Derek Stillie (born 3 December 1973 in Irvine) is a retired Scottish footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for a number of clubs in Scotland and England before retiring to pursue a career in English law.

[edit] Career

Stillie began his career as a young player at Notts County Boys Club before signing with Aberdeen in August 1995 at the age of twenty-one. In his first few months at the club, Stillie was an unused substitute as The Dons won the Scottish League Cup. In four years at Pittodrie, he managed only twenty-six appearances and in 1999 he moved south to Wigan Athletic. At the Lancashire club he played 57 times, twice helping them reach the Division Two play-offs.

In July 2002, Stillie moved back north to Dunfermline Athletic where he was a virtual ever-present in the Pars side, making a total of 117 appearances after replacing first choice Marco Ruitenbeek in November that year. In 2003-04, Stillie was part of the Dunfermline side that won through to the Scottish Cup Final but lost to Celtic. Stillie announced his desire to leave Dunfermline in order to relocate to England to pursue a career in the Law.

Former Dundee United Manager Gordon Chisholm made his second signing for season 2005-06 by bringing Stillie to Tannadice from Dunfermline for an undisclosed fee,^[1] after losing first-choice keeper Tony Bullock to Gillingham.^[2]

Stillie was named in two Scotland squads – most recently in October 2003 – but never won a cap,^[3] although he was an unused substitute in the Future Cup match against Germany later that month.

In May 2007, Stillie confirmed he would leave Dundee United to move to England to pursue his English law career ^[4] and helped the club to a clean sheet in the final day 0-0 draw at home to Motherwell. In July, Stillie signed a one-year contract with Gillingham^[5], making his debut in the 4–0 away defeat to Nottingham Forest on 22 September 2007. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2007-08 season in order to pursue his career as a lawyer.^[6]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Honours

[edit] Aberdeen

• Scottish League Cup: 1
  

1995-96

[edit] Dunfermline

• Scottish Cup Runner-up: 1
  

2003-04

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Derek Stillie career stats at Soccerbase