Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently a full-time advisor to the board of directors at Highland Football League club
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...
.
During his playing career he played for
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...
and Heart of Midlothian, making over 300 league appearances for Hearts until he was forced to retire due to injury. He also won 16
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
for
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and was part of their 1990 FIFA World Cup squad.
After retiring as a player Levein became a manager, working at club level for Cowdenbeath, Heart of Midlothian,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
,
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
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 ...
. Levein was appointed Scotland manager in 2009, but he left this position after the team failed to win any of its first four matches in
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...
. He returned to Hearts in 2014 as
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
, then served as their manager from August 2017 to October 2019.
Playing career
Early career
Levein was born in Dunfermline and attended Inverkeithing High School, where he was in the football team alongside another future Scottish international footballer,
Gordon Durie
Gordon Scott Durie (born on 6 December, 1965 in Paisley) is the Scottish former professional footballer, a utility player who usually played as a striker. He played for East Fife, Hibernian, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers and Hearts. ...
. He was a supporter of
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
. His early football career saw him turn out for Dalgety Bay, Leven Royals and Inverkeithing under-16s. At the age of 15, however, he gave up football for a year, only resuming when his brother, who played for
junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
club Lochore Welfare invited him to training there. Levein subsequently signed for Lochore and after trials with several senior clubs he finally joined Cowdenbeath in 1981. He quickly established himself in the first team and soon became a target for larger clubs.
Hearts
In 1983, he moved to Heart of Midlothian for a fee of £40,000 and soon found himself a regular place in their first team. Levein won the SPFA Young Player of the Year award in 1985 and 1986, becoming the first player to retain the title. In the latter season Hearts chased a league and cup double. Two goals in the last 10 minutes of the season by
Albert Kidd
Albert Kidd (born 19 October 1961) is a Scottish former football player who now lives in Australia. He is best known in Scottish football for scoring two goals for Dundee against Hearts on the final day of the 1985–86 season to deny Hearts ...
gave Hearts their first league defeat in 31 games, which handed the league title to Celtic. Levein missed that game through illness. He returned to the Hearts team the following week in the 1986 Scottish Cup Final, which Hearts lost 3–0 to
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
.
1986 brought further woe for the young Levein when he picked up a serious knee injury in a
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
game against Hibernian. The injury was to change his life. He had a recurrence of the injury in 1988 when he collapsed unchallenged in a game against Rangers and spent a second year out of the game.
It was not just injuries that kept Levein from playing during his time at Hearts: he was given a 12-game ban after punching, and breaking the nose of, Hearts teammate Graeme Hogg during a pre-season friendly against
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
.
Levein was forced to retire from playing in 1997, due to another serious knee injury. He made 401 appearances for Hearts.
Scotland
He made his Scotland debut in March 1990, a 1–0 win against reigning world champions,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, at Hampden Park and played well enough to earn a place in Scotland's
1990 World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...
squad. Levein won 16
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
After being forced into retirement as a player, Levein had coaching positions at Hearts and at Livingston. In November 1997 he was appointed as manager of
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...
and turned a struggling team into one that could challenge for promotion. Cowdenbeath were promoted in 2001, but Levein had left in December 2000 to take over as manager at Hearts.
Hearts manager
His time in charge of Hearts was successful, where he guided them to third place in the SPL in two successive seasons and thus into European competition. He was the first manager to take Hearts into Europe in successive seasons since the 1960s.
Leicester City
His impressive record in Scotland caught the attention of
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, who appointed Levein as manager on 29 October 2004. However, after a poor start to the 2005–06 season, which left the club third from bottom in the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
relegation zone, he was sacked as manager on 25 January 2006.
Raith Rovers
Levein was appointed as manager of his boyhood heroes,
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 ...
club
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
, on 5 September 2006, on a non-contract basis. However, after Dundee United parted company with
Craig Brewster
Craig James Brown Brewster (born 13 December 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer, turned coach. He made his name in a long playing career as a striker for numerous clubs in Scotland, particularly Forfar Athletic, Raith Rovers, ...
, Levein left his non-contract role at Raith Rovers to take up the job at Tannadice.
Dundee United
He was unveiled to the press on 30 October 2006. Levein guided United to four successive home victories, earning him 'Manager of the Month' for November 2006, later repeating the award in March 2007 and again in October 2007. On 21 January 2008 he was appointed Director of Football at the club, giving him a seat on the Board of Directors in addition to his existing managerial responsibilities. In August 2008, he was fined £5000 by the SFA for accusing a referee (Mike McCurry) of bias after a game against Rangers.
During his tenure, United regularly finished in the top half of the Scottish Premier League. The club reached the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final, which United led twice before losing to Rangers on a penalty shootout. Levein signed a new contract with United in December 2008, but he left the job in December 2009 to become
Scotland national football team manager
The role of a Scotland national football team manager was first established in May 1954, when Andy Beattie was appointed. Beattie took charge of six matches before and during the 1954 FIFA World Cup, when Scotland competed at their first major ...
. United went on to win the
2009–10 Scottish Cup
The 2009–10 Scottish Cup was the 125th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The competition was sponsored by the Scottish Government and for sponsorship reasons was known as the Active Nation Scottish Cup.
Cale ...
under his successor Peter Houston, who had been Levein's assistant. Levein overhauled the club's youth system, which subsequently brought through players such as
Ryan Gauld
Ryan Stewart Gauld (born 16 December 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
He began his professional career at Dundee United, where he helped them ...
and
John Souttar
John Francis Souttar (born 25 September 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club Rangers and the Scotland national team. He previously played for Dundee United and Heart of Midlothian before join ...
.
