Steven Pressley

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Personal information
Steven Pressley
Full name	Steven John Pressley
Date of birth	October 11, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Elgin, Scotland
Height	6'
Nickname	Elvis
Position	Central Defender
Club information
Current club	Free Agent
Youth clubs
	Inverkeithing BC Rangers
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1990-1994 1994-1995 1995-1998 1998-2006	Rangers Coventry City Dundee United Hearts	034 (1) 019 (1) 100 (6) 271 (19)
National team**
2000-	Scotland	032 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:06, 4 December 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of October 11, 2006 (UTC).

Steven John Pressley (born October 11, 1973 in Elgin, Moray) is a Scottish international footballer and former captain of Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League. He is often known by his nickname, Elvis and his enrollment into the Hearts Hall of Fame highlights the legend status which he enjoyed at Tynecastle.

1 Early career
2 Hearts career
3 Scotland career
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early career

He started his career at Rangers as a youngster, but despite being hailed in the media as "the new Richard Gough", struggled to establish himself as a regular and was transferred to English team Coventry City in 1994 for £630,000. He only lasted a year in England, where he had problems with his form and disciplinary record, before returning to Scotland with Dundee United for a fee of £750,000. He went on to have an exceptionally good spell at United where he helped them to third place in the league in season 1996-97.

[edit] Hearts career

His influential style of play and his organizational skills were noticed by Hearts manager Jim Jefferies, and he was signed by the Edinburgh club on a Bosman free transfer in 1998. Since then, he has helped Hearts finish second in the league in 2005/06, third on three occasions, as well as reaching the Scottish and League Cup semi-finals. He is regarded by Hearts fans as the club's talisman in the way John Robertson was previously, and in recent times has regularly acted as a spokesman for the playing squad in response to the various controversies affecting the club under the ownership of Vladimir Romanov.

Pressley led Hearts to success in the Scottish Cup Final on 13 May 2006 albeit on a penalty shoot out after Hearts were held to a 1-1 draw with Gretna after extra time. Pressley scored the first penalty for Hearts who eventually won 4-2 on penalties.

The Romanov Revoloution has done nothing but boost Pressley's reputation within Scottish football. He is seen by many as the man who has single handedly kept Hearts ticking, following a series of events which earns the much used phrase 'Tynecastle Turmoil'. On 27 October 2006, Pressley led a press conference, flanked by fellow internationals Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley, announcing that there was "significant unrest in the dressing room" following Majority shareholder, Vladimir Romanov's most recent comments^[1]. Romanov stated that he would sell players if Hearts failed to beat Dunfermline Athletic^[1], a match which ended 1-1^[2]. However this game was played out in front of a sell out crowd who showed their vocal backing for 'Elvis', Gordon and Hartley.

On 13 November 2006, Pressley was absent from the Hearts squad to face Falkirk and had been reportedly stripped of the captaincy^[3].

On 9 December 2006 it was confirmed that he and Hearts had parted company^[4]. Pressley is currently looking for a new club and has allegedly recieved interest from 5 clubs, with Celtic being touted as one of them.

[edit] Scotland career

Pressley is also a Scotland international, having been capped 32 times since his debut in 2000 against France^[5].

His appearance against Lithuania on 6 September 2006 ensured he surpassed Bobby Walker's record as Hearts' most capped Scotland player in their 2-1 victory in Kaunas. A record which has stood for 91 years.^[6] He became the first Scottish player to be sent off in Scotland's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, in their away game against Ukraine on 11 October 2006^[7], which, incidentally was also Scotland's first international defeat in the campaign. This game fell on the day of Pressley's 33rd birthday.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b "Romanov issues player ultimatum", BBC Sport website, 27 October 2006.
^ "Hearts 1-1 Dunfermline Athletic", BBC Sport website, 28 October 2006.
^ "Pressley loses captain's armband", BBC Sport website, 13 November 2006.
^ "Pressley and Hearts part company", BBC Sport website, 9 December 2006.
^ "France spoil Scottish party", BBC Sport website, 29 March, 2000.
^ Pressley set to equal Scots cap record at Hearts Scotsman.com Sport, 2 September 2006. Accessed 16 October 2006
^ "Ukraine 2-0 Scotland", BBC Sport website, 11 October 2006.