Derek Geary

Derek Geary
Personal information
Full name	Derek Peter Geary
Date of birth	19 June 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position(s)	Full Back
Youth career
1997	Rivermount Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team
1997–2004	Sheffield Wednesday
2004	Stockport County
2004–2010	Sheffield United
Total
Managerial career
2016–2021	Sheffield United U18s
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Derek Peter Geary (born 19 June 1980 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland) is an Irish retired footballer, who played as a full-back. He is currently the Sheffield United Academy manager.

Club career

Sheffield Wednesday

Derek is one of the few players to have played for both sides in Sheffield. He was signed by Sheffield Wednesday from Rivermount Boys of Finglas in Dublin, his only schoolboy club, on 11 November 1997, he made 104 league appearances for the Owls and won the player of the season award for the 2001–2002 season.^[1]

Stockport County

On 26 July 2004 he joined Stockport County and made 13 appearances before transferring to Sheffield United for £25,000 on 22 October 2004.

Sheffield United

Geary became the third ex-Sheffield Wednesday player to be signed by Neil Warnock that season (the others being Alan Quinn and Leigh Bromby).

Geary made his first start for the Blades in a 3–2 away victory over Crewe at the end of December. His one and only senior career goal came for the Blades in a 2–1 away victory over Millwall in December 2004 where he scored a late winner.^[2]

Making 26 appearances in the Premiership for the Blades in season 2006–07, he subsequently signed a contract extension to keep him at Bramall Lane for a further three years in July 2007.^[3]

After being out of action for 18 months with a serious knee injury, Geary made his return to the first team in a 2–2 draw with Barnsley at Oakwell on 9 November 2009, replacing Matthew Kilgallon shortly before half time.

In June 2016 it was announced that he would take over as lead Coach of Sheffield United U18s.^[4]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sheffield Wednesday	2000–01^[5]	Division One	5	0	0	0	5	0	—		10	0
	2001–02^[6]	Division One	32	0	1	0	6	0	—		39	0
	2002–03^[7]	Division One	26	0	0	0	2	0	—		28	0
	2003–04^[8]	Division Two	41	0	3	0	1	0	5^[a]	0	50	0
	Total		104	0	4	0	14	0	5	0	127	0
Stockport County	2004–05^[9]	League One	13	0	—		1	0	1^[a]	0	15	0
Sheffield United	2004–05^[9]	Championship	19	1	5	0	—		—		24	1
	2005–06^[10]	Championship	20	0	0	0	3	0	—		23	0
	2006–07^[11]	Premier League	26	0	1	0	1	0	—		28	0
	2007–08^[12]	Championship	21	0	4	0	3	0	—		28	0
	2008–09^[13]	Championship	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0
	2009–10^[14]	Championship	7	0	2	0	0	0	—		9	0
	Total		94	1	12	0	9	0	0	0	115	1
Career total			211	1	16	0	24	0	6	0	257	1

^ ^a ^b Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy

International career

On 8 May 2007, Geary was named in the Republic of Ireland squad by manager Steve Staunton for a two match trip to the US to play Ecuador and Bolivia, of which both games were drawn 1–1. However, due to hip and thigh injuries received in the last game of the season playing for Sheffield United against Wigan Athletic, he was forced to withdraw from the squad.