Stewart Greacen (born 31 March 1982) is a Scottish retired
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 le ...
who played as a
central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
.
Greacen started his career as a youth player with
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
, before making his first competitive appearances with
Airdrieonians
Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...
. Following only three league games, he was signed by the at-the-time
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
side
Livingston
Livingston may refer to:
Businesses
* Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010)
* Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline
* Livingston International, a North American custom ...
where he spent most of his time on loan at
Queen of the South and Morton.
After leaving Livi, he played for Forfar Athletic before moving on to become captain at Morton where he had previously been on loan.
Career
Born in
Lanark, Greacen began his senior career at now defunct
Airdrieonians
Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...
and from there he moved to
Livingston
Livingston may refer to:
Businesses
* Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010)
* Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline
* Livingston International, a North American custom ...
. Livingston then sent him on loan to
Queen of the South and
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...
, where he played in the team that was relegated from the
Scottish Second Division in the
2001–02 season. Livingston released Greacen in 2003 and he was immediately signed by
Forfar Athletic
Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...
. He played the second half of the
2002–03 season at Forfar on a short-term contract. At the end of the season Forfar offered Greacen a long-term deal which he rejected in favour of a deal at Morton. The main reason for this was that Morton offered a full-time contract in comparison to Forfar's part-time contract.
Greacen plays at
centre back in the Morton defence. He is a tall commanding
defender with a strong physical presence. He is good in the air and this helps in both an attacking and defensive way as he often scores from headers at set pieces. At 24 years old, Greacen became Greenock Morton's captain.
In May 2008, it was announced that Greacen had rejected a new contract from Morton and was being tracked by rival
Scottish First Division sides
Dunfermline Athletic, Queen of the South and Livingston.
Greacen was Morton's Player of the Year for 2008–2009.
On 22 December 2010, Greacen was released by Morton after nearly 250 appearances over two spells from the club.
He was on trial at
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, where he was eligible to play in a maximum of three league games – he however could not be signed due to their current transfer embargo.
He, therefore, chose the safe option of playing in the
Airtricity Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
with championship favourites
Derry City
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
hoping to gain a move to a bigger club in the summer.
He linked up
Glentoran
Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882.
History
Early history
In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...
on 21 December 2011 but was released from his contract at the end of January 2012 as he wished to play full-time football again and has found the travelling from Scotland and not being able to train with the Glentoran squad an issue. He then joined up again with former club Derry City for training, admitting that he was in talks to sign a new contract. He subsequently rejoined them.
At the end of the
2014–15 season it was announced that due to an ongoing knee injury, Greacen would leave Stenhousemuir and retire from professional football.
Honours
Greenock Morton
*
Scottish Football League Second Division (1):
2006–07
Derry City
*
League of Ireland Cup (1):
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
*
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...
(1):
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
See also
*
Greenock Morton F.C. season 2008-09 ,
2009–10 ,
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greacen, Stewart
1982 births
Living people
Scottish men's footballers
Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players
Livingston F.C. players
Queen of the South F.C. players
Forfar Athletic F.C. players
Greenock Morton F.C. players
Scottish Football League players
Men's association football central defenders
Rangers F.C. players
Dundee F.C. players
Glentoran F.C. players
Derry City F.C. players
Stenhousemuir F.C. players
NIFL Premiership players
League of Ireland players
League of Ireland XI players
Footballers from Lanark