Steven Naismith

Steven John Naismith (born 14 September 1986, in Irvine, North Ayrshire) is a Scottish football (soccer), currently playing for Scottish Premier League club Rangers F.C..

Club career

Kilmarnock

He made his senior debut in the 2003-04 in Scottish football as a substitute against Hibernian F.C. in April 2004. This was in a season where he helped Kilmarnock Under 19's win the Scottish Youth Cup against Rangers 1-0 at Rugby Park. He scored his first senior goal for the club in a 2-2 draw with Heart of Midlothian F.C. in February 2005.

In the 2005-06 in Scottish football he won the Scottish Football Writers' Association "Young Player Of The Year" Award, after some impressive performances and scoring 13 goals. He played as no 7 for Kilmarnock in the Striker position, but can also play on the left of midfield. A resident of Stewarton, Naismith attended Lainshaw Primary School and Stewarton Academy, whilst his footballing education took place with local junior team Stewarton Annick. He then played several years in the Kilmarnock youth team before signing for the Kilmarnock senior team.

Naismith's performances led to a two-day trial with Arsenal in August 2006. In the same month, Kilmarnock rejected a seven-figure bid for the player from Southampton.

In January 2007 Naismith scored his first professional hat-trick, in a 3-0 Scottish League Cup victory over Falkirk F.C.. In April 2007, Naismith received the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year award for his efforts in the 2006-07 season.

On 4 June 2007 it was reported that Rangers F.C. had made a bid of around £400,000 for the striker, with Kilmarnock officials incensed by what they thought a derisory offer.. On the July 26, it was widely reported that Naismith had handed in an official transfer request. His agent hit out at Kilmarnock for not allowing Naismith to join his "boyhood heroes", Rangers, and he claimed that the Ibrox club would be the only transfer he would consider, however reports surfaced on the BBC suggesting Kilmarnock were close to accepting a bid of around £2m from Rangers' Old Firm rivals Celtic FC. Shortly afterwards Naismith withdrew his transfer request.

Rangers

On Friday August 31 at 23:11 Sky Sports broke the news that Kilmarnock had accepted Rangers' most recent offer for the striker, a fee in the region of £1.9m had been agreed between the two clubs and he signed just 19 seconds before the end of the window. The next day he started as a sub against Gretna F.C. and made his appearance with 7 minutes left. He scored his first goal for Rangers in a 3-0 win over Aberdeen F.C on September 23, 2007.

Naismith was injured during Rangers Scottish Cup semi final against St. Johnstone F.C. on 20 April 2008 and following surgery in May 2008, Naismith was ruled out for up to a year.

International career

Naismith scored on his debut for Scotland national under-21 football team v Iceland in a 4-0 victory in March 2006 and in the same month scored on his debut for the Scotland B national football team v Turkey in a 3-2 defeat. He has also played for Scotland at U18 level.

On 1 June 2007 Naismith was called up to the Scotland national football team squad for the first time and made his debut as a late substitute in the 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands national football team.

On August 21, 2007, Naismith captained the Scotland U-21 team and scored the 4th minute winner against the Czech Republic U-21s. He has won 10 U-21 caps and scored three goals to date.