 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Tidser[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1990-01-15)15 January 1990 (age 35) | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2009 | Celtic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2010 | Östersunds | 0 | (0) |
| 2010–2013 | Greenock Morton | 103 | (9) |
| 2013–2015 | Rotherham United | 11 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Ross County (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | →Oldham Athletic (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2015–2019 | Greenock Morton | 102 | (9) |
| 2019–2020 | Falkirk | 9 | (0) |
| 2020–2025 | Kelty Hearts | 115 | (6) |
| International career | |||
| 2007 | Scotland U18 | 3 | (1) |
| 2008 | Scotland U19 | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2023–2025 | Kelty Hearts | ||
| 2025 | Dunfermline Athletic | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17 January 2025 | |||
Michael Tidser (born 15 January 1990) is a Scottish formerfootballer, who most recently managedScottish Championship clubDunfermline Athletic.
Tidser began his career withCeltic (featuring for Scotland atunder-19 international level during his time there), before spending a short time inSweden withÖstersunds FK. He returned to Scotland for three seasons atGreenock Morton, making over 100 appearances. He next moved to English clubRotherham United. After spells on loan withRoss County andOldham Athletic, Tidser returned to Morton in 2015 and remained until 2019, following which he had a short spell withFalkirk. In 2020 he signed forKelty Hearts, being part of the team which gained two successive promotions, and became their player-manager in 2023. He joinedDunfermline Athletic in January 2025 but was sacked two months later.[3]
Born inGlasgow, Tidser started his career withCeltic and wascaptain of the Under-19s before being released.[4] He then signed a short-term contract with Swedish sideÖstersunds FK.[5]
After his contract expired with Östersunds, he signed an 18-month deal withGreenock Morton.[6]
Tidser made an impressive start for the club, winning the Young Player of the Month for March 2010.[7] He was watched byRangers coachKenny McDowall.[8]
In the 2010–11 season, Tidser scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win overPartick Thistle.[9] His impressive performances drew interest fromScottish Premier League'sKilmarnock and League One sideHuddersfield Town, but no offers were made.[10] On 12 February 2011, Tidser was sent off after a second bookable offence in a 1–0 loss againstFalkirk;[11] after the match, managerAllan Moore said he was disappointed with Tidser's action.[12] In April 2011, Tidser signed a new three-year deal with Morton.[13]
In 2011–12, Tidser started well, scoring his first goal of the season before providing an assist forPeter MacDonald to score the winning goal in a 2–1 win overLivingston on 13 August 2011. A week later, on 23 August 2011, he scored again and set up a goal for MacDonald in the second round of the Scottish League Cup, in a 4–3 loss toSt Mirren. However, his early season was overshadowed with a knee problem.[14][15] Following an operation, it was announced that he would be out for two months and expected to come back in December.[16] Soon in mid-November, Tidser resumed training.[17] Upon recovering from injury, Tidser spoke to theGreenock Telegraph, describing his absence through injury as "torture".[18] In January 2012, afterStuart McCaffrey was ruled out for the season, Tidser was made Morton's team captain just after his 22nd birthday.[19] On 20 March 2012, he scored his second goal of the season in a 2–0 win over Falkirk.
In 2012–13, Tidser had a good season with the club as they battled with Partick Thistle for promotion to the Scottish Premier League (Morton eventually finished second). On 6 October 2012 Tidser provided assists forKevin Rutkiewicz andMark McLaughlin in a 3–1 win over Partick. It wasn't until 29 December 2012 when Tidser scored his first goals of the season, with a brace in a 4–2 win overDunfermline Athletic. That was followed up on 26 January 2013 when he scored in a 1–0 win overRaith Rovers. His next goal came on 23 February 2013 when he again scored against Dunfermline, with the same result as the previous meeting. On 16 March 2013, Tidser scored his final goal of the season in a 3–0 win overDumbarton. During the season he also made several assists, and also scored five times in the Scottish Cup, including doubles againstAlbion Rovers andTurriff United. However, he suffered a groin injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season.[20] He was nominated for the2012–13 First Division Player of the Year,[21] and won the supporters' club awards.[22] In June 2013, Tidser was the subject of a £50k bid fromRotherham United, which was rejected in initially by Morton chairmanDouglas Rae.[23] A further bid five days later was accepted.[24]
Tidser officially signed forRotherham United on 3 July 2013.[25] The following week, on 9 July 2013, Tidser played against his former club Morton; when brought on as a late substitute, he was given a standing ovation by Morton's fans.[26]
After being unused in the first two matches of the2013–14 season, Tidser made his debut for Rotherham as a late substitute in a 2–1 win overCrawley Town. Most of his subsequent appearances were also from the bench.[27]
