Dave Gibson (Scottish footballer)

David Wedderburn Gibson (born 23 September 1938 in Kirkliston, West Lothian) is a former Scottish footballer, who played for Livingston United, Hibernian, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Exeter City and the Scotland national team.

For other people with the same name, see David Gibson.

Dave Gibson
Personal information
Full name David Wedderburn Gibson[1]
Date of birth (1938-09-23) 23 September 1938
Place of birth Kirkliston, West Lothian, Scotland
Position(s) Inside left
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Livingston United
1956–1962 Hibernian 41 (8)
1962–1970 Leicester City 280 (41)
1970–1972 Aston Villa 19 (1)
1972–1974 Exeter City 71 (3)
Total 411 (53)
International career
1959[2] SFA trial v SFL 1 (0)
1963–1964 Scotland 7 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Considered to be one of the finest and most skilful players in Leicester's history,[3][4] he was the playmaker and creative force of the great Foxes side of the 1960s under Matt Gillies, including the "Ice Kings" side that fell just short of winning the 'double' in 1962–63. He scored in both legs of Leicester's 1964 League Cup final victory and also played in a further three cup finals for the club.[5]

Gibson earned seven caps and scored three times for Scotland, including a goal against Spain at the Santiago Bernabéu 12 months before Spain became European Champions.[6]

Career

Early career

Gibson, an inside forward, was signed by Hibernian from local junior side Livingston United in 1956. Gibson had grown up as a fan of their Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts, but was offered a better deal by Hibernian.[7] He made his debut for Hibs alongside four of the Famous Five forward line, replacing Bobby Johnstone.[7] After six years with the Edinburgh club he joined English club Leicester City in January 1962 for a fee reported to have been £40,000.

Leicester City

Gibson's joined Leicester while still on national service, so his appearances in 1961–62 season were restricted. He eventually made his debut on 2 March 1962.[8] However, the following season, Gibson began to form a deadly partnership down the left-flank of Leicester's attack with Mike Stringfellow[3] and became a key fixture in the Leicester side as they chased the double with the club sitting top of the league with 5 games to go and reaching the FA Cup Final, though they eventually fell short in both competitions. Gibson then helped Leicester to victory in the 1964 League Cup final scoring a goal in both legs of the final. He also helped Leicester to the 1965 League Cup final and the 1969 FA Cup Final, though they lost on both occasions.

Late career and retirement

He moved to Aston Villa in September 1970 where he remained for two years before ending his career with Exeter City. He retired in 1974.

He later became a postman before running a residential care centre in Whetstone in Leicestershire.[5]

International career

Gibson made his debut for Scotland in a 4–1 victory over Austria in front of 94,500 fans at Hampden Park on 4 May 1963 in a game that was abandoned after 79 minutes after the Austrian team's foul tactics caused referee Jim Finney to abandon the game in fear of player safety.[5][6][7] Gibson played well enough to retain his place, in the absence of Spurs player John White, for end of season friendly matches against Norway, Republic of Ireland and Spain.[7] His first international goal came in a famous 6–2 victory against Spain in the Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid.[7]

He earned 7 caps overall, scoring 3 times.

International goals
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
113 June 1963Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid Spain2–12–6Friendly
23 October 1964Ninian Park, Cardiff Wales2–12–31965 British Home Championship
321 October 1964Hampden Park, Glasgow Finland3–03–11966 World Cup qualification

Honours

Leicester City

References
  1. "Dave Gibson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  2. The selectors still have problems, The Bulletin, 17 March 1959
  3. Dave Smith & Paul Taylor (2010). Of Fossils and Foxes. ISBN 978-1-905411-94-8.
  4. Lymn, Chris (1998). We Love You Leicester! : a popular history of Leicester City. Leicester: CRL. ISBN 0-9534409-0-7.
  5. Leicester City legend David Gibson would love to be playing today Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine thisisleicestershire.com, retrieved, 24 October 2013
  6. Scotland – International Matches 1961–1965 rsssf.org, retrieved 20 March 2011
  7. Vallance, Matt (13 June 2013). "The night Scotland hit Spain for six in Madrid". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  8. "Gibson, Dave: The Legends Questionnaire". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  • Jeffrey, Jim (2005). The Men Who Made Hibernian F.C. since 1946. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-3091-2.
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