Allan McGraw (29 July 1939 – 1 March 2023) was a Scottish

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

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, most associated with

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

Playing career

McGraw started his playing career with

. Playing in Division Two he set a Scottish record for most goals scored in a season. He finished as Morton's top goalscorer in five consecutive seasons, and appeared in the 1963 League Cup final. He helped the club to promotion to the top flight in 1964, having scored a record 61 goals in 52 appearances that season. It was the first time Morton had played at that level since 1952, but two seasons later the Ton were relegated back to the Second Division. Following that relegation, Morton sold McGraw to Hibernian for £15,000 (£ today). He scored eight goals in his first 11 appearances for Hibs, including wins against Hearts and Rangers. McGraw scored a goal which meant that the club reached the 1969 League Cup final, but he was unable to play in the final due to injury. McGraw had been stretchered off during the semi-final, but later returned to the field as Hibs had already used their one permitted substitute. He took a number of pain killing injections in order to play while injured. This ruined his knees, causing great pain and necessitating the use of

walking stick A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense. Walking sti ...

s for the rest of his life. He later played for Linfield for one season and spent a season back at Morton without appearing in a league match.

Managerial career

McGraw returned to Morton as

in 1985. Players he managed included

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 ...

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

, David Wylie and

Alan Mahood Alan Mahood (born 26 March 1973) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who played for numerous clubs including: Greenock Morton F.C., Greenock Morton, Kilmarnock F.C., Kilmarnock, Ross County F.C., Ross County and St ...

. Towards the end of his time as manager, McGraw's team missed

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to the

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 ...

by one goal in the 1995-96 season.

Personal life and death

McGraw stood for election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

for West Renfrewshire in the

1999 Scottish Parliament election The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliam ...

. His son

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

also played for both Morton and Hibs. McGraw died on 1 March 2023, at the age of 83.

Honours

Player

Morton *

Scottish Division Two The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

: 1963–64 Individual *

top scorer: 1963–64

Manager

Greenock Morton *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

: 1986–87 *

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

: 1994–95 Individual *Scottish First Division Manager of the Year: 1986–87 * Scottish PFA Second Division Manager of the Year: 1994–95

Lifetime achievement

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Par ...

inductee: 2017 * Scottish PFA Special Merit Award: 1998

References

External Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGraw, Allan 1939 births 2023 deaths Greenock Morton F.C. managers Greenock Morton F.C. non-playing staff Greenock Morton F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Linfield F.C. players toronto City players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish men's footballers People from Govan Footballers from Glasgow Scottish Football League managers Renfrew F.C. players Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Men's association football forwards