Gary Teale - Player Profile

Gary arrived at the JJB Stadium on 14th December 2001 for a fee of £275,000 from Ayr United. Manger Paul Jewell had been keeping tags on Gary ever since he played a pre season friendly against Latics for Ayr United in the Blues’ pre season tour of Scotland five months earlier. He arrived hot on the heals of new goalkeeper John Filan who was signed for £600,000 just a coupler of hours earlier. He made his Latics League debut the following day against Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park as Latics drew 1-1. By the end of season 2002/03 he had established himself as a first team regular as the Blues clinched the Second Division Championship. He kicked on during the First Division campaign and by the end of that historic 2003/04 season he had made 89 League appearances and scored 5 League goals.

Gary was a member of the squad that won promotion to the Premiership by the end of the following 2004/05 League campaign. scoring 3 League goals in 29+9 League appearances. It is interesting to note that Gary was one of EIGHT players who played in the promotion winning game against Reading and the Second Division Championship winning side who played against Barnsley in the final game at the JJB Stadium in 2003. He signed for a further two years at the JJB Stadium on 17th June 2005.

On 6th December 2005 he played for the Scotland B team in a 2-0 win over Poland, having a hand in both goals. On 1st March 2006, just days after his Carling Cup Final appearance for the Blues he made his full Scotland debut against Switzerland at Hampden Park. He was a 46th minute substitute for Barry Ferguson but he couldn’t help the Scots salvage anything from a 1-3 defeat.

He featured in 20+4 Premiership games for the Blues without scoring, this brought his Latics career total up to 104+32 League appearances and 8 League goals scored. He was also a member of the team that played in Latics’ first major Cup Final, a 0-4 beating in the Carling Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium. Gary took part in the Kirrin Cup in Japan for Scotland immediately prior to the season finishing. He earned his second full cap when he played in the team that beat Bulgaria 4-1 on 11th May 2006.

Two days later he played against Japan as Scotland won the tournament after a 0-0 draw against the hosts. He left the JJB Stadium on 11th January 2007 to sign for Derby County for a fee of £600.000. His last league game for Latics was the Premiership clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Boxing Day 2006, a game the Blues lost 3-1. His final Latics league career total read 121+40 appearances and he netted 8 league goals.