Gary Caldwell, (born April 12, 1982, in Stirling), is a Scotland international football player who currently plays for Scottish Premier League team Celtic.
Primarily considered a central defender, Caldwell proved extremely versatile and had been deployed as a right-back, defensive midfielder and man-marker at various spells in his career.
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Club career
Caldwell started his career with Celtic Boys Club. At 16 he went to England, alongside his elder brother Steven at Newcastle United. Breaking through from the reserves proved difficult, however, and in search of regular first team football, he went on loan to other clubs on several occasions: Darlington and Hibernian in 2001-02, then Coventry and Derby County the following season. In the summer of 2003 he was given a free transfer, and despite being linked with boyhood favourites Celtic, he returned to Easter Road to sign with Hibs.
Transfer speculation continued to see him linked with a move to Celtic, and persistent rumours that he had signed a pre-contract agreement to join the club in the summer of 2006 were finally confirmed on January 20.
International career
Since winning his first Scotland cap in 2002, under the reign of Berti Vogts, Caldwell had established himself as a squad, if not first team, regular. As of October 2006, he has played 23 times for his country, scoring twice.
Caldwell’s international debut came in the first match of Berti Vogts management, a 5-0 defeat to France at the Stade de France. Ironically, what is possibly the finest moment of his career came also against France, scoring the only goal of the game as Scotland defeated the World Cup runners up 1-0 at Hampden Park, on October 7, 2006 in a Euro 2008 qualifying match
