Gary Ablett (footballer)

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For the Australian rules footballer, see Gary Ablett.

Personal information
Gary Ablett
Full name	Gary Ian Ablett
Date of birth	November 19, 1965 (age 41)
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Position	Defence
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1983–92 1985 1986 1992–96 1996 1996–99 1999 2000 2000	Liverpool Derby County (loan) Hull City (loan) Everton Sheffield United (loan) Birmingham City Wycombe Wanderers (loan) Blackpool Long Island Rough Riders Total	109 (1) 6 (0) 5 (0) 128 (8) 12 (0) 104 (1) 4 (0) 10 (1) ? (?) 378 (11)
National team
1988	England U21	1 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Gary Ian Ablett (born 19 November 1965 in Liverpool, England) was a strong and unfussy defender who was a regular in the all-conquering Liverpool team of 1988 and won the FA Cup with their rivals Everton in 1995.

1 Playing career
2 Coaching career
3 Liverpool Rhyming Slang
4 Honours
5 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Liverpool

Ablett joined the Anfield club as a schoolboy and rose through the ranks until given a first team debut by manager Kenny Dalglish shortly after his 21st birthday. He also spent some time on loan at Derby County and Hull City as an exercise in grooming for regular first-team football.

In 1988, after regular defenders Mark Lawrenson and Barry Venison each suffered an injury, Ablett was called into the first team by Dalglish, making his debut against Charlton in December 1986. He responded with such a polished and composed run of displays that he stayed in the side for the rest of the season, with Venison missing out and Lawrenson being forced by his injury into premature retirement. Alongside vastly experienced players in defence like Gary Gillespie, Steve Nicol and skipper Alan Hansen, Ablett settled confidently into the team as Liverpool crushed opponent after opponent on their way to the League championship and the FA Cup final.

At Wembley, Ablett was one of Liverpool's better players on a day when their standards slipped vastly, and they were beaten 1-0 by Wimbledon and missed out on the "double".

He missed only 3 league games of 1988/89, but in 1989 was deeply affected by the Hillsborough disaster as a local lad. His team-mates retained his professionalism to help Liverpool to success in the FA Cup with a 3-2 win over fierce Merseyside rivals Everton. However, they dramatically lost the League title to Arsenal with practically the last kick of the season.

Ablett flitted in and out of the squad over the next year, relegated in the pecking order following the arrival of Glenn Hysen and the progress of Steve Staunton. Ablett was used more frequently as a central defender rather than left full back after Hansen began suffering more with injuries. Eventually he took the central role more often following the arrival of left back David Burrows from WBA and won the League again with Liverpool in 1990

[edit] Everton

When Dalglish resigned as manager, his replacement Graeme Souness decided in a mildly controversial manner to sell Ablett for £750,000 to Everton in 1992, at a time when moves directly between the two clubs were rare (though Souness would also do the same with Peter Beardsley) [1] At Goodison Park, Ablett was a sturdy and regular defender who helped keep Everton in the Premiership in May 1994, when he played in the 3-2 victory against Wimbledon on the final day of the season, and who won the FA Cup again in 1995. He is the only player to win the FA Cup with both Merseyside teams.

[edit] Later career

He later had a brief loan with Sheffield United before making a permanent move to Birmingham City, and was an integral part of their defence alongside former Manchester United defender and current Blues chief Steve Bruce.

Ablett was released by then Birmingham boss Trevor Francis in 1999, and after short spells with Blackpool under former Anfield team-mate Steve McMahon and Wycombe Wanderers, signed for American A-League side Long Island Rough Riders in June 2000. In February of 2002, at the age of 36, Ablett was taken on trial by Division One strugglers Grimsby Town.

[edit] Coaching career

In summer 2002 he took up a post as the coach of Everton's under-17s side. In the summer of 2006, he took up a post as Liverpool F.C. Reserves team coach, replacing Paco Herrera [2].

[edit] Liverpool Rhyming Slang

Gary Ablett's name has within the past 10 Years became apart of the Scouse Backslang Dictionary. Using the Cockney rhyming slang method, Gary Ablett's name has become a slang term for Ecstasy tablets. Merseyside Police since 2005 have informed officers on "The Beat" that should they hear the terms "A Gary", "A Gary Ablett" they should instantly assume that the person speaking the words is referring to Ecstasy Tablets.

[edit] Honours

[edit] External links

Gary Ablett career stats at Soccerbase

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