# Michael Tidser

Michael Tidser (born 15 January 1990) is a Scottish former footballer, who most recently managed Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic.
Tidser began his career with Celtic, before spending a short time in Sweden with Östersunds FK. He returned to Scotland for three seasons at Greenock Morton, making over 100 appearances. He next moved to English club Rotherham United. After spells on loan with Ross County and Oldham Athletic, Tidser returned to Morton in 2015 and remained until 2019, following which he had a short spell with Falkirk. In 2020 he signed for Kelty Hearts, being part of the team which gained two successive promotions, and became their player-manager in 2023. In January 2025, Tidser and assistant Kevin McDonald joined Dunfermline Athletic on a two-and-a-half year contract. Tidser was sacked by the Pars on 17 March 2025 after an abysmal 11 game stint.[48]
He is a former Scotland U19 international.

## Playing career

Born in Glasgow, Tidser started his career with Celtic and was captain of the Under-19s before being released. He then signed a short-term contract with Swedish side Östersunds FK.

### Morton

After his contract expired with Östersunds, he signed an 18-month deal with Greenock Morton.
Tidser made an impressive start for the club, winning the Young Player of the Month for March 2010. He was watched by Rangers coach Kenny McDowall.
In the 2010–11 season, Tidser scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win over Partick Thistle. His impressive performances drew interest from Scottish Premier League's Kilmarnock and League One side Huddersfield Town, but no offers were made. On 12 February 2011, Tidser was sent off after a second bookable offence in a 1–0 loss against Falkirk; after the match, manager Allan Moore said he was disappointed with Tidser's action. In April 2011, Tidser signed a new three-year deal with Morton.
In 2011–12, Tidser started well, scoring his first goal of the season before providing an assist for Peter MacDonald to score the winning goal in a 2–1 win over Livingston 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 to St Mirren. However, his early season was overshadowed with a knee problem. Following an operation, it was announced that he would be out for two months and expected to come back in December. Soon in mid-November, Tidser resumed training. Upon recovering from injury, Tidser spoke to the Greenock Telegraph, describing his absence through injury as "torture". In January 2012, after Stuart McCaffrey was ruled out for the season, Tidser was made Morton's team captain just after his 22nd birthday. 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 for Kevin Rutkiewicz and Mark 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 over Dunfermline Athletic. That was followed up on 26 January 2013 when he scored in a 1–0 win over Raith 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 over Dumbarton. During the season he also made several assists, and also scored five times in the Scottish Cup, including doubles against Albion Rovers and Turriff United. However, he suffered a groin injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season. He was nominated for the 2012–13 First Division Player of the Year, and won the supporters' club awards. In June 2013, Tidser was the subject of a £50k bid from Rotherham United, which was rejected in initially by Morton chairman Douglas Rae. A further bid five days later was accepted.

### Rotherham United

Tidser officially signed for Rotherham United on 3 July 2013. 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.
After being unused in the first two matches of the 2013–14 season, Tidser made his debut for Rotherham as a late substitute in a 2–1 win over Crawley Town. Most of his subsequent appearances were also from the bench.
On 3 January 2014, Tidser joined Ross County on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season in order to help the club retain their Scottish Premiership status. He made his debut the next day, coming on as a substitute in the second half in a 1–0 win over St Johnstone. Tidser's playing time increased, and he provided assists against Hibernian on 15 February and St Mirren on 22 February. However, a knee injury put him out for the remainder of the season. Tidser made 16 appearances for Ross County and returned to his parent club at the end of the season.
After making his return to Rotherham, Tidser made his first appearance for the club in a year, in a 1–0 win over Fleetwood Town in the first round of the League Cup. He made two more appearances for the club, against Watford in the league and another League Cup appearance against Swansea City. On 1 September 2014, in the last hour of Deadline Day, Tidser signed for Oldham Athletic on loan until January 2015. Tidser made his Oldham debut in the second round of Football League Trophy, which they beat Barnsley 4–2 on penalty shoot-out, but struggled to secure a place in the first team and made seven appearances in all competitions.
He was released in January 2015 after two years at Rotherham United, and was quickly on the radar of former club Morton.

