Richard Gough

This article is about the Scottish football player. For the 18th-century antiquarian, see Richard Gough (antiquarian). For the 19th-century Welsh footballer, see Richard Gough (Welsh footballer).
Richard Gough
Personal information
Full name Charles Richard Gough
Date of birth (1962-04-05) 5 April 1962
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
1978–1979 Charlton Athletic
1979–1980 Wits University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1986 Dundee United 165 (23)
1986–1987 Tottenham Hotspur 49 (2)
1987–1997 Rangers 294 (25)
1997 Kansas City Wizards 17 (0)
1997–1998 Rangers 24 (1)
1998–1999 San Jose Clash 19 (2)
1999 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 7 (0)
1999–2001 Everton 38 (1)
2001 Northern Spirit 2 (0)
Total 615 (54)
National team
1983–1993 Scotland 61 (6)
Teams managed
2004–2005 Livingston

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a former Scottish footballer who was a defender.

He captained Rangers to nine successive Scottish league championships. He also played for Scotland 61 times and had a brief spell as manager of Livingston. He is currently a Global Ambassador for Rangers.

Early life

Born to a Scottish father (former Charlton Athletic player Charlie Gough) and Swedish mother, Gough grew up in South Africa, went to school at King Edward VII and Highlands North High School in Johannesburg, and began his career playing with the Wits University club.

Playing career

Club

Looking to build a career in British football, Gough signed for Charlton Athletic as an apprentice professional in July 1978; however, he returned to play for Wits University for a brief period in 1979 then returned to the United Kingdom to sign for Dundee United in February 1980.

He played for Dundee United for six seasons, finishing with 23 goals in 165 appearances and helping them to the League title in 1982–83. Dundee United also reached the European Cup semi-final against Roma in 1984, during Gough's time at the club. In 1986, Gough was sold to English First Division club Tottenham Hotspur for £750,000, where he played for slightly over a year, and captained the Tottenham team which lost to Coventry City in the 1987 FA Cup Final.

Gough decided to return to Scotland, early in the 1987–88 season, joining Rangers and becoming the first Scottish player to be signed for over £1,000,000. His debut was at Tannadice Park in a defeat against former club Dundee United. He was named the SFWA Footballer of the Year in 1988/89. Gough remained at Ibrox until 1997, captaining the side that achieved nine consecutive League titles. He won 9 league titles, 3 Scottish Cups and 6 League Cups at Rangers. In all, he played 427 league games with Rangers, scoring 37 goals.

In May 1997, Gough left the United Kingdom to play in the United States' nascent professional league, Major League Soccer, signing for Kansas City Wizards. In October 1997, he returned to Rangers due to injury issues at Ibrox. He resumed his MLS career with the San Jose Clash. He played 36 games in total in MLS, scored 2 goals and he was named the MLS Best XI for his 1997 season with the Wizards. Gough also went on loan Nottingham Forest from March until May 1999, playing seven matches as the club was relegated.

After leaving San Jose Clash he linked up with former boss Walter Smith at Everton. He played two seasons at Goodison Park making 60 appearances and scoring once against Southampton.[1] During his time at Everton he was made captain for 2000/01 season and retied from playing in May 2001.[2]

International

Gough was also a regular in the Scotland national team in the 1980s. He made his debut against Switzerland in 1983, and went on to gain 61 caps. His international career was ended prematurely, however, after he was critical of coaches Andy Roxburgh and Craig Brown and withdrew himself from further selection. Gough played in 2 World Cups, 1986 and 1990, and captained his country in the 1992 European Championships, in his birthplace, Sweden.

Managerial career

On 30 November 2004, Gough landed his first and only managerial position with the then Scottish Premier League side Livingston.[3] After a difficult season where the club battled relegation, Gough resigned and noted that disagreements with the club's owner over the budget for signing players as the reason.[4][5] The club was also fined £15,000 by the SFA for a breach of transfer regulations over the signing of Hassan Kachloul during Gough's time as manager[6] although there was no suggestion that Gough himself was responsible for the breach of regulations.

Later career

Gough supported the Rangers Supporters' Trust and Dave King's boardroom takeover of Rangers International Football Club PLC and was later appointed as a global ambassador for the club on 21 September 2015.[7]

Honours

Club

Dundee United [8]
Rangers [8]

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Slater, Richard (21 August 1999). "Jeffers and Campbell offer hope". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Gough calls it a day". BBC. BBC. 1 May 2001. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Gough named Livingston boss". BBC Sport. 30 November 2004.
  4. ↑ Buckland, Simon (27 March 2005). "You want to sack me Just do it". The Times. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "Manager Gough to leave Livingston". BBC Sport. 17 May 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Livi fined over Kachloul signing". BBC Sport. 15 June 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "Gough named global ambassador". Rangers Football Club. Rangers.co.uk. 21 September 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 Hayes, Dean (2007). Rangers 100 Heroes of the modern game. Mercat Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-84183-125-1.
  9. ↑ Benstead, Mark (2005). The Rough guide 11's Glasgow Rangers. Rough Guides. p. 89. ISBN 1843535645.
  10. ↑ "Inductees 2006". Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "SFA Hall of Fame". Retrieved 4 July 2016.
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