Scotland manager
On 23 December 2009, Levein left Dundee United to become the new
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
manager. He agreed to a -year deal. Scotland won 1–0 in his first match in charge, a friendly against the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, with the goal coming from Celtic captain Scott Brown. However, his second game in charge would not be as successful, with Scotland going down 3–0 to Sweden on 12 August 2010. This was also followed by a disappointing 0–0 draw with Lithuania and an unconvincing 2–1 victory over
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...
in the first two Euro 2012 qualifying matches.
Levein dropped in-form striker
Kenny Miller
Kenneth Miller (born 23 December 1979) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Miller, who played as a striker, is one of only five post-war players to have played for both Rangers and Celtic.
Miller began his career at ...
and played an ultra-defensive 4–6–0 against Czech Republic in their third game. The match ended in a 1–0 defeat, with Levein attracting criticism for his negative tactics. Levein later said that he had adopted the formation after seeing Russian club
Rubin Kazan
FC Rubin Kazan (russian: Футбо́льный клуб Руби́н Каза́нь, ''Futbolny klub Rubin Kazan'' , Tatar: Рубин Казан) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the second-tier ...
achieve a good result against
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Found ...
with that approach. He also conceded that he perhaps should not have done this without knowing the players well, early in his tenure as manager.
In the following game, against World and European champions
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, Levein adopted a more conventional 4–5–1 formation with Miller in attack. Scotland lost 2–3 despite coming back from 0–2 down to draw level at 2–2. Scotland then beat
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
3–0 in a friendly where Levein gave seven debuts due to 9 withdrawals from the initial squad. Scotland won the first two matches of the
2011 Nations Cup
The 2011 Nations Cup (also known as the Carling Nations Cup after its headline sponsor) was a round-robin football tournament between the Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales national teams. The first set of two games ...
with ease, beating
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
3–0 and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
3–1. The Scots lost 1–0 to the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
in their third game, meaning that the Republic won the tournament.
In order to reach the
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs
The UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-off ties were played over two legs, with the first legs on 11 November and the second legs on 15 November 2011. The four winners are found according to the standard rules for the knockout phase in European compet ...
, Scotland realistically needed to beat the Czech Republic in their next qualifier. The match ended in a 2–2 draw, after two late controversial
penalty kick
A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
decisions by Dutch referee
Kevin Blom
Bernie Raymond Blom, known as Kevin Blom (born 21 February 1974 in Gouda), is a Dutch football referee, who officiates for FIFA and UEFA. He has refereed in the Eerste Divisie, the Eredivisie and the UEFA Champions League. His home town is Alphen ...
both went against Scotland. 1–0 wins in the next two qualifiers against Lithuania and Liechtenstein kept their chances mathematically alive, but a 3–1 defeat by
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
coupled with the Czech Republic winning in Lithuania eliminated Scotland.
For the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Scotland were drawn into UEFA qualifying Group A with Belgium, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Wales. Preparations started with a 1–1 draw in
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
, but the team suffered a 5–1 defeat by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in May. Scotland bounced back with a 3–1 friendly win against Australia in August. Levein attracted criticism for selecting Ian Black for that match, despite him playing in the fourth-tier
Scottish Third Division
The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013.
History
The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...
. Levein had previously said that it would be "very difficult" for any player to go from playing in the Third Division to an international match, and had left out
Lee Wallace
Lee Wallace (born 1 August 1987) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He represented the Scotland national team with 10 caps.
Wallace started his career Heart of Midlothian, making his debut in 2005 at age seventeen, and joined Ran ...
for that reason. Black received a mixed reception when he appeared as a late substitute, with some sections of the crowd booing him.
Levein stated his belief that Scotland were capable of winning all of their qualifying games, but the first two matches ended in home draws against Serbia and Macedonia. Levein was again criticised for adopting negative tactics. Levein then recalled Steven Fletcher and
Kris Commons
Kristian Arran Commons (born 30 August 1983) is an English-born Scottish professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
Commons started his career at Stoke City and made his debut in 2000. After four years with the club, he rej ...
, but Scotland fell to two away defeats against Wales and Belgium, which left the Scots bottom of Group A with only 2 points from 4 games. He was relieved of his duties on 5 November 2012, following talks with the Scottish Football Association.
Return to Hearts
Levein returned to Hearts in May 2014, as he was appointed
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
by new owner
Ann Budge Ann Cochrane Cook Wallace Budge (born 21 February 1948) is a Scottish businesswoman and company director.
Career
Budge graduated with a psychology degree, and became the first woman appointed to a senior position in Scottish & Newcastle after start ...
. In that role, Levein oversaw the appointments of Robbie Neilson and
Ian Cathro
Ian Cathro (born 11 July 1986) is a Scottish football coach, who is a first team coach at Al-Ittihad. He was previously an assistant coach at Rio Ave, Valencia, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, and was briefly the head coach at Scottish P ...
as
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
of Hearts. Four weeks after Cathro was sacked in August 2017, Levein was appointed first team
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
. He signed a three-year contract as manager, while also continuing as director of football.
Levein was sacked as Hearts manager and director of football on 31 October 2019, although he was retained in an advisory role until May 2020.
Brechin City
During the 2020–21 season Levein worked for BBC Scotland as a pundit. He joined
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...
as an advisor to their board of directors in June 2021, shortly after their relegation to the Highland League.
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
,
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
Manager
;Dundee United
* SPL Manager of the Month: November 2006, March 2007, October 2007, November 2009
*
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 ...
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2018–19
See also
*
List of Scotland national football team captains
This article lists all the captains of the Scotland national football team. As of 16 November 2022, Scotland have played 816 officially recognised international matches and have had 155 different team captains. George Young captained Scotland m ...