### Return to Morton

In January 2015, Tidser returned to Morton on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He was unable, however, to play until the following season due to FIFA transfer regulations having already played for two clubs in 2014–15. Because of this, he played in the club's reserve matches to maintain his fitness throughout the season.
His 2015–16 season with Morton was limited to very few appearances before finally being ruled out all together in March after suffering a suspected hernia. In June 2017, Tidser signed a two-year extension with the club.

### Falkirk

Tidser signed for Falkirk on 10 June 2019 and played for the club during the first half of the 2019–20 season.

### Kelty Hearts

Kelty Hearts of the Lowland Football League signed Tidser as a player in February 2020, though the Covid-19 pandemic soon disputed his early time there, with the Fife club declared champions based on points accumulated before the season was curtailed, but denied the chance of promotion. A year later, he scored the clinching goal against Brechin City in the 2021 SPFL pyramid playoffs against to send Kelty into the professional divisions for the first time in their history. They secured a second successive promotion by winning the 2021–22 Scottish League Two title.
In April 2023, Kelty announced that Tidser would become their new player-manager. While he led the club, they maintained their place in Scottish League One and were well on course to do so again in 2024–25.

### International career

Tidser made three appearances for both the Scotland under-18 and under-19 sides, scoring once for the under-18's against Turkey.

## Managerial career
### Dunfermline Athletic

In January 2025, Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic appointed Tidser as their new manager on a two-and-a-half year deal. Kelty Hearts assistant manager Kevin McDonald also made the move between the Fife clubs. Tidser was sacked on 17 March 2025 after 11 games in charge.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 17 January 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Greenock Morton | 2009–10 | Scottish First Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Greenock Morton | 2010–11 | Scottish First Division | 34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| Greenock Morton | 2011–12 | Scottish First Division | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 3 |
| Greenock Morton | 2012–13 | Scottish First Division | 31 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 11 |
| Greenock Morton | Total | Total | 103 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 118 | 15 |
| Rotherham United | 2013–14 | League One | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Rotherham United | 2014–15 | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 |
| Rotherham United | Total | Total | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Ross County (loan) | 2013–14 | Scottish Premiership | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 |
| Oldham Athletic (loan) | 2014–15 | League One | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Greenock Morton | 2015–16 | Scottish Championship | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| Greenock Morton | 2016–17 | Scottish Championship | 28 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 3 |
| Greenock Morton | 2017–18 | Scottish Championship | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 3 |
| Greenock Morton | 2018–19 | Scottish Championship | 30 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 8 |
| Greenock Morton | Total | Total | 102 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 130 | 15 |
| Falkirk | 2019–20 | Scottish League One | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Kelty Hearts | 2020–21 | Lowland League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 2 |
| Kelty Hearts | 2021–22 | Scottish League Two | 33 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 3 |
| Kelty Hearts | 2022–23 | Scottish League One | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 1 |
| Kelty Hearts | 2023–24 | Scottish League One | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 3 |
| Kelty Hearts | 2024-25 | Scottish League One | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Kelty Hearts | Kelty Hearts Total | Kelty Hearts Total | 115 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 149 | 9 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 361 | 24 | 28 | 5 | 44 | 7 | 20 | 3 | 453 | 39 |
* 1 2 3 4 5 Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
* 1 2 Appearances in the Football League Trophy
* ↑ One appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup and two in the Premiership play-offs
* 1 2, league stats not verified in source.
* ↑ Two appearances in the Pyramid Playoffs Semi Final and two in the Scottish League Two Playoffs.

### Managerial record

    As of match played 15 March 2025
| Team | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | 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 | Total | Total | 82 | 29 | 18 | 35 | 035.37 |

## Honours
### Club

Kelty Hearts
* Lowland League: 2019–20, 2020–21
* Scottish League Two: 2021–22

### Individual

Greenock Morton
* SFL Young Player of the Month – March 2010
* First Division Player of the Year nominee – 2012–13
* First Division Team of the Year – 2012–13