David Weir

David Gillespie Weir (born 10 May 1970) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who is the technical director of Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.

Born in Falkirk, Weir played as a defender, and began his professional career with his home-town club, Falkirk, after having attended the University of Evansville in the United States.

He moved to the United States on a scholarship from 1988 to 1991.

Weir excelled in this position, scoring 28 goals in 27 matches during his senior year.

This form led to him being named an NCAA All-American and Midwest Collegiate Conference Player of the Year in 1990.

Weir is tied for the school record with 50 career goals and ranks second in school history with 129 career points.

In 1992, he joined then Scottish First Division side Falkirk and went on to make 134 appearances for the club and score eight goals.

He was part of the side which won promotion to the Scottish Premier Division.

Weir also won the 1993 Scottish Challenge Cup on 12 December, playing in the side that defeated St Mirren 3–0 at Fir Park in Motherwell.

On 30 June 1996, Weir moved to Premier Division side Heart of Midlothian.

He made his debut for the club in a League Cup match against Stenhousemuir on 14 August 1996 and scored his first goal three days later.

Weir netted Hearts second goal in a 3–2 win over Kilmarnock.

His first sending off was in an infamous game against Rangers at Ibrox on 14 September 1996.

Rangers won the match 3–0 but Hearts had four players ordered off in a twenty-minute spell.

Weir won his first cap for the Scotland national team in 1997 and was selected for their 1998 FIFA World Cup squad.

After four seasons with the Bairns, Weir then moved on to Heart of Midlothian where he won the 1998 Scottish Cup.

He was the first former collegiate player to represent a European nation at the FIFA World Cup in 1998.

Upon returning from the United States Weir trained with Celtic; however, he did not sign a professional contract.

Weir won his second career honour, the 1998 Scottish Cup, by beating Rangers 2–1 in the final at Celtic Park.

He left Tynecastle midway through the following season when he was purchased by Everton for £250,000.

Weir played 116 games in all for Hearts and scored twelve goals.

He joined Everton in 1999 and spent seven years with the club, becoming club captain under two different managers.

Weir joined Everton on 16 February 1999 and made his debut in a league match against Middlesbrough the next day as Everton won, 5–0, coming on as a substitute for John Oster after 73 minutes.

Weir's first goal for Everton was a last-minute equaliser against Leeds United in a 4–4 draw in October 1999, however the following week he picked up his first red card for Everton in another game against Middlesbrough.

At the end of the 2001–02 season, Weir was voted Everton's Player of the Year by planetfootball's readers, with Weir the only player to reach four figures in terms of votes.

He retired from international football in 2002, when Berti Vogts was the manager, but returned when Walter Smith took charge in 2004.

In the Merseyside derby match on 19 April 2003, Weir received a red card as Everton lost 2–1 and played with 9 men after Gary Naysmith was also sent off.

He had a very successful time with the Merseyside club, playing regularly for eight years, making 269 appearances (scoring 10 goals in the process), playing in European competition, becoming club captain under two different managers – Walter Smith and David Moyes – and winning the bulk of his Scotland caps on the strength of his performances for the Toffees.

During the 2005–06 season, his side played in UEFA Champions League but lost 4–2 on aggregate to Spanish side Villarreal CF in the third qualifying round.

After being eliminated in the Champions League, Everton played in the UEFA Cup but lost again, this time to Romanian side Dinamo București 5–2 on aggregate in the first round of UEFA Cup.

Weir then moved to Rangers in 2007 and became club captain after Barry Ferguson was stripped of the role in April 2009.

On 16 January 2007, Weir signed for Rangers on an initial six-month deal after Everton released him from his contract early.

He teamed up again with former manager Walter Smith.

He made his Rangers debut against Dunfermline Athletic on 21 January 2007.

Weir called time on his playing career in May 2012.

Weir became the oldest Scotland player when he played in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches in 2010.

He finished his international career with 69 caps, which makes him Scotland's seventh-most capped player.

Weir had a brief spell as manager of Sheffield United in 2013.

He has since assisted Mark Warburton at Brentford, Rangers and Nottingham Forest.

Weir was scouted by the University of Evansville.