Richard Gillies (born 24 August 1976) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He had two five-year spells with St Mirren.

Career

Raised in

Neilston Neilston (, , ) is a village and List of civil parishes in Scotland, parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the River Levern, Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, the last remaining town in greater Glas ...

, Gillies played with Barrhead Boys Club up until the age of 15 when he signed for St Mirren. In December 1992, aged 16, he became the club's youngest debutant and goalscorer.St Mirren Hall of Fame: Ricky Gillies
13 April 2020 An attacking midfielder, he was regarded as one of the most promising youngsters in the country when he came into the first team at St Mirren, then playing in Scotland's second tier. He was selected for the Scotland under-21 team and attracted interest from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

along with other clubs in both Scotland and England before a transfer to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1997 for £350,000. His move to the ''Dons'' was not a success, with the club in decline after a period as one of the strongest teams in Scottish football, while the manager who signed him (

Roy Aitken Robert Sime "Roy" Aitken (born 24 November 1958) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He made over 480 league appearances for Celtic, and later played for Newcastle United, St Mirren and Aberdeen. Aitken also made 57 international ...

) was dismissed within weeks of Gillies joining, and he suffered from several injuries and was abused in the street by frustrated supporters as his career stalled.Right player, wrong team... and a dream that turned sour , St Mirren: Alan Campbell on the unfulfilled career of a young talent whose decision to move to Aberdeen proved disastrous
The Herald, 27 March 2005 In 2000 he returned to St Mirren, initially on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

, soon followed by a permanent move after he helped the club win the First Division to achieve promotion to 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 ...

, although they were relegated in 2001. He was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame when it was established in 2004, and awarded a testimonial against

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 ...

in 2005. He left for third-tier

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

later that year, spending one season with the ''Jags''. He spent a year as player-coach in New Zealand with

Jonathan Gould Jonathan Alan Gould (born 18 July 1968) is a football coach and former professional player. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1989 until 2009 playing for numerous clubs, notably in the Premier League for Coventry City and in the Scottish P ...

Hawke's Bay United Hawke's Bay United was a professional Association football club based in Napier, New Zealand, Napier, New Zealand. HB United most recently played in the New Zealand Football Championship, ISPS Handa Premiership – a semi-professional franc ...

before returning to Scotland for a short spell at

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

, retiring from playing in 2008.

Later and personal life

Gillies later worked as a

football agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

, as a trainer for ''ProAcademy'' coaching and as Director of Operations for the ProLegal Group in conjunction with

PFA Scotland The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repl ...

. His nephew

Liam Lindsay Liam James Lindsay (born 12 October 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for club Preston North End. Lindsay started his career with Partick Thistle breaking into the first team at Firhill after loan spells w ...

is also a footballer, as was his elder brother Kenny, though without reaching the top division. His son Max was an emerging player with Queen's Park as of 2021.Max Gillies

Queen's Park F.C. Queen's Park Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the , the second tier of the Scottish football pyramid. Queen's Park is the oldest association football club in Scotland, having been founde ...

Retrieved 5 June 2021

References

External links

*
Ricky Gillies: A Tribute
at ''St Mirren Mad''
Profile
at ''AFC Heritage Trust''
Profile
at ''Sporting Heroes'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Ricky Living people 1976 births Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers St Mirren F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Partick Thistle F.C. players Stranraer F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand People educated at Eastwood High School, Newton Mearns Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers from East Renfrewshire