Derek Riordan

Derek George Riordan (born 16 January 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He was capped three times by the Scotland national team.

Born in Edinburgh and raised in the city's Pilton area, Riordan signed for Hibernian on 14 May 1999 and made his first-team debut in 2001 in an Edinburgh derby.

Riordan started his career with Hibernian in 2001 and had a brief spell on loan with Cowdenbeath in 2003.

Cowdenbeath wanted to extend the loan to the end of the 2002–03 season, but he returned to Hibernian at the end of January.

Riordan was given an extended opportunity in the Hibs first team towards the end of the 2002–03 season.

He became a first team regular the following season.

Riordan was the club's top goalscorer for each of the next three seasons, with 18, 23 and 20 goals respectively.

In January 2003, Riordan went on loan to Cowdenbeath, along with teammate Paul Hilland.

He scored four goals in three appearances for the Fife club, including a hat-trick in a 7–5 win away to Brechin City.

At the end of the 2004–05 season, Riordan rejected an offer of an extension to his contract, and Hibs made him available for transfer.

He became one of the top young players in the Scottish Premier League, winning the young player of the year awards in 2005.

This earned him recognition in the form of the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year and SFWA Young Player of the Year awards in 2005, and selections for the Scotland national team later that year.

A £500,000 fee was agreed with Cardiff City in August 2005, but Riordan rejected the move.

Riordan caused controversy in 2005 when he appeared in a video that showed him singing that Hearts player Rudi Skácel was a "fuckin' refugee", to the tune of The Beatles's "Yellow Submarine".

Riordan later apologised for his actions.

Riordan signed for Celtic in 2006, but failed to hold down a regular first-team place and returned to Hibernian in 2008.

He totalled 104 goals in 260 appearances across all competitions in his two spells at Easter Road.

During the January 2006 transfer window, Rangers made a £400,000 bid for Riordan that was rejected by Hibs.

Bids from Lokomotiv Moscow and Kaiserslautern were accepted by Hibs, but Riordan rejected these moves because he did not want to move overseas.

Riordan signed for Celtic in a £170,000 deal in June 2006.

The fee was reduced from the previous offers because Riordan's contract with Hibs was due to expire in October 2006, and Riordan had already made a pre-contract agreement to sign for Celtic on a free transfer in January 2007.

Riordan made his full debut for Celtic in a Scottish League Cup tie against St Mirren, as Gordon Strachan fielded a team containing many players who were not first team regulars.

He had difficulty obtaining a regular place in the Celtic team; he made only 24 league appearances in two seasons with the club.

Riordan publicly aired his disappointment at not being given more opportunities in the Celtic first team in April 2008, and he subsequently trained with the reserve team.

Burnley made a £400,000 offer for Riordan in January 2008, but this was rejected by Celtic.

Five other clubs, including his former club Hibernian, made loan offers for Riordan, but Celtic rejected these and informed Riordan that he would have to leave on a "permanent" deal.

Hibernian made another loan offer to Celtic for Riordan in August 2008, but this was also rejected by Celtic.

Riordan returned to Hibernian on the final day of the 2008 summer transfer window for an "undisclosed" fee believed to be around £400,000.

Hibs initially gave Riordan the unusual squad number 01, as number 10 had already been allocated to Colin Nish.

Riordan made his second debut for Hibernian on 13 September 2008, when he came on as a 61st-minute substitute for Joe Keenan against Dundee United.

In his second appearance, he scored the only goal of the match against Hamilton Academical.

Riordan ended the 2008–09 season as Hibs' top goalscorer with 12 goals.

A good run of form at the start of the following season led to a recall to the Scotland squad and a player of the month award from the SPL.

Riordan was given the number 10 shirt for the 2009–10 season; he was able to do this as Nish had taken number 9 after Steven Fletcher left the club to join Burnley in the summer of 2009.

Riordan scored his 100th goal in senior football later that season; he brought up the milestone with a trademark free kick against Kilmarnock that gave Hibs a 1–0 win.

Riordan left Hibs as a free agent in 2011 and signed for Chinese Super League club Shaanxi Baorong Chanba, but the two-year contract was mutually terminated after just four months.

He then signed for St Johnstone on a short term contract in March 2012.

Riordan then signed for Bristol Rovers, but he was released after a three-month deal.

He has since had short spells with Alloa Athletic, Brechin City, East Fife, York City, Edinburgh City and amateurs St Bernard's.