Gallacher Patsy Image 8 Sunderland 1934

Description

Inside left Patsy Gallacher was born in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire and started his footballing career with junior clubs Linwood St Conval in 1927 and Bridge of Weir in 1928 before moving to First Division club Sunderland. He made his Football League debut against Arsenal in a 1-0 home defeat on 21st September 1929 and soon established himself as a regular and important member of their first eleven. He scored a hat-trick (and all three goals) for Sunderland when they beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 at Roker Park in October 1932, and in 1933-34 scored further hat-tricks in wins over Liverpool and Middlesbrough.

Gallacher won his only cap for Scotland against Ireland in a 2-1 defeat at Windsor Park on 20th October 1934 in which he scored Scotland’s only goal. He scored 20 goals in both campaigns as Sunderland were first runners up in the League Championship in 1934-35, Gallacher scoring a hat-trick against Chelsea in September 1934, and then won the League Championship in 1935-36, with a hat-trick in a heavy defeat of Blackburn Rovers in September 1935.

He was part of Sunderland’s 1937 FA Cup Final winning side which won 3-1 against Preston North End at Wembley, playing 9 times and scoring 3 goals in the Cup run, and also a member of the team that lost in the 1938 FA Cup semi final to Huddersfield Town at Ewood Park. In nearly a decade at Sunderland Gallacher made 308 appearances for The Wearsiders and scored 107 goals in all competitions.

He then moved on to Stoke City in November 1938 but he only managed to 7 matches for Stoke, scoring once, before the advent of the Second World War and the abandonment of peacetime football. During the War he made wartime appearances for Dundee United and Morton in Scotland and played in Ireland for Coleraine and Cork United before signing for non league Weymouth in 1945 and  joined Cheltenham Town in September 1948, playing 8 matches for The Robins before his retirement in 1949.