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Fullname: Ross Wallace
Born: 23 May 1985
Birthplace: Dundee, Scotland
Signed: 12 May 2002
Left: 31 August 2006
Position: Left-back, winger
Debut: Celtic 4-2 Inv CT, League Cup, 23 Oct 2002
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps:1 cap
International Goals: 0
Biog
Winger Ross Wallace was a bright prospect who never fulfilled his early promise in a Celtic shirt.
A product of the Bhoys youth set-up Wallace was given his first team opportunity under Martin O’Neill. He showed plenty of promise in these early performances and along with Shaun Maloney provided a hint that there could be a new generation of homegrown talent set to emerge at Parkhead.
Wallace had a good goal ratio for a wideman and his pace meant he was always liable to trouble most full-backs. However, his distribution could be poor and a loss of form saw the youngster fall out of the first team picture.
Probably his high mark was scoring a hat-trick in an admittedly easy & very one-sided 8-1 victory v Falkirk in the league Cup in September 2004.
New boss Gordon Strachan inexplicably tried Ross Wallace at left-back but despite the player’s obvious enthusiasm to impress it was all too clear that he was a square peg in a round hole partially due to Ross Wallace’s lack of height (although it hasn’t necessarily hindered many other full-backs). Following this failed experiment first team opportunities became increasingly rare and a move away from the Bhoys was inevitable despite being well-liked.
Post-Celtic
After a trial at Birmingham Wallace joined Sunderland in August 2006 in a £1 million joint deal which also saw fellow defender Stan Varga move to Wearside. After initially impressing at the Stadium of Light Wallace saw his career with Roy Keane’s side suffer through injury and a loss of form (as well as the rapid decline in Sunderland’s form under Keane’s management).
He got into trouble with his manager apparently as he had a penchant for taking his top off after scoring, which led to two sendings off once v Hull City (Oct 2006) & once v Birmingham City (Apr 2009), and even a booking after his first goal in the top tier of English football.
He subsequently moved on to Preston North End. where he was quite successful, and then moved to Burnley where he cemented a place as a regular there at left-back. He was even described by the Burnley manager as “one of the best left-sided players in the Championship“, so maybe Strachan was onto something with Wallace.
In 2009, he even went on to win a single cap for Scotland (2-0 win v Japan in a friendly), but sadly was not to win any further caps for the national side.
Spent five seasons with Burnley, helping them to promotion to the top tier in England, and then later moved onto Sheffield Wednesday for a few seasons, and then onto Fleetwood Town.
Interestingly, wherever he went to play for a club he remained to play a significant number of games for each club, which is very rare. It showed his value and the confidence managers had in him as a player.
The only exception was a short stay on his return up north with St Mirren, for whom he only played a few times in February 2020, when soon enough Covid hit and he decided to hang up his playing boots after retiring at the end of the season.
He returned to Burnley as their club’s youth development officer.
He never lost his Celtic roots, and played in front of 48,000 supporters for a ‘Celtic Legends’ select side at Anfield v their Liverpool counterparts in a charity match in March 2023.
We wish him the best.
Playing Career
| Club | From | To | Fee | League | Scottish/FA Cup | League cup | Other | ||||
| Celtic | 12/05/2002 | 31/08/2006 | Trainee | 18 (19) | 1 | 2 (2) | 0 | 3 (1) | 3 | 1 (6) | 0 |
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Scottish League Cup
Pictures
Articles
Ross Wallace reveals Roy Keane’s softer side on Celtic View Podcast
By Paul Gillespie 13 March, 2023 No Comments
Ross Wallace reveals Roy Keane’s softer side on Celtic View Podcast
Ross Wallace has been speaking to the Celtic View Podcast, reflecting on Roy Keane’s time at Celtic Park and his personality more generally. Wallace was of course a teammate of Keane’s when the Republic of Ireland man joined the club as a free agent after leaving Man United in 2005. Wallace was an aspiring Celtic first-team player and was surprised when Keane came up to the Scottish Premiership.
Roy Keane and manager Gordon Strachan (R) attend a press conference to announce Keane’s signing for Celtic on December 15, 2005. (Photo by Alan Peebles/Getty Images)
Having a preconception about how Keane would be after watching from afar at his fiery character out there on the football pitch, Wallace was taken aback when Roy turned out to be quite different from what he had initially conceived of the ex-Manchester United captain.
“It was a bit of a strange one actually because we obviously thought he would have that connection with the older players, the former Sunderland and Burnley player said. “But he never. He came right in with the younger lads.
“I think he came into our group which had big Stephen McManus and John Kennedy – all the younger lads. We used to drive to Barrowfield and he used to jump in with us to go to training. You’d think he would jump in with the older and experienced lads. You’d be there in your Corsa and little Volkswagen Polo and you’ve got Roy Keane there sitting in the back.
“Those are little pinch-yourself moments, he was brilliant with the young lads. He was a totally different character to what you see on the TV.” Wallace revealed.
Maciej Zurawaski of Celtic celebrates with Shaun Maloney (L) and Ross Wallace during the League Cup Final between Celtic and Dunfermline at Hampden Park March 19, 2006. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Keane didn’t manage to play for the Hoops for what you would call an extensive period of time, and most likely just wanted to say that he pulled on the famous green and white jersey (as they always do!). However he did have a memorable match against Rangers where he bossed the now liquidated football club in their own backyard at Ibrox. He went onto retire after that short spell in Glasgow’s East End and then headed into management with Sunderland.
Wallace was one of his first signings and the ex-winger revealed that Keane has a softer and more humorous side from what is portrayed on television and the media. The now Burnley coach said: “When I moved to Sunderland I’d see some people getting the wrath of Keano, but at Celtic I think he was quite subdued and laid back. He ended up picking up a hamstring injury and I don’t think he and Gordon saw eye-to-eye.
“I think he wanted to fulfill playing for Celtic as he was a Celtic man. He wanted that experience of playing for the club. But in terms of the younger lads, he was brilliant with us and attached himself to us which was strange! You’ve got this thing with Roy where he’s always quite stern and straight-faced but he loved a laugh and a joke as well.
He said: “The first day when I went down to Sunderland to meet him and sign, he walks into the living room and asks if I want a cup of tea. Then he has a high chair sitting up there and tried to put me in the high chair! Just little things like that, the little one-liners and jokes. He was brilliant, it just settles you right away and we obviously went on to have a successful season.”