Alexander Cleland (born 10 December 1970) is a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. Cleland played as a defender for Scottish sides Rangers and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

and English team Everton. Although never capped at senior level for Scotland, he did make eleven appearances for the under-21 team. After retiring from football, he moved into coaching, having two spells as caretaker boss at

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

and twice at

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Playing career

Cleland started his career with

, signing as a youth player in 1986. He soon established himself in the reserve team and made his first team debut against

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

in April 1988. By 1990 he was a first team regular, but then broke a leg twice within a few months. After recovering, he was part of the Dundee United team that won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers in a joint transfer with

Gary Bollan Gary Bollan (born 24 March 1973) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. He played for Dundee United (two spells), Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan), St Johnstone, Livingston, Motherwell, Clyde, Brechin City and Carnou ...

in 1995 and established himself in the right-back position at Ibrox. After over 100 appearances for the Glasgow club, he joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side Everton along with manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

in 1998; however, his time in England was blighted with constant injury problems, and he only made 44 appearances before retiring in 2002.

Coaching career

Cleland was assistant manager to Steve Morrison at

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

before joining

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

in January 2004. On 21 June 2004, Cleland was appointed as youth coach at

, taking over from

Paul Hegarty Paul Anthony Hegarty (born 25 July 1954 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish football player and manager. He was captain of Dundee United during their most successful era in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Scottish league championship in 1983 and the ...

who left to join

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

. Whilst at Livi he served as caretaker-manager role on two occasions, firstly after the dismissal of

Allan Preston Allan Preston (born 16 August 1969) is a retired Scottish professional footballer and manager. He is currently a radio sports pundit for BBC Scotland. Playing career Preston, who predominantly played at left-back, began his career as a 15-y ...

in November 2004. Cleland led the side to a 3–1 win away to

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

on 27 November, ended a seven-game losing run. Then following the sacking of

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...

in April 2007 which ultimately led to him leaving the club a month later when he failed to become permanent manager. After leaving Livingston, Cleland coached part-time at Rangers in their

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

before being appointed youth coach at

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

in January 2008. Following their relegation, Cleland was released as a coach by

to cut costs but shortly afterwards took up a similar position at

. He served as their caretaker manager in October 2011, after

Derek McInnes Derek John McInnes (born 5 July 1971) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock. He featured prominently for Greenock Morton, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion and Dund ...

and

Tony Docherty Tony Docherty (born 24 January 1971 in East Kilbride) is a Scottish football player and coach. Career Docherty's short career began in 1987 with Dunfermline Athletic before moving to English side Cambridge United. In the early 1990s, Dochert ...

left for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. In June 2018, Cleland was promoted to the position of assistant manager at St Johnstone. He was again put in caretaker charge of St Johnstone in May 2020, after the resignation of Tommy Wright.

Career statistics

Honours

;Dundee United *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1993–94 ;Rangers *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

: 3 :: 1994-95, 1995–96, 1996–97 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1995–96 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 1 :: 1996–97

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleland, Alec 1970 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Scottish football managers Dundee United F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Everton F.C. players Livingston F.C. managers Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scotland B international footballers Association football fullbacks Livingston F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff St Johnstone F.C. non-playing staff Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. Scotland under-21 international footballers