Paul Cairney

Paul Cairney
Personal information
Date of birth	29 August 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
2003–2005	St Mirren
Senior career*
Years	Team
2005–2008	Queen's Park
2008–2012	Partick Thistle
2008–2009	→ Queen's Park (loan)
2012–2014	Hibernian
2014–2015	Kilmarnock
2015–2016	Stranraer
2016–2017	Ayr United
2017–2018	Peterhead
2020–2021	Albion Rovers
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:57, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

Paul Cairney (born 29 August 1987) is a Scottish footballer, who plays as a midfielder.

Cairney has previously played for Queen's Park, Partick Thistle, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Ayr United, Peterhead and Albion Rovers.

Career

Born in Glasgow, Cairney was registered with St Mirren as a youth player, but was released by the club aged 17.^[1] He then signed for amateur club Queen's Park and made his first senior appearance in December 2005. He began to play more frequently for the Spiders in the 2006–07 season and helped the club win promotion to the Second Division.

Cairney signed a three-year deal with Partick Thistle in 2008, but was loaned back to Queen's Park for six months.^[2] This loan was subsequently extended in January to the end of the 2008–09 season.^[3]

Cairney made his debut for Thistle in a Scottish Challenge Cup tie against Airdrie United, coming on as a substitute.^[4] His full and home debut came against Berwick Rangers in the Scottish League Cup.^[5] Cairney scored 12 goals for Thistle during the 2011–12 season,^[6] including a hat-trick in a 3–0 win against Dundee.^[7] He was nominated for player of the year in the 2011–12 Scottish First Division.^[8]

Cairney signed a two-year contract with Hibernian in July 2012.^[6] He scored his first goal for the club on 1 September, in a 2–2 draw against Celtic.^[9] Cairney struggled to consistently hold a place in the Hibernian first team due to injuries. He was released by the club at the end of the 2013–14 season.^[10]

Cairney signed a two-year contract with Kilmarnock in June 2014.^[11] After being released by Kilmarnock, Cairney signed for Scottish League One side Stranraer in July 2015,^[12] and after one season with the club, signed for recently promoted Ayr United.^[13] Cairney signed for Peterhead in July 2017.^[14] He left Peterhead after one season.

After two years out of football, Cairney signed for Albion Rovers in July 2020.^[15]

Career statistics

As of 29 May 2016^[16]^[17]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Queen's Park	2005–06	Third Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2006–07	Third Division	20	1	0	0	0	0	4^[18]	1	24	2
	2007–08	Second Division	35	7	2	0	2	0	2	0	41	7
	Total		56	8	2	0	2	0	6	1	66	9
Partick Thistle	2008–09	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2009–10		32	7	1	0	2	0	3	1	38	8
	2010–11		29	0	4	1	2	0	2	1	37	2
	2011–12		35	11	3	3	1	1	1	0	40	15
	Total		96	18	8	4	5	1	6	2	115	25
Queen's Park (loan)	2008–09	Second Division	33	8	3	2	1	0	2	0	39	10
Hibernian	2012–13	Premier League	29	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	33	2
	2013–14	Premiership	18	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	20	1
	Total		47	3	4	0	1	0	1	0	53	3
Kilmarnock	2014–15	Premiership	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
Stranraer	2015–16	League One	35	0	2	0	1	0	5	1	43	1
Ayr United	2016–17	Championship	30	5	4	1	5	0	3	0	42	6
Peterhead	2017–18	League Two	34	1	0	0	4	1	0	0	38	2
Career total			318	43	23	7	19	2	22	4	382	55

References

^ McDermott, Scott (18 August 2012). "Here wee go: Paul Cairney vows to wreak revenge on club who axed him for being too small". Daily Record. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
^ "Cairney makes switch to Firhill". BBC Sport. 11 July 2008.
^ "Paul Cairney extends loan spell with Queen's Park". PTFC.co.uk. 16 January 2009.
^ "AIRDRIE UNITED 0 PARTICK THISTLE 1". Partick Thistle F.C. 25 July 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
^ "PARTICK THISTLE 5 BERWICK RANGERS 1". Partick Thistle F.C. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Hibernian sign former Partick midfielder Paul Cairney". BBC Sport. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
^ "Dundee 0–3 Partick Thistle". BBC Sport. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
^ "IRN-BRU SFL End of Season Awards 2011/12". scottishfootballleague.com. Scottish Football League. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
^ Lamont, Alasdair (1 September 2012). "Celtic 2–2 Hibernian". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
^ "Out of Contract Players". Hibernianfc.co.uk. Hibernian FC. 26 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^ "New Signing: Paul Cairney". Kilmarnock F.C. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
^ "Two new signings". stranraerfc.org. 16 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
^ "United sign Cairney". ayrunitedfc.co.uk. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
^ "Peterhead land Cairney". SPFL. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
^ Pirie, Mark (29 July 2020). "Ex-Hibs star feared being stuck on the Scottish football blacklist forever before Albion Rovers move". Daily Record. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
^ Paul Cairney at Soccerbase
^ Paul Cairney at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
^ Includes one appearance and one goal in Scottish Football League play-offs not recorded on Soccerbase. "Queen's Park 4–2 East Fife". BBC Sport. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2015.