Stephen Glass

Stephen Glass (born 23 May 1976) is a Scottish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of Memphis 901 in the USL Championship.

A midfielder, Glass started his career at Aberdeen, with whom he won the 1995 Scottish League Cup. In 1998, he moved to England, transferring to Newcastle United of the Premier League. Shortly after joining Newcastle, Glass made an appearance for the Scotland national football team. He joined Watford in the First Division in 2001, before returning to Scotland in 2003 with Hibernian. He joined Dunfermline Athletic in 2007 and was released at the end of the 2009–10 season. Glass finished his playing career with American club Carolina RailHawks.

Glass worked as an assistant manager for Shamrock Rovers. He then had four years in the Atlanta United organisation, including a spell as interim head coach of their MLS team. Glass was appointed Aberdeen manager in March 2021, but was sacked after less than a year in that position.

Playing career Aberdeen Glass started his career with Aberdeen where he was regarded as one of Scotland's brightest prospects. He broke through into the first team during a relegation struggle in the 1994–95 season, and scored goals in the final league fixture and in both legs of the subsequent playoff to maintain his club's top-division status. In Aberdeen's League Cup victory against Dundee in November 1995, he set up both goals in the Dons 2–0 success. His performance earned him the man-of-the-match award (a mountain bike) as well as a winner's medal.

Newcastle United Glass moved to English Premier League team Newcastle United in 1998, for a fee of £650,000.

Injury, particularly a serious knee problem, He left the club at the end of the 2000–01 season.

Watford In the summer of 2001 Glass signed for Watford on a free transfer, as part of Gianluca Vialli's new-look side. He was one of the more successful Vialli signings, and one of the few to be kept on by his successor, Ray Lewington. However, due to financial constraints Glass had to be released when his contract ended in the summer of 2003. Ironically, after this announcement was made he scored a stunning free-kick in Watford's victory over Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-final.

Hibernian Glass was released by Watford at the end of the 2002–03 season and then signed for Hibernian on a three-year contract. He came to Hibs at a time when the club were cutting their budget and several younger players were being introduced to the squad. Glass missed only two league games due to injury in 2004–05 and his presence helped hold together a Hibernian midfield which was weakened by lengthy injuries to star players Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson and Guillaume Beuzelin. Along with numerous goal assists, Glass also chipped in with two key goals in Hibernian's league campaign; the first was a volley which proved to be a winning goal against Aberdeen in December 2004, while his free-kick helped Hibs to a 2–1 over Dunfermline the following week.

Glass was forced to start the 2005–06 season on the bench for Hibs. Injury to left-back David Murphy in November, however, saw him drafted in as cover and his dependable performances won him his midfield berth back after the new year. Although injuries and inconsistency thwarted Hibs bid for both a top-three finish and a Scottish Cup final place, Glass nonetheless featured in Hibs' impressive wins over Rangers and Hearts in 2006. He accepted Tony Mowbray's offer of a two-year contract extension in April 2006. Glass was overlooked for the vacant Hibs captaincy in favour of Gary Caldwell and then Kevin Thomson in 2005 and 2006, perhaps because manager Mowbray no longer saw him to be certain of automatic first-team selection. When Mowbray was succeeded as Hibs manager by John Collins in October 2006, Glass fell further down the pecking order.

Dunfermline Athletic Having made only two first-team starts for Hibs during the first half of the 2006–07 season, he was allowed to move to Dunfermline Athletic to gain more regular first team football. He joined the Pars on 25 January 2007 on loan until the end of the season. After impressing Pars then-manager Stephen Kenny, Glass signed a two-year contract with the Fife club. At the start of the 2008–09 season, Glass was made vice-captain to Scott Wilson by manager Jim McIntyre and was made captain for the 2009–10 season. Glass suffered a knee injury early in that season and was released by Dunfermline at the end of the season. St Mirren manager Danny Lennon confirmed soon afterwards, however, that he would not be following up his interest in Glass.

Carolina RailHawks Glass was signed by Carolina RailHawks of the second division North American Soccer League on 7 March 2011. Soon afterwards, Glass injured a hip, which prompted him to retire from playing football. and 'B' teams.

Coaching career Shamrock Rovers On 13 January 2012, Glass joined Shamrock Rovers as assistant manager, working for his former Dunfermline boss Stephen Kenny. On 11 September 2012 he was put in temporary charge of Shamrock Rovers, following Kenny's dismissal as manager.

Atlanta United After becoming an academy coach of Atlanta United FC in August 2018, Glass made the move to become the head coach of the club's USL Championship side Atlanta United 2 on 30 January 2019. On July 27, 2020, Glass was named interim coach of Atlanta United, replacing Frank de Boer, who had departed the club by mutual agreement a few days prior. Glass returned to his role at Atlanta United 2 after Gabriel Heinze was appointed the full-time coach of the club's first-team in January 2021.

Aberdeen Glass was appointed Aberdeen manager in March 2021, succeeding Derek McInnes. He was sacked by Aberdeen in February 2022, following a Scottish Cup defeat at Motherwell. The team were in ninth place in the Premiership at the time of his departure.

Memphis 901 On 22 November 2022, Glass was named head coach for USL Championship club Memphis 901. Glass remained manager of Memphis until the club folded on 13 November 2024.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Shamrock Rovers (interim)11 September 20126 November 2012

Honours PlayerAberdeenScottish League Cup: 1995–96 Newcastle UnitedFA Cup runner-up: 1998–99 Individual''' 1995 Scottish League Cup Final Man of the Match