Frank McGarvey: Former Celtic, St Mirren and Scotland forward dies aged 66

Frank McGarvey recently appeared at Celtic Park to thank fans for their support

Former Celtic and St Mirren forward Frank McGarvey has died aged 66.

He revealed his cancer diagnosis in October and appeared on the Celtic Park pitch before a game against Hibernian to thank fans for their support.

A native of Glasgow, McGarvey started his career at St Mirren then after a brief spell at Liverpool enjoyed five successful years at Celtic from 1980.

McGarvey, who won seven Scotland caps, returned to St Mirren and later played for Queen of the South and Clyde.

He scored 174 goals from 499 senior league appearances and in a later era would have played many more times for Scotland.

Celtic said in a statement that McGarvey died in the early hours of New Year's Day, adding: "The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Celtic are with Frank's family at this extremely sad time."

McGarvey helped Celtic claim two league titles and three domestic cups during his period with his boyhood club.

He helped St Mirren to their famous Scottish Cup victory in 1987 during his second spell at the club as well as being a key part of the Buddies team that won the old First Division in 1977 under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The striker joined Queen of the South as player-manager in 1990 but stayed for only one season before signing for Clyde for two seasons.

His professional career began in Paisley in 1975 and his goals over the next four years impressed Liverpool sufficiently for the two-time European champions to take him south in May 1979.

However he spent only 10 months at Anfield without making a single appearance for the first team despite continuing his goalscoring form for the reserve side.

David Johnson, who died in November, enjoyed the best season of his career in 1979-80 alongside Kenny Dalglish and with David Fairclough their reserve, the closest the Scotsman got to an appearance was the bench.

Frustrated by his lack of opportunities, McGarvey returned to Scotland with Celtic in March 1980 for a fee of about £270,000, which made him for a short time the country's most expensive player.

He played 245 times for Celtic, scoring 109 goals, and he is one of 30 players in their history to have scored more than 100 times for the club.

His final goal was the winner six minutes from the end of the 1985 Scottish Cup final - a diving header that beat Dundee United.

That was his final game in a Celtic shirt because manager David Hay decided Maurice Johnston and Brian McClair would be his forward pairing for the following season and declined to offer McGarvey an extended contract.

In his second season back in Paisley, McGarvey's close-range finish against Heart of Midlothian took St Mirren to the final against Dundee United and he played the full game as Saints won the Scottish Cup 1-0.

McGarvey, who was managed by European Cup winners Ferguson, Bob Paisley and Jock Stein during his senior career, finished his playing days with Shotts Bon Accord and Troon.

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