Gordon Forrest

Gordon Ian Forrest (born 14 January 1977) is a Scottish football coach and former player who is currently assistant manager of Scottish Championship club Heart of Midlothian. His playing career included spells with Raith Rovers, Livingston, East Fife and Berwick Rangers in Scotland, and Leiftur in Iceland. He has coached in Scotland, New Zealand and in Canada, where he was with Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Gordon Forrest
Personal information
Full name Gordon Ian Forrest[1]
Date of birth (1977-01-14) 14 January 1977
Place of birth Dunfermline, Scotland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Heart of Midlothian
(assistant manager)
Youth career
Rosyth Recreation
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 Raith Rovers 1 (0)
1997–1999 Livingston 37 (5)
1999 Leiftur
1999–2000 East Fife 26 (1)
2000–2005 Berwick Rangers 123 (18)
2005–2009 Burntisland Shipyard
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Gordon Forrest was born in Dunfermline, Fife, on 14 January 1977.[1] He was educated at Woodmill High School in the town and supported local football club Dunfermline Athletic.[2]

Playing career

Forrest began his senior career with Raith Rovers, joining as a youth from Rosyth Recreation in 1993.[3] He made his Raith debut against Celtic in 1996 and also played in the UEFA Cup. When his former Raith manager Jimmy Nicholl moved to Millwall, Forrest had an extended trial with the English club before joining Livingston in 1997. After two and a half years there, he left in 1999 for a short spell in Iceland with Leiftur, where he again appeared in the UEFA Cup. Returning to Scotland, he joined East Fife in October 1999. He then joined Berwick Rangers in 2000, making over 100 league appearances before leaving in 2005. Forrest ended his playing career with amateur club Burntisland Shipyard.[3]

Coaching career

Having left senior football whilst still in his twenties, Forrest concentrated on his coaching career, obtaining a UEFA 'A' licence and youth and child coaching licences from the Scottish Football Association (SFA). He went on to work for the SFA as a Youth Development Officer in Edinburgh and Fife. In 2009 he returned to East Fife, working as first team coach under manager Stevie Crawford.[3] In 2011, he emigrated to New Zealand to work as a football development manager for the Northern Football Federation.[4] He was also assistant coach for the New Zealand women's national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In October 2012, Forrest joined Canadian-based Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise Vancouver Whitecaps FC as head coach of their under-18 team and manager of coaching development.[3] In January 2014 was promoted to working with the MLS team as an assistant coach to Carl Robinson.[5] Whitecaps released Robinson and his coaching team, including Forrest, in September 2018.[6]

Forrest returned to Scotland in January 2019 to take up the position of assistant head coach to Robbie Neilson at Scottish Championship club Dundee United,[7] a role he shared with Lee McCulloch from June 2019 onwards.[8] When Neilson left the club in June 2020 to become manager at Heart of Midlothian, Forrest and McCulloch were initially placed in temporary charge at United[9] before joining Hearts as Neilson's assistants.[10]

References
  1. The Scottish Football Review 2004/05. Burford: CRE8. 2004. p. 70. ISBN 9780954855604.
  2. "Vancouver coach Gordon Forrest backs Dunfermline Athletic's youth route". Dunfermline Press. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  3. Mccoll, Michael (18 October 2012). "Gordon Forrest joins Whitecaps as U18 Head Coach". Canadian Soccer News. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  4. "Assistant Coach and Head of High Performance – Gordon Forrest". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  5. Vose, Christopher (14 February 2014). "Getting to know Gordon Forrest". The Vancouver Herald. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  6. Bogert, Tom (25 September 2018). "Vancouver Whitecaps part ways with Carl Robinson". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. "Dundee United: Morgaro Gomis signs up for third spell". BBC Sport. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  8. Nicolson, Eric (27 June 2019). "Lee McCulloch gets new role with Dundee United". The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  9. "Robbie Neilson: Hearts name Dundee Utd boss to replace Daniel Stendel". BBC Sport. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  10. "Hearts: Lee McCulloch & Gordon Forrest join Robbie Neilson's staff". BBC Sport. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
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