Paul Hegarty facts for kids

Paul Anthony Hegarty, born on July 25, 1954, is a famous Scottish football player and manager. He is best known for being the captain of Dundee United during their most successful years in the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, he helped the team win the Scottish league championship in 1983 and the Scottish League Cup twice. Paul Hegarty also played eight times for the Scotland national team. After his playing career, he went on to manage several football clubs, including Forfar Athletic, Aberdeen, Dundee United, Livingston, and Montrose.

Paul Hegarty's Playing Career

Starting with Hamilton Academical

Paul Hegarty began his professional football journey as a striker (a player who tries to score goals) for Hamilton Accies in 1972.

Success at Dundee United

In November 1974, Dundee United's manager, Jim McLean, signed Paul Hegarty for £27,500. A couple of years later, McLean made a big change that helped Hegarty's career. He decided to pair Hegarty with Dave Narey in the team's central defence. This meant Hegarty changed from being a striker to a defender (a player who stops the other team from scoring).

This new partnership became super important for Dundee United's success for more than ten years. Hegarty became a top-class central defender. As the team captain, he led Dundee United to win their first major trophy, the Scottish League Cup in 1979. They even won it again the very next year!

In the 1982–83 season, Hegarty played in every single game as Dundee United won the Scottish League title. This was a huge achievement for the club. During one match against Morton that season, Hegarty even had to play as a goalkeeper for a short time after their regular goalie, Hamish McAlpine, got injured. He also played in many important European matches. Sadly, an injury meant he couldn't play in all the games when United reached the 1987 UEFA Cup Final.

After many years of amazing contributions to Dundee United, the club allowed him to leave for free in January 1990 as a thank you for his service.

Short Time at St Johnstone

After leaving Dundee United, Paul Hegarty briefly played for St. Johnstone. He helped them get promoted to a higher league.

Playing for Scotland

Paul Hegarty played for his country, Scotland, between 1979 and 1983. In his eighth and final game for Scotland, he was even the captain against Northern Ireland. Many people think he was one of the best central defenders who should have played more often for the Scottish national team. He also played for the under-21 team as an older player and represented the Scottish League XI.

Paul Hegarty's Coaching Career

Paul Hegarty's first job as a coach was with Forfar Athletic. He was a player and manager at the same time. The team went down to a lower league in 1992, and Hegarty left soon after.

He then had coaching jobs at Dundee United (leaving in 1995), Hearts, and Aberdeen. In January 1999, he became the temporary manager for Aberdeen. He did a good job and helped the club avoid going down to a lower league. However, Aberdeen decided not to keep him as their permanent manager.

Dundee United then offered Hegarty another coaching role. In October 2002, he became their manager. He was first appointed as a temporary manager, but his role was extended. However, he was later replaced in January 2003.

Hegarty continued to work in coaching, joining the staff at Livingston and then Dunfermline. He also worked as an assistant manager at Motherwell in 2006.

In March 2008, Hegarty became a scout for the Scotland national team, helping new manager George Burley find talented players. In December 2008, he was appointed manager of Livingston. However, Livingston had money problems, and Hegarty left after only a few months. He also left his scouting job with the Scotland national team in November 2009.

Hegarty returned to Dundee United in February 2010. When manager Peter Houston resigned in January 2013, Hegarty became the temporary manager. However, a match was postponed, and a new manager, Jackie McNamara, was appointed before the next game. Hegarty left the club shortly after.

Hegarty went back to managing in February 2015 when he took charge of Montrose. The team was at the bottom of the league. He couldn't stop them from finishing last that season, but they won a special play-off game to avoid being relegated (moved down to a lower league). After this, Hegarty became the permanent manager of Montrose. However, he was sacked in November 2016 after a series of bad results.

Paul Hegarty's Family Life

Paul Hegarty's older brother, Kevin, also played football for Dunfermline Athletic. Kevin's son, Ryan, who is Paul's nephew, also played for Dunfermline Athletic. Paul's own son, Chris, played football for 13 years with teams across Scotland, including Peterhead, Arbroath, Forfar Athletic, and Montrose. Chris even ended his career playing for Montrose when his father, Paul, was the manager there.

Honours and Achievements

As a Player

Dundee United

• Scottish Premier Division Winner: 1982–83
• Scottish League Cup Winner: 1978–79, 1979–80
  • Runner-up in League Cup: 1980–81, 1984–85
• UEFA Cup Runner-up: 1986–87
• Scottish Cup Runner-up: 1980–81, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88

St Johnstone

• Scottish First Division Winner: 1989–90 (this is the second-highest league)

Individual Awards

• PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year: 1979 (This award is voted for by other players!)

See also

• List of footballers in Scotland by number of league appearances (500+)
• List of Scottish football families
• List of Scotland national football team captains