Danny Griffin

At age 15, Griffin left high school in Belfast six months early to join St Johnstone. He made his professional debut two years later. It was while he was with the McDiarmid Park club that Griffin made his international debut against Germany in a 1–1 draw on 29 May 1996 in Belfast and scored his first international goal in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland three years, to the day, later. In the following months, English club Derby County offered St Johnstone £1,000,000 for their 18-year-old centre-back. Griffin was beginning to develop a good relationship with St Johnstone and he felt there was much more he could learn from Paul Sturrock, so he turned down the move. In 1996, Griffin scored an own goal, the only goal of the game, in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final loss to Stranraer. After seven years in Perth, Griffin followed manager Paul Sturrock to Tayside rivals Dundee United. However, he suffered a knee injury that saw him out for four months. By December, Griffin made his return from injury. On 23 December 2000, he made his return to the starting line-up and played 81 minutes before being substituted, in a 3-1 loss against Hearts. On 4 April 2001, Griffin scored his first goal for the club, in a 4-1 loss against Aberdeen. Ahead of the 2001-02 season, Griffin was eventually become captain. Following injury problems, Griffin lost his regular place and joined English side Stockport County in 2004 as a free agent. After being released by Stockport, in December 2005…

St Johnstone Scottish Challenge Cup runner-up: 1 1996–97 Scottish League Cup runner-up: 1 1998–99 Livingston Scottish Third Division winner: 1 2009–10 Arbroath Scottish Third Division winner: 1 2010–11