Ross Wallace

Celtic

Born in Dundee, Wallace started his career with Celtic and progressed through the club's youth system. He made his Celtic debut, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute, in a 4–2 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the third round of the Scottish League Cup on 27 October 2002. With one appearance made in the 2002–03 season, Wallace signed his first professional contract with the club on 23 June 2003 on a four-year deal. A pacy left winger, Wallace made his UEFA Champions League debut against FBK Kaunas in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second round, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 win to advance to the next round. It was not until on 1 November 2003 when he made his first league appearance for Celtic, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute, in a 5–0 win against Kilmarnock. This was followed up by scoring his first goal for the club, in a 5–0 win over Dunfermline Athletic on 8 November 2003. Whilst clearly a skillful player, Wallace made only a few more first team appearances that season, as Alan Thompson remained the first-choice wide-left player at Celtic, but his contributions to the club saw them win the league after winning 1–0 against Kilmarnock on 18 April 2004. Following a 1–1 draw against Motherwell on 12 May 2004, he was attacked by a pitch-invasion Motherwell supporter, prompting a police investigation. Wallace picked up his first silverware with the club, coming on as a second-half substitute for Stephen Pearson…

Between 2002 and 2006, Wallace represented Scotland, playing from U18 and Scotland U21. In November 2007, Wallace was called up to the Scotland B team squad for the first time. He made his B team debut, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Republic of Ireland B team on 20 November 2007. Throughout his football career, Wallace made statements that moving to new clubs and performances would benefited his hopes of getting a call–up from the Scotland national team. There were public calls from teammates and managers to convince the national team to call him to the squad, but was overlooked instead. With the exception in October when he was called up to the national team squad. Wallace made one full international appearance for Scotland, in a friendly match with Japan on 10 October 2009.

Following his release by St. Mirren, Wallace retired from professional football. He previously announced his intention to move to coaching once his playing days is over. In March 2021, Wallace re–joined Burnley as club's youth development. In December 2023, he returned to Fleetwood Town as first-team coach. In February 2026, he became the interim manager of Burnley FC Women.

Early in his football career, Wallace developed a reputation for taking off his shirt after scoring a goal. After his sending off against Hull City on 28 October 2006, Wallace said he would stop taking off his shirt and learn from his mistake. In response, manager Keane said he had no sympathy for Wallace, but decided not to "crucify him" and hope the player learned his lesson. After scoring his first goal in the Premier League, he took off his shirt once again and was booked as a result. After the match, Wallace, once again, apologised and promised not to do it again, but did not express regret over his actions. He acknowledged of facing a fine from manager Keane. Two years later, Wallace was again sent–off for taking off his shirt after celebrating a goal against Birmingham City, which turned to be a winning goal, in a 2–1 win on 25 April 2009 and was suspended for one match. In October 2013, Wallace became a victim of a death hoax when Twitter users tweeted that he died in a car crash. Four months later, Wallace spoke in an interview about the tweet for the first time, saying "It was just a lot of rubbish, I don’t know what happened there".