Gary Locke (Scottish footballer)

Gary Locke (born 16 June 1975 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. Locke both played for and managed Heart of Midlothian and Kilmarnock, and has also managed Raith Rovers and Cowdenbeath. He is currently Club Ambassador at Hearts.

Gary Locke
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-06-16) 16 June 1975
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1991–1992 Whitehill Welfare
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–2001 Heart of Midlothian 153 (5)
2001–2002 Bradford City 38 (2)
2002–2009 Kilmarnock 111 (1)
Total 302 (8)
International career
1996–1997 Scotland U21 10 (0)
Managerial career
2013–2014 Heart of Midlothian
2015–2016 Kilmarnock
2016–2017 Raith Rovers
2017 Cowdenbeath
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Locke, a midfielder, went to Lasswade Primary and High School[1] in Bonnyrigg and started his career at Hearts before joining Bradford City in January 2001 who were at the time in the Premier League.[2] Locke finished his career at Kilmarnock where he scored once against Dunfermline.[3]

Locke picked up 10 caps for Scotland under-21s while at Hearts. Injuries were a major problem throughout Locke's career and while he was club captain when Hearts won the 1997–98 Scottish Cup, he did not play in the final due to injury.

Locke played under manager Jim Jefferies at all of his clubs. He retired aged 34, at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Locke was in line to join the Kilmarnock coaching staff, but the collapse of Setanta led to reduced TV income for SPL clubs and Kilmarnock decided they could not offer Locke a position.[4]

After Jim Jefferies was appointed Hearts manager for the second time in January 2010, Locke was appointed First Team Coach.[5] He was placed in caretaker charge of the team after the departure of John McGlynn in February 2013.[6] He was subsequently appointed on a permanent basis, on a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season. In March 2013 Locke's Hearts lost 3–2 to St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup Final.[7] Hearts entered administration in June 2013, which meant that the club were placed under a transfer embargo and were deducted 15 points in the 2013–14 Scottish Premiership season. On 11 August 2013, Locke won the first Edinburgh derby in the new Scottish Premiership with a 76-minute header from striker Callum Paterson at Tynecastle Stadium.[8] Hearts were relegated to the Scottish Championship at the end of the season and new owner Ann Budge decided not to retain Locke.[9]

In June 2014, Locke returned to Kilmarnock as assistant manager.[10] He was put in caretaker charge of the team after Allan Johnston left Kilmarnock in February 2015.[11] Locke was then appointed on a permanent basis in April 2015.[12] He resigned from the Kilmarnock job on 30 January 2016, with the club sitting second-bottom of the 2015–16 Scottish Premiership.[13]

Following the departure of Ray McKinnon to Dundee United, Locke was appointed manager of Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers in May 2016, signing on a two-year deal.[14] After a run of 14 games without a win, Locke was sacked by the club on 7 February 2017 after a 1–0 loss to Greenock Morton.[15]

Shortly after leaving Kirkcaldy, Locke was appointed manager of fellow Fife club Cowdenbeath.[16] After helping Cowdenbeath avoid relegation by winning a playoff with East Kilbride, Locke left the club during the close season to take an ambassadorial role with Hearts.[17]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 20 May 2017
Team From To Record
P W D L Win%[18]
Heart of Midlothian 28 February 2013 12 May 2014 51 14 10 27 027.45
Kilmarnock 6 February 2015 30 January 2016 43 11 10 22 025.58
Raith Rovers 20 May 2016 7 February 2017 30 8 9 13 026.67
Cowdenbeath 10 March 2017 1 July 2017 12 3 6 3 025.00
Total 139 36 35 68 025.90

Managerial achievements
Cowdenbeath

References
  1. "Scottish Education Awards". Daily Record. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  2. "Bradford in talks with Locke". BBC. 24 January 2001. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  3. "Kilmarnock 4–0 Dunfermline". BBC. 21 May 2005. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  4. Killie withdraw Locke coach offer BBC Sport accessed 8 January 2010
  5. "Brown and Locke join Hearts". Hearts. Archived from the original on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  6. "John McGlynn departs Hearts manager position". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  7. "St Mirren 3–2 Hearts". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  8. "Hearts: Peter Houston was offered manager terms".
  9. McLauchlin, Brian (12 May 2014). "Craig Levein lands Hearts role as boss Gary Locke exits". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  10. "Gary Locke becomes assistant manager at Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  11. "Allan Johnston: Kilmarnock manager relieved of duties". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  12. "Kilmarnock: Gary Locke confirmed as permanent manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  13. "Kilmarnock manager Gary Locke resigns after Hamilton loss". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  14. "Raith Rovers: Gary Locke is new manager at Stark's Park". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  15. Clerkson, Tony (7 February 2017). "Raith Rovers sack Gary Locke and assistant Darren Jackson "with immediate effect"". The Daily Record. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  16. "New Managerial Appointment". Cowdenbeath FC. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  17. Anderson, Barry (1 July 2017). "Gary Locke leaves Cowdenbeath to rejoin Hearts". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  18. Win% is rounded to two decimal places
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