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Gary William Dempsey (born 15 January 1981) is a retired Irish footballer.

Career

Early career

After a successful career at Cherry Orchard in 1997 Dempsey signed a 4-year contract with Everton and moved to Merseyside soon after his 16th birthday. He spent 4 years at Everton and was part of the team that won the FA Youth Cup with the likes of Richard Dunne and Francis Jeffers. Dempsey returned to Bray where, over two spells, he scored a total of over 5 goals in 58 total appearances. He moved on to Waterford United where he was awarded the Supporters Player of the Year for the 2001–02 League of Ireland season.

Scotland

In 2002, he was signed by Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic, where he made 80 league appearances over a three-year period, scoring seven league goals. He scored on his debut against Celtic at Parkhead in front of 60,000 fans. At Dunfermline, Gary soon established himself a regular in the team and won Young Player of the Year in his first season. In his second season, he helped Dunfermline into the 2004 Scottish Cup final against Celtic in what was the great Henrik Larsson's last game. Having lost the final 3–1, Dunfermline secured a place in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup where they lost to Icelandic part timers Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar 4–3 on aggregate with Dempsey scoring in the "home" leg at McDiarmid Park.

Dunfermline manager Jimmy Calderwood left the club to manage Aberdeen in 2004. Soon afterwards, he signed Dempsey on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He said after agreeing to play as an amateur for Aberdeen: "I would rather be on the dole than play for Dunfermline".

Dempsey struggled to hold a place in the Aberdeen first team and he spent time on trial with Doncaster Rovers in January 2006. A move failed to materialise, and his future at Aberdeen looked bleak. But as the 2005–06 season drew to a close, he forced his way back into the first-team picture after a number of fine bit-part performances. On 26 March 2007, Aberdeen announced that he had rejected their final contract offer, and shortly afterwards he signed for Yeovil Town.

Later career

St Patrick's Athletic announced his signing on 31 January 2008. Gary scored the equaliser away to IF Elfsborg in the UEFA Cup. In November 2008 he was suspended after admitting betting against his own team albeit in a game in which he was not appearing.

He signed for Darlington along with former Shamrock Rovers striker Tadhg Purcell in January 2010. He made his full league debut against Rotherham United which ended in a 2–1 win for his new club. He was released by Darlington following their relegation from League 2, along with 13 other players.

On 30 July 2010, Dempsey signed for former club Bray Wanderers Dempsey was Player of the Month for April 2011 and capped off the season by winning the club's Player of the Year award He then went on to decline a new contract at Bray to sign for Waterford United. He started the league campaign with a 6–0 loss against South-East rivals Wexford Youths, then went on to beat hot favourites for the title Limerick 3–1. In only his third game he went on to score his first for the club where he hit a free-kick from 25 yards, in what was the only goal vs Salthill Devon.

He re-signed for Bray Wanderers on 11 January 2013. In July 2014 Dempsey signed for Shelbourne in the League of Ireland First Division.

Honours

Club

Everton

• FA Youth Cup (1): 1998

Individual

• Bray Wanderers Player of the Year (1): 2011

References

1. "Gary Dempsey". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
2. "Larsson double dumps Dunfermline". BBC News. 3 August 2002. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
3. "Larsson caps Celtic triumph". BBC News. 22 May 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
4. "UEFA Europa League 2004/05 – History — Dunfermline-FH". UEFA. 27 August 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
5. Orr, Ian (26 March 2005). "I'd rather have been on Buroo than stay at Paris". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
6. "Aberdeen say Dempsey will leave". BBC News. 26 March 2007.
7. "St Patrick's Athletic v IF Elfsborg". RTÉ News. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
8. "Dempsey admits to betting against team". RTÉ News. 9 November 2008. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008.
9. Stoddart, Craig (7 January 2010). "Three new signings for Quakers". Darlington & Stockton Times. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
10. "Rotherham 1–2 Darlington". BBC Sport. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
11. "Darlington released player tally rises to 14". BBC Sport. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
12. "Dempsey to wait and see if Bohs make bid". Evening Herald. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
13. "Bray Wanderers midfielder Gary Dempsey has been named the Airtricity/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland Player of the Month". Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland. 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
14. "Dempsey nets Player of the Year". Bray Wanderers. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
15. "Dempsey among 29-man Bray squad for new season". RTÉ News. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.

External links

• Gary Dempsey at Soccerbase

• 1981 births
• Living people
• Republic of Ireland men's association footballers
• Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers
• Bray Wanderers F.C. players
• Waterford F.C. players
• Shelbourne F.C. players
• League of Ireland players
• Scottish Premier League players
• Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players
• Aberdeen F.C. players
• Yeovil Town F.C. players
• English Football League players
• St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players
• Darlington F.C. players
• Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland
• Cherry Orchard F.C. players
• Men's association football midfielders
• Association footballers from County Wexford
• 21st-century Irish sportsmen