Craig Beattie

Craig Beattie (born 16 January 1984) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He started his career with Celtic before moving on to West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City, where he had loan spells with several Football League clubs.

He then had mostly short spells with Heart of Midlothian, St Johnstone, Barnet, Dundee, Ayr United, Stirling Albion, Edinburgh City and Elgin City.

He gained seven caps for the Scotland national football team scoring once, and also represented the nation at U19, U21 and B levels.

Beattie trained with Heart of Midlothian at under-12 level before starting his career as a schoolboy with Rangers.

After being released by manager Dick Advocaat, he joined Celtic.

During a Celtic under-19 pre-season friendly against prominent Irish side Derry City, Beattie scored all six goals in a 6–0 win.

He went on to make his senior debut aged 19 on 6 August 2003, as a substitute in a UEFA Champions League qualifying round 1–0 victory against FBK Kaunas.

He made his league debut on 16 August against Dundee United.

In his debut season he made 17 appearances, including starting in the UEFA Cup match against Barcelona.

After scoring four goals near the end of the 2004–05 season he was awarded a new three-year contract in July 2005.

He started the 2005–06 season by becoming the first Scot since Gerry Creaney to score in three consecutive games for Celtic.

He netted seven goals in the first three months of the season.

He appeared as substitute in 43 games and had 22 starts which limited his Celtic career goal tally to 16.

His last appearance for Celtic came in the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline on 26 May 2007 in a 1–0 win.

His last Celtic goal came some months earlier against Aberdeen on 17 February 2007 in a 2–1 win.

On 3 July 2007 Beattie signed a three-year contract with Championship side West Bromwich Albion for an initial fee of £1.25 million with an added £500,000 depending on performance-related add-ons.

He scored his first hat-trick for the team on 4 August 2007 in a friendly against Dutch side SC Heerenveen.

Beattie made his competitive Albion debut in a 2–1 defeat away at Burnley on 11 August, the opening day of the 2007–08 season.

Three days later he scored his first competitive goal for the club, as Albion beat AFC Bournemouth 1–0 in the League Cup.

In his debut season he made 26 appearances scoring four times, before going on loan to Preston in March 2008.

On his return to West Brom he made his Premier League debut on 16 August 2008 against Arsenal as a substitute.

West Brom manager Tony Mowbray stated that he would not stand in Beattie's way should he seek a move away from the Hawthorns and after just three appearances he was sent out on loan to Crystal Palace.

On his return Beattie scored his first Premier League goal on 28 December 2008, against Tottenham Hotspur.

His return was brief and he was sent on loan to Sheffield United.

Beattie moved to Preston North End on 4 March 2008, on loan until the end of the season.

He made his Preston debut later that day in a 1–0 win away at Leicester City, but was substituted after 38 minutes due to a muscle injury, later revealed to be a double hamstring tear.

Beattie returned to West Brom early in order to receive treatment for the injury and was expected to miss the rest of the season.

He made a rapid recovery however, and returned to Preston for the final two games of the loan spell, making one further appearance as a substitute.

In September 2008, Beattie joined Crystal Palace on a month-long loan, making his debut on 27 September against Ipswich.

He scored on his second appearance to give them a victory over Charlton Athletic in the South London derby.

The loan was later extended until 28 December 2008, however due to an injury to Ishmael Miller and some goal-scoring success at Palace, Beattie was recalled by West Bromwnich Albion on 10 December.

In all he made 15 appearances scoring five times.

His final game for West Brom came on 26 August 2009 in the League Cup scoring twice in their 4–3 win over Rotherham.

In all he made 41 appearances scoring 7 times.

Beattie joined Sheffield United on a three-month loan in February 2009, making his debut a day later, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 2–2 draw away at Plymouth Argyle.

Beattie made 16 appearances for United that season, all but three of them from the bench.

He scored one goal in the process, netting the fourth in a 4–2 home win over Derby County in March.

He played in all three of the team's play-off games at the end of the season, including the Final at Wembley Stadium, but with the club failing to clinch promotion he subsequently returned to his parent club.

On 27 August 2009, Beattie joined Swansea City as a replacement for departed striker Jason Scotland signing a three-year contract for a £800,000 fee.