Ian Westwater


Ian Westwater is an English former professional football goalkeeper, who spent the majority of his career with Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic.

Career

Playing

Westwater started his career with Scottish Premier Division side Hearts, making his debut for the Tynecastle side at just 16 years of age. He went on to play only one other game for the side, before being signed by Dunfermline Athletic for £4,000 in March 1985. It was with Dunfermline that Westwater would be most prosperous, playing in over 190 games in his first spell at the club. His debut came against Stranraer in April 1985.
Westwater moved to local rivals Falkirk in a player swap deal in August 1991, where in his first season he helped the club gain promotion to the Scottish Premier Division. After being relegated in 1993, he again helped the side in 1994 in their promotion winning season before moving on a short-term deal to Dundee.
After playing no games for Dundee, Westwater moved back to Dunfermline Athletic for his second spell with the club, signing for £15,000. He stayed with the Pars, helping them achieve promotion to the Scottish Premier Division in 1996. He played in over 110 league games in his second spell but towards the end of his Dunfermline career, he was ousted by younger goalkeepers. He made the short move across the River Forth to Easter Road side Hibernian in 2000, where he would fail to play any matches before hanging up his gloves in 2004.

Coaching

During his spell with Hibernian, Westwater was the goalkeeping coach for the Leith side. He had to retire from football completely in 2005 due to injury and was replaced by Gordon Marshall as Hibs' goalkeeping coach.