Keith Gillespie

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Personal information
Keith Gillespie
Full name	Keith Robert Gillespie
Date of birth	18/02/1975
Place of birth	Larne, Northern Ireland
Nickname	Keef
Position	Midfield
Club information
Current club	Sheffield United
Youth clubs
	Manchester United
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1993–1995 1993 1995–1998 1998–2003 2000–2001 2003–2005 2005–	Manchester United Wigan Athletic (Loan) Newcastle United Blackburn Rovers Wigan Athletic (loan) Leicester City Sheffield United	9 (1) 8 (4) 113 (11) 115 (6) 5 (0) 42 (2) 37 (0)
National team**
1994–	Northern Ireland	73 (2)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22/10/2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 08/10/2006.

Keith Robert Gillespie (born February 18, 1975 in Larne, County Antrim) is a Northern Irish professional footballer, who plays midfield. He currently plays for Sheffield United of the English Premiership.

1 Early career
2 After Manchester United
3 International career
4 External links

[edit] Early career

His first years were spent in Whitehead, County Antrim where he attended Whitehead Primary School. He later moved to Bangor, County Down where he attended Rathmore Primary School and Bangor Grammar School.

Gillespie began his career at Manchester United where he struggled to establish himself as a first-team player. However, he was a member of the famous Manchester United Youth Cup winning side of 1992, a team that included Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary Neville and Robbie Savage.

After a loan spell at Wigan Athletic, he moved to Newcastle United as part of the £7 million deal which took Andy Cole to Old Trafford.

[edit] After Manchester United

Gillespie stayed at Newcastle for five seasons and during this time he played 143 games and scored 13 goals, including 15 European ties; primarily in the Champions League and UEFA Cup. In both the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons he helped Newcastle to finish second in the Premiership (runners up to Gillespie's former club, Manchester United, on both occasions). In his final full season at Newcastle, the 1997–98 season, Gillespie helped Newcastle to reach the FA Cup final. However, he was not in the squad for the final and Newcastle lost to Arsenal The following season saw Gillespie depart St James' Park, moving to Blackburn Rovers for £2.3 million.

Another five seasons at Ewood Park brought another 138 games and 6 goals as well as another loan spell at Wigan Athletic, bringing his total appearances for Athletic to 15 from which he scored 4 goals. He then moved to Leicester City on a free transfer playing 48 games and scoring 2 goals in two seasons.

Gillespie signed for his current club, Sheffield United, on the 5th of August 2005, signing a one-year contract. This was then extended to June 2007 a month later. In his first season at the club, Gillespie played a role in Sheffield United's successful promotion campaign to the Premiership.

[edit] International career

Gillespie is a member of the current Northern Ireland team having been named in the 20-man squad for their Group F Euro 2008 qualifying games against Denmark in the Parken Stadium and Latvia at Windsor Park.

He is currently in joint 4th place in the list of appearances for Northern Ireland on 73 caps with Jimmy Nicholl. He played an important role in his country's 3-2 qualifying win against Spain at Windsor Park on 6 September, 2006. His most recent cap was against Latvia in a 1-0 home victory at the Windsor Park in Belfast.