| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David John Irons | ||
| Date of birth | 18 July 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder/Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Stenhousemuir (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Greystone Rovers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1979-1980 | Queen of the South | 3 | (0) |
| 1980-1984 | Kello Rovers | ||
| 1984-1987 | Ayr United | 75 | (12) |
| 1987-1988 | Clydebank | 54 | (7) |
| 1988-1991 | Dunfermline Athletic | 106 | (9) |
| 1991-1993 | Partick Thistle | 84 | (10) |
| 1993-1996 | St. Johnstone | 52 | (2) |
| 1996-1997 | Clydebank | 43 | (1) |
| 1997-2002 | Annan Athletic | ||
| 2002-2005 | Gretna | 89 | (2) |
| 2009-2010 | Threave Rovers | ||
| Total | 506 | (43) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1997-2002 | Annan Athletic (player-manager) | ||
| 2007 | Gretna (caretaker) | ||
| 2007-2008 | Gretna | ||
| 2008-2009 | Greenock Morton | ||
| 2010- | Stenhousemuir | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 November 2008. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
David John "Davie" Irons (born 18 July 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional footballer who has transitioned to football management.
His playing career spanned 26 years as a central defender or midfielder. Despite retiring as a player in 2005, Irons re-registered as a player in 2009 to sign as a player/coach at Threave Rovers.
He is now manager of Scottish Football League Second Division side Stenhousemuir.
Contents |
Born in Glasgow in 1961, Davie Irons was raised in Dumfries[1] after moving there with his parents in 1964.[2]
He began his career with local team Queen of the South in 1979. After only one year of the Willie Harkness regime at Palmerston Park and a total of four first team appearances he moved into junior football.
Irons returned to Palmerston Park under the new regime of Norman Blount to play for a Queen of the South select on 23 April 1995. The opposition in the 2-2 draw was Rangers in a game to mark Queens' 75th anniversary and the opening of the new stand. Other ex players to guest beside Irons that day included Andy Thomson and Ted McMinn.[3]
Irons joined Kello Rovers, with whom he remained for four years.
He returned to the professional game in 1984 with Ayr United. He went on to make 75 league appearances for The Honest Men, scoring twelve goals.
In 1987 he joined Clydebank, making 54 appearances and scoring seven goals, and a year later signed for Dunfermline Athletic.
Irons scored the opening goal for Dunfermline in the game that confirmed Queens' relegation in 1989.[4]
After 106 appearances and nine goals for the Pars, he was signed by Partick Thistle.
He remained at Firhill for two years before joining the sixth professional club of his career, St. Johnstone, in 1993. In three years at McDiarmid Park he made 52 appearances and scored twice.
He spent a season with Clydebank in 1996.
Irons spent five years with Annan Athletic (as their player-manager) between 1997 and 2002.
Irons finished his playing career in 2005 after a three-year spell at Gretna, at which point he became assistant manager to Rowan Alexander. He became caretaker-manager of the club between March 2007 and the end of the 2006-07 season during Alexander's absence.[5]
On 28 April 2007, Gretna, under Irons' managership, won promotion to the Premier League with a 3-2 win at Ross County.[6] The result clinched the First Division championship for Gretna, a point ahead of Irons' former club St. Johnstone.
It was announced on 18 July 2007 that Irons would be Gretna's manager on a permanent basis for the club's first season in the SPL, with Mick Wadsworth as his assistant.[7]
On 19 February 2008, Irons resigned as Gretna manager with immediate effect.
Irons was then hired as manager of Greenock Morton,[8] after resigning from the Gretna job in February 2008. His first act was to help keep Morton in the First Division managing to defeat Dunfermline Athletic[9] and Partick Thistle,[10] both 3–0 to allow Morton to finish one goal above Clyde and finish in 8th position in the league.
In his first full season as manager of Morton, Irons guided them to sixth in the table despite a poor start taking only four points from the first quarter of the season. He also managed to achieve a victory over Hibs at Easter Road Stadium in the Scottish League Cup.
However, after a poor start to the 2009/10 season, losing 5 of the first 6 matches and with the club bottom of the First Division, Irons was sacked on the 21 September 2009 along with assistant Derek Collins.[11]
After being sacked by Morton, Irons joined South of Scotland league side Threave Rovers as a player/coach.
When Irons came off the bench in the last minute against Whitehill Welfare on 24 October 2009, he became the oldest player to have ever played in a Scottish Cup match aged 48 years 98 days.
Irons replaced Gerry Britton as assistant manager of Partick Thistle in January 2010, but not until after the Jags play former club Morton on 4 January. However, Irons was sacked by the club on 26 February 2010.[12]
After being sacked, Irons returned to Meadow Park as player coach.[13] At the age of 49, on 20 November 2010 he played for Threave in the third round of the Scottish Cup in the 2-2 draw away against Stenhousemuir.[14]
Irons took up the role of manager at Stenhousemuir at the end of December 2010.[15]
As a manager
Gretna
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||