Ah yes, Andy Halliday. Our footballer of note was born on a chilly day of 18 October 1991, currently circles the sun at the ripe age of 34, and hails from the place that gave the world haggis and kilt; Scotland. Halliday took up the path of a midfielder who takes up the fragrantly central role for the glamour of Motherwell. At a whisker above Hobbit height, he stands 1.73m (5ft 8in) tall and tips the scales at a delicate 67kg (10st 7lb). You will, provided you squint correctly, spot him in the number 11 jersey, traditionally associated with some of the footballing world's most creative drudgery.
The wondrous sources at Transfermarkt value our plucky Scotsman at a whopping €200k, a sum that when converted to the far more reasonable currency of pounds, comes out at a not-so-extravagant yet definitively four-figure sum of £175k.
Halliday embarked on his journeyman career back in 2007, throwing in his lot with Livingston in the sparkling world of the Premiership in Scotland. He mustered a solitary first team bow in his debut 2007-2008 season. But don't despair! Our granny-smitten lad went on to clock a semi-consistent ticker of appearances, seasoning them with a paltry spritz of goals along the way.
In 2010, the thrill of England's Championship wooed him away to Middlesbrough for the lordly sum of £100k. It was here in the smog-blanketed industrial northern England he honed his famed routine of 'not quite consistently making it into the first team regularly.'
Halliday's illustrious journey has seen him detour through Walsall and Blackpool (twice!). Lest we forget his grand encore performance at Middlesbrough, as predictably underwhelming as his previous turns.
Without missing a beat, he declared 'enough of England's lower leagues' and packed his trunk for Bradford City. It was a predictably underwhelming stretch, before a return to his homeland beckoned, and the illustrious Rangers reeled him in.
At Rangers, Halliday jogged onto the pitch in the league with admittedly a smidge more regularity, and even managed to occasionally go mad and net a goal or few. Although there was a brief dalliance with Azerbaijani delights of Qəbələ, Halliday couldn't resist the allure of Rangers' fan-fuelled fury and returned post haste.
Yet, like a moth to a slightly different flame, Halliday was drawn to Hearts in 2020. His tenure there was as enthusiastically non-lustrous as his previous ones; judiciously put he made less than sterling contributions.
Eventually, our nomadic Halliday drifted towards Motherwell, further proving that monotony is perhaps the key to his enduring career. It seems Motherwell has braced itself for the characteristic string of appearances, interspersed by a sparse constellation of goals from our tireless midfielder.
Halliday's forays into the Scottish Cup and League Cup fray are equally inspiring, punctuated by sparse starts and a smattering of substitute cameos. Indeed, one can only look forward to more not-quite-eclipsing mediocrity as the seasons roll on.