On 3 January 2014, Tidser joinedRoss County on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season in order to help the club retain theirScottish Premiership status.[28][29] He made his debut the next day, coming on as a substitute in the second half in a 1–0 win overSt Johnstone.[30] Tidser's playing time increased, and he provided assists againstHibernian on 15 February andSt Mirren on 22 February. However, a knee injury put him out for the remainder of the season.[31] Tidser made 16 appearances for Ross County and returned to his parent club at the end of the season.[32]
After making his return to Rotherham, Tidser made his first appearance for the club in a year, in a 1–0 win overFleetwood Town inthe first round of the League Cup.[33] He made two more appearances for the club, againstWatford in the league[34] and another League Cup appearance againstSwansea City.[35] On 1 September 2014, in the last hour of Deadline Day, Tidser signed forOldham Athletic on loan until January 2015.[36] Tidser made his Oldham debut inthe second round of Football League Trophy, which they beatBarnsley 4–2 on penalty shoot-out,[37] but struggled to secure a place in the first team and made seven appearances in all competitions.[38]
He was released in January 2015 after two years at Rotherham United, and was quickly on the radar of former club Morton.[39][40]
In January 2015, Tidser returned to Morton on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[41] He was unable, however, to play until the following season due toFIFA transfer regulations having already played for two clubs in 2014–15.[42] Because of this, he played in the club's reserve matches to maintain his fitness throughout the season.[43]
His 2015–16 season with Morton was limited to very few appearances before finally being ruled out all together in March after suffering a suspectedhernia.[44] In June 2017, Tidser signed a two-year extension with the club.[45]
Tidser signed forFalkirk on 10 June 2019[46] and played for the club during the first half of the 2019–20 season.
Kelty Hearts of theLowland Football League signed Tidser as a player in February 2020, though theCOVID-19 pandemic soon disputed his early time there, with theFife club declared champions based on points accumulated before the season was curtailed, but denied the chance of promotion.[47] A year later, he scored the clinching goal againstBrechin City in the2021 SPFL pyramid playoffs against to send Kelty into the professional divisions for the first time in their history.[48] They secured a second successive promotion by winning the2021–22 Scottish League Two title.
In April 2023, Kelty announced that Tidser would become their new player-manager.[49] While he led the club, they maintained their place inScottish League One and were well on course to do so again in2024–25.[50]
Tidser made three appearances for both the Scotlandunder-18 andunder-19 sides, scoring once for the under-18's againstTurkey.[51]
In January 2025,Scottish Championship sideDunfermline Athletic appointed Tidser as their new manager on a two-and-a-half year deal. Kelty Hearts assistant managerKevin McDonald also made the move between theFife clubs.[50][48] Tidser was sacked on 17 March 2025 after 11 games in charge, only three of which had victories.[3]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Greenock Morton | 2009–10[52] | Scottish First Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2010–11[53] | 34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 1 | ||
| 2011–12[54] | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1[a] | 0 | 30 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13[55] | 31 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1[a] | 1 | 37 | 11 | ||
| Total | 103 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 118 | 15 | ||
| Rotherham United | 2013–14[56] | League One | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2014–15[57] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Ross County (loan) | 2013–14[56] | Scottish Premiership | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | |
| Oldham Athletic (loan) | 2014–15[57] | League One | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Greenock Morton | 2015–16[58] | Scottish Championship | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 2016–17[59] | 28 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 38 | 3 | ||
| 2017–18[60] | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 36 | 3 | ||
| 2018–19[61] | 30 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 8 | ||
| Total | 102 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 130 | 15 | ||
| Falkirk | 2019–20[62] | Scottish League One | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Kelty Hearts | 2020–21[63] | Lowland League | 12[d] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4[e] | 1 | 21[d] | 2 |
| 2021–22[64] | Scottish League Two | 33 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 3 | |
| 2022–23[65] | Scottish League One | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 40 | 1 | |
| 2023–24[66] | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 3 | ||
| 2024-25[67] | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Kelty Hearts Total | 115 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 149 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 361 | 24 | 28 | 5 | 44 | 7 | 20 | 3 | 453 | 39 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Kelty Hearts | 17 May 2023 | 16 January 2025 | 71 | 26 | 16 | 29 | 036.62 |
| Dunfermline Athletic | 17 January 2025 | 17 March 2025 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 027.27 |
| Total | 82 | 29 | 18 | 35 | 035.37 | ||
Kelty Hearts
Greenock Morton
