McGarvey was born in
Glasgow on 17 March 1956. He was signed by
Alex Ferguson for
St Mirren after a tip off from
Willie Thornton the ex-
Rangers player and assistant manager. He made his debut for St Mirren on 26 April 1975 and soon became a first team regular, scoring 17 times in the
1976–77 season and helping the club win the
Scottish First Division. McGarvey's form attracted the attention of
Bob Paisley and, in May 1979, McGarvey signed for
Liverpool for £270,000. His tenure with the club lasted ten months. Unable to break into the first team, he sought a transfer. Liverpool accepted a bid of £270,000 by Celtic in March 1980, and for a short time McGarvey became Scotland's most expensive footballer. McGarvey played 245 times for Celtic over five years, scoring 113 goals. In that time he won two
League Championships, two
Scottish Cups and a
Scottish League Cup; however, Celtic manager
David Hay had decided that
Mo Johnston and
Brian McClair would be his preferred forwards for the
1985–86 season and decided not to offer a contract extension to McGarvey. In his final game for Celtic, he scored the winning goal six minutes from the end of the
1985 Scottish Cup Final. In June 1985, McGarvey rejoined St Mirren for £80,000. Two years later, he won a third Scottish Cup with them. In total he played 387 times for St Mirren, scoring 125 goals. Later in his career, McGarvey had spells with
Dumfries club
Queen of the South (where he was player-manager),
Clyde (with whom he won a
Second Division Championship title at the age of 37) before playing in
junior football with
Shotts Bon Accord and
Troon. McGarvey later worked as a
joiner in Scotland. In 2009, Celtic were drawn with
Rapid Vienna of Austria in a
Europa League tie – 25 years after a controversial
Cup Winners' Cup game at
Celtic Park when a Rapid Vienna player claimed to have been hit by a bottle thrown by a Celtic fan. Celtic were in the lead, but
UEFA ordered a replay of the match at a neutral venue – and the Austrian side ultimately won the re-match at
Old Trafford, Manchester. McGarvey sparked controversy among Rapid Vienna officials and fans by urging the club to apologise for what he classed as "completely disrespectful" and a "hornet's nest" in the form of their fans behaving in a manner which caused the game to be cancelled in hope of being able to get through to the next stage of the competition. == Personal life and death ==