Gartland wants to add another medal to collection

Jan 2 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

Patience of a Saint rewarded

GRAHAM Gartland has bagged seven medals in six years in Irish football, reports Gordon Bannerman.

Now he wants to add a Scottish First Division badge to his collection.

St Johnstone are set to benefit from a credit crunch which has devastated Drogheda United, leaving central defender Gartland a free agent just 12 months after the Irish champions rebuffed a £250,000 bid from Ipswich Town.

Former Perth manager Owen Coyle was showing an interest in Gartland and earlier in the month the 25-year-old was also at Leicester City for a few days.

But both clubs wanted to see him in action and Saints manager Derek McInnes had already handled the groundwork.

Gartland, who also rejected an offer from Swedish outfit Helsinborg and deals being dangled by Inverness Caley Thistle and Hamilton, noted that McInnes had watched him with Drogheda back in October.

“Saints showed early interest. Other clubs became keen when I became a free agent after Drogheda had to go into administration. Derek has shown faith in me and he’s been very patient.

“I knew Tony Docherty from my time with Dundee United as a youngster and he had watched me playing for the Republic B team against Scotland.

“That prompted Derek to come across to Ireland to see me and we had a chat.”

Gartland, who was introduced to Perth fans attending a successful Meet the Manager event this week at the stadium, knows several of Dundee United’s Irish contingent who have set up camp in Inchture.

He said: “I had offers from Inverness and Hamilton and Helsinborg, who remembered me from a UEFA Cup tie. But the English clubs wanted me for a longer trial period.

“I decided to come to Saints and get playing again as quickly as possible. I’d love to help Saints get promotion and maybe we can sit down and talk again in the summer.”

The Irish don’t play winter football but Drogheda face a fight for survival just months after almost knocking Dynamo Kiev out of the Champions League to make the lucrative group stages.

“I scored and we hit the post late in the game in the Ukraine. If that had gone in we’d have been through,” said Gartland. “That really whetted the appetite.

“It’s such a shame the club went bust three months later.

“We had been on a great run but the club was shafted over plans for a 10,000 seater stadium and the property crash killed it off.”

The popular defender revealed he had thrown his weight behind fans’ fundraising initiatives to keep the club going, raffling jerseys and playing in a charity game.

But now his focus is on St Johnstone and the league campaign, although the looming cup clash with Rangers – who he was linked with recently in the Irish media – is an added bonus.