Gary Maley
{{Short description|Scottish footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox football biography
|name = Gary Maley
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|fullname =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|8|3|df=y}}
|birth_place = Scotland
|position = Goalkeeper
|years1 = ?–2016
|clubs1 = Broxburn Athletic
|years2 = 2016–2022
|clubs2 = Livingston
|caps2 = 5
|goals2 = 0
|years3 = 2018
|clubs3 = → Cowdenbeath (loan)
|caps3 = 1
|goals3 = 0
|years4 = 2021
|clubs4 = → Queen of the South (loan)
|caps4 = 0
|goals4 = 0
|years5 = 2021
|clubs5 = → Queen of the South (loan)
|caps5 = 0
|goals5 = 0
|years6 = 2022
|clubs6 = → Clyde (loan){{cite web|url=https://livingstonfc.co.uk/gary-maley-joins-clyde-on-emergency-loan/|title=Gary Maley joins Clyde on emergency loan|date=5 March 2022|publisher=Livingston Football Club}}
|caps6 = 2
|goals6 = 0
|club-update = 22:04, 8 December 2021 (UTC)
}}
Gary Maley (born 3 August 1982) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who was most recently the goalkeeping coach at Livingston. He played as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership side Livingston.{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gary-maley-reveals-story-behind-22093103|title=Gary Maley reveals story behind viral Livingston contract vote as keeper awaits final verdict|date=27 May 2020|publisher=Daily Record}}
Club career
Maley's early playing career saw him play at Broxburn Athletic alongside David Martindale and Scott Pittman.
An engineer by trade, Maley only signed his first contract in 2016, as backup to Livingston goalkeeper Liam Kelly.{{cite web |title=The people have spoken - Gary Maley stays! |url=https://livingstonfc.co.uk/the-people-have-spoken-gary-maley-stays |website=Livingston FC |date=27 May 2020 |access-date=16 May 2022}} He spent a loan spell with Cowdenbeath in 2018, making 1 league appearance for them.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
In 2020, Maley went viral after Livingston set up a Twitter poll asking the public whether his contract should be extended. Club manager David Martindale had initially pledged to donate £1 to the John O'Byrne Foundation for every vote cast, with Maley also donating two months' wages, but with the poll eventually reaching 180,000 votes, Martindale instead limited his donation to £1,000.
Maley had two short emergency loan spells at Queen of the South in 2021.{{cite web |title=Gary Maley Checks Back In|url=http://www.qosfc.com/news-5529|website=qosfc.com|access-date=10 September 2021}}
After another loan spell with Clyde in early 2022, Maley made his debut for Livingston in May, six years after signing for the club, as a substitute in a match against Dundee. At the age of 39 years, 285 days old, Maley became the oldest player to make his debut in the Scottish Premiership (or Scottish Premier League) since at least 1998.{{cite tweet |user=SPLstats |number=1525858329024684032 |title=At the age of 39 years and 285 days, Gary Maley is the oldest player to make his Scottish top flight debut since at least 1998 (my age data prior to then is incomplete). |date=15 May 2022 |accessdate=17 May 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Boyle |first1=Callum |title=Goalkeeper finally makes debut for Livingston, six years after joining |url=https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/goalkeeper-debut-livingston-335889 |website=JOE |date=15 May 2022 |access-date=16 May 2022}}
Coaching career
Maley retired as a player at the end of the 2021–22 season and was appointed First Team Goalkeeping Coach at Livingston.{{ cite web|url=https://www.thenational.scot/sport/20215557.david-martindale-hails-great-signing-gary-maley-joins-livi-coaching-staff/ | title=David Martindale hails 'great signing' as Gary Maley joins Livi coaching staff | publisher=The National}}
He left the club in May 2024.{{ cite web|url=https://livingstonfc.co.uk/gary-maley-moves-on/| title=Gary Maley moves on|website=www.livingstonfc.co.uk|date=29 May 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary, Gary}}
Category:Scottish men's footballers
Category:Men's association football goalkeepers
Category:Livingston F.C. players
Category:Broxburn Athletic F.C. players
Category:Cowdenbeath F.C. players
Category:Queen of the South F.C. players