. Weatherson was also joint

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Shettleston Shettleston ( sco, Shuttlestoun, gd, Baile Nighean Sheadna) is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name 'Shettleston' is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a mult ...

in the Scottish Juniors, West Region. Weatherson started his senior career with Dumfries club Queen of the South from 2000 until 2003, after initially playing with local club

. Weatherson then went on to play for Greenock Morton for a decade from 2003 until 2013 and then Annan Athletic from 2013 until 2016, before going to Shettleston in the Scottish Juniors, West Region as joint player-manager. Weatherson returned to Annan Athletic for a second spell on 13 January 2017, leaving Shettleston after only five months in charge and retired from playing football at the end of the 2016–17 season, as he approached 37 years old on 29 May 2017.

Career

Early years

Born in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

, Weatherson began his career with local non-league club

Queen of the South

In the summer of 2000, John Connolly, the Dumfries club Queen of the South's manager, signed Weatherson to play in the

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 ...

, where he mainly featured as a striker and occasionally played as a right midfielder. During the 2001–02 season, Weatherson scored 15 league goals in 33 league appearances, as the

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club ...

club won the

Scottish Football League 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 (S ...

Championship. Under the captaincy of Jim Thomson, the title was clinched after a 3–0 win at Forfar Athletic on 20 April 2002. In that match, Weatherson scored the first two Queens goals and the third goal was scored by Sean O'Connor, who Queens signed from

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 ...

, having watched him play for Greenock Morton during his loan spell at

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton ...

. At the end of the 2002–03 season,

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...

made an offer of £10,000 to Queens for Weatherson, however this offer was rejected and this allowed Greenock Morton to table a bid of £30,000 that was then accepted by Queens.

Greenock Morton

Weatherson moved from Dumfries to

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...

at the start of the 2003–04 season. Weatherson scored 14 league goals in 31 league appearances in his first season, scoring a total of 20 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions. Morton led by 12 points at New Year before Weatherson broke a metatarsal ruling him out injured for six weeks. Their form promptly collapsed compounded by allegations of a booze culture among players and toxifying unproven rumours reported in the press of Weatherson and other players betting against Morton. Morton finished fourth. Weatherson started playing in defence after manager

Jim McInally James Edward McInally (born 19 February 1964) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He played for Dundee United for 10 seasons in which he won the 1993–94 Scottish Cup and played in the 1987 UEFA Cup Final. At United he was also ...

used him as a utility centre-back in a 7–1 Tennent's

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Cove Rangers. Weatherson played at right back for Greenock Morton in the 2006–07 season, from where he still scored goals. On 6 October 2007 Weatherson scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

versus

as a striker. On 10 March 2007, Peter Weatherson scored his 100th career goal in a 3–0 victory versus Alloa Athletic at Recreation Park. Weatherson was the Greenock club's top scorer for the 2006–07 season, scoring four goals in a 9–1 win at

versus Forfar Athletic and his season's total was then 17 goals, 15 of them scored from playing in defence and 2 from playing in midfield. Weatherson finished four of his first seven seasons at Greenock Morton as the club's leading goalscorer. The seasons when Weatherson did not achieve this feat was the 2005–06 season, when he finished second behind returning fans' favourite

Derek Lilley Derek Simon Lilley (born 9 February 1974) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a striker for several clubs in Scotland and England. Former friend of Stepps Junior Bowling legend, Kevin McAuley. He started his career with Greenock M ...

, then in season 2008–09 when he finished second again, this time behind Brian Wake and finally in season 2010–11, when he finished third behind Brian Graham, who was first and Allan Jenkins, who was second. Weatherson is Ton's fourth highest post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

league goalscorer with 93 league goals, 5 goals short of another former Queens striker,

Rowan Alexander Rowan Samuel Alexander (born 28 January 1961) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Alexander was a prolific goal-scoring striker for Queen of the South and Greenock Morton. Alexander also played for St Mirren, Brentford and Gr ...

with 98 league goals, who is in third. (See table on club page). After scoring the first of his two goals versus Queens on 8 November 2008, Weatherson reached the milestone of 100 league goals in the

, having scored 38 goals for Queens and at that particular time, 62 goals for Greenock Morton. In January 2010, Weatherson signed a two-year extension to his existing contract, after rejecting an approach by

for the second time in his career. On 16 October 2010, versus Queens at

, Weatherson's brace of goals were his 100th and 101st for Greenock Morton, in all competitions. In May 2012, Weatherson received another one-year extension to his contract, after which he was granted a testimonial for playing a decade at the

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

club. Weatherson's testimonial match was versus

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 ...

on 13 July 2013, even though he had already signed for the

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Ki ...

club, Annan Athletic for season 2013–14. Weatherson departed Greenock Morton in the summer of 2013, having played well over 400 matches and scoring 121 goals in all competitions.

Annan Athletic

In the summer of 2013, Weatherson signed for Annan Athletic. On 27 July 2013, Weatherson scored versus former club Greenock Morton as Annan Athletic won 1–0 and knocked the

club out of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2015–16 season.

Shettleston Juniors

Weatherson was then announced as one of the joint

s at

in March 2016, alongside his ''Galabankies'' teammate

Ryan McStay Ryan Michael McStay (born 4 December 1985 in Bellshill, Scotland), is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for St Roch's FC. McStay has previously played in the Scottish Premier League for Falkirk. McStay started his career with Falk ...

, with their tenure to commence at the start of the 2016–17 season in the Scottish Juniors, West Region. Weatherson departed Shettleston by mutual consent, alongside joint player-manager McStay on 9 January 2017, after a 1–1 draw at home to

Irvine Meadow Irvine Meadow XI Football Club is a Scottish football club, based in Irvine, North Ayrshire. They currently compete in the . The club's home ground is Meadow Park in central Irvine, and they play in royal blue strips. History Formed in 1897 ...

on 7 January 2017.

Return to Annan Athletic

Weatherson signed for a second spell at

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

club Annan Athletic on 13 January 2017, as he re-signed for the ''Galabankies'' for the rest of the 2016–17 season, less than one week after leaving

, where he was joint player-manager.

Retirement

Weatherson announced his retirement from playing football at the end of the 2016-17 season, as he approached 37 years old on 29 May 2017.

Honours

Club

Queen of the South *

: Winners 2001–02 Morton *

: Winners 2006–07

Personal

*Queen of the South Top Scorer: 2000–01 *Greenock Morton Top Scorer: (5) 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10 *Annan Athletic Top Scorer: 2014–15 *Scottish Second Division Player of the Year: Nominee 2006–07 *SPFA League Two Team of the Year: 2014–15 *League Two Top Goalscorer: 2014–15 *SPFL Top League Goalscorer: 2014–15 *SPFL Team of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherson, Peter Living people 1980 births Footballers from North Shields English men's footballers Queen of the South F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish Football League players Annan Athletic F.C. players Men's association football forwards Newcastle Blue Star F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Professional Football League players English football managers Glasgow United F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players