The Thistle Archive

Paul was a reliable presence between the sticks for numerous clubs across Scotland and England. His professional journey began at Dundee United, where he made over 130 appearances over several years from 1997. He broke into the international set-up during his Tannadice years, making his senior international debut for Scotland under manager Berti Vogts on 23 May 2002 against a Hong Kong XI. Over the next two years, he regularly featured in Scotland's squads and European Championship qualification periods, ultimately representing his country on eight occasions. In 2004, he moved south of the border to Norwich City, following their promotion to the English Premier League. He later enjoyed notable spells with Dunfermline Athletic (twice) and St Mirren from 2007 to 2013.

In a deal which suited both parties at the time, Paul signed for Thistle in May 2013 in a dual role of goalkeeping coach as well as serving a strong back-up 'keeper to Scott Fox. The 34-year-old endeared himself to the Firhill faithful when he stepped up to the plate in mid January 2014 to finally make his home debut vs. Kilmarnock, Scott Fox having injured his ankle in midweek training. Such was his status within the group, Paul took the captain's armband that day in the absence of Sean Welsh. Thistle were leading 1-0 and looked to be heading for the first home win of the season when Killie were awarded a last minute penalty. Paul dived to his left and pushed Kris Boyd’s spot-kick away but, unfortunately, Robbie Muirhead was the quickest to react to the loose ball and he tucked it home, thus depriving Thistle of all three points that they surely deserved. Paul was "in" for the rest of the season and the following month he once again saved a penalty at Firhill, this time resulting in a fine 3-1 win at home to Aberdeen - the first home win of the league season. Following his impressive contributions on and off the park it came as no surprise when Paul signed a new one-year contract with Thistle in May 2014. He made his first appearance of the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership season on 16th August, coming on as a replacement for the red-carded Scott Fox against Dundee and went on to save the subsequent Gary Harkins penalty. Heroic stuff! He got back "in" for an extensive 4 month stint from November after Fox had missed out due to food poisoning. Paul became Thistle's third-choice goalkeeper during the 2015/16 season, behind Tomas Cerny and Ryan Scully.

After 3 years of good service with Thistle, he rejected a new contract and left the club in June 2016, switching to Hearts on a free transfer, again in a player-coach capacity. Following his retirement from playing, Paul truly established himself as a highly respected goalkeeping coach, spending a highly successful 10-year stint on the coaching staff at Tynecastle. He was a stable fixture through multiple managerial shifts, mentoring top-tier keepers like Craig Gordon, Zander Clark, and Jon McLaughlin. In June 2026, he moved to McDiarmid Park to assume the role of St Johnstone's Head of Goalkeeping. Paul is the son of Jim Gallacher, a goalkeeper who played in the Scottish Football League for over 20 years (1969-1992), and the cousin of full-back Tony Gallacher, who was once on the books of Liverpool.

Paul is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →