Steven Pressley

Steven John Pressley (born 11 October 1973) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back.

He was most recently the manager of Carlisle United.

Pressley had a long playing career, playing for Celtic and Rangers and making over 100 league appearances for both Dundee United and over 250 for Hearts.

During his time at Ibrox, he won a Scottish Cup winner's medal in 1993, appearing as a substitute as Rangers defeated Aberdeen in the cup final.

Pressley was transferred to English side Coventry City in October 1994 for £600,000.

His one goal for Coventry came against Manchester United.

Pressley returned to Scotland in July 1995 with Dundee United, who paid a transfer fee of £750,000.

He helped Dundee United to get promotion to the Premier Division in his first season.

This was followed by a third-place finish in the 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division.

His influential style of play and his organisational skills were noticed by Hearts manager Jim Jefferies, and he was signed by the Edinburgh club on a Bosman free transfer in 1998.

Pressley was appointed club captain by Craig Levein in 2001–02.

Only Bobby Parker has held the Hearts captaincy for a longer period.

Pressley was captain when the team beat VfB Stuttgart, Bordeaux and Basel in European matches.

He helped Hearts finish second in the league in 2005/06, third on three occasions, as well as reaching the Scottish Cup and League Cup semi-finals.

Pressley captained the Hearts side that won the 2006 Scottish Cup Final, and made 32 appearances for Scotland.

As a player, Pressley was described as hard-working and exhibiting leadership.

Pressley led Hearts to success in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final, albeit on a penalty shoot-out after the club were held to a 1–1 draw with Gretna after extra time.

Pressley scored the first penalty for Hearts, who eventually won 4–2.

His enrolment into the Hearts Hall of Fame highlights the status that he enjoyed at Tynecastle.

He acted as a spokesman for the playing squad in response to the various controversies affecting the club under the ownership of Vladimir Romanov.

On 27 October 2006, Pressley led a press conference, flanked by fellow internationals Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley, announcing that there was "significant unrest in the Hearts dressing room" following majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov's most recent comments.

Romanov stated that he would sell players if Hearts failed to beat Dunfermline Athletic, a match which ended 1–1.

However, this game was played out in front of a sell-out crowd who showed their vocal backing for Pressley, Gordon and Hartley.

Pressley was then absent from the Hearts squad to face Falkirk on 13 November 2006 and he had been reportedly stripped of the captaincy.

A month later, on 9 December 2006, it was confirmed that Pressley and Hearts had parted company and was reported to be attracting the interest of several clubs.

Despite reported interest from Championship Derby County and Premier League Charlton, it was revealed in December 2006 that Pressley had been signed as a free agent by Celtic until May 2008.

Having previously played for Rangers, he joined players such as Maurice Johnston, Alfie Conn and Kenny Miller in crossing the Old Firm divide.

He made his Celtic debut on 2 January 2007 against Kilmarnock and then returned to Tynecastle as stand-in Celtic captain on 14 January.

He scored his first competitive goal for Celtic against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, later scoring his only league goal against Hearts on 29 April 2007.

He featured in the Celtic team that won the Scottish Cup, making him the first player to do so with three clubs.

He made fewer appearances during the 2007–08 season, and he left the club after his contract expired in the summer.

After his release from Celtic, Pressley continued to train with Celtic Reserves to keep his fitness up and joined Doncaster Rovers, then Blackpool on trial but failed to win a contract at both clubs.

Then, on 1 September 2008 he signed for Randers of the Danish Superliga on a four-month contract, ending in December.

Although he had the eagerness to play in a foreign country throughout his career, this was the first offer he had received from abroad.

After retiring as a player, Pressley was assistant manager of Falkirk, before being appointed manager in February 2010.

Pressley also served as an assistant manager to George Burley while Burley was manager of Scotland.

He moved to League One side Coventry City in March 2013, but was dismissed in February 2015.

He has since managed Fleetwood Town, Cypriot club Pafos and Carlisle United.

Pressley was born in Elgin, Moray, and was an Aberdeen fan in childhood.

He started his career at Rangers.