David MacLaren (12 June 1934 – 6 December 2016) was a
footballer who played as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
. Although born in Scotland, he spent most of his playing career in England, before turning to
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includ ...
in Malaysia and Australia.
Playing career
While completing his
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
as a radar technician in the
RAAF
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
, MacLaren represented
Hong Kong FC
Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC; ), established in 1886, is a private members' club in Hong Kong. The name reflects the origin as a club for playing association football and rugby.
The club is situated in Happy Valley, with the sports pitche ...
and helped
Penang win the
Malaya Cup in 1954.
He also attracted the attention of
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
manager,
Ted Drake
Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...
to signing him for Chelsea before he returned to Scotland and joined
Dundee.
He managed only one first team appearance for the team though, before heading to England in January 1957, where he would spend the rest of his playing career.
He joined
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 ...
and immediately won
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
to the First Division as he became first choice, but he lost his place to the emerging
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...
during the
1959–60 season. McLaren took this as his cue to depart and joined Second Division
Plymouth Argyle at the end of the season.
The goalkeeper made more appearances for Plymouth than any of his other league clubs (131 league games) over five seasons in the second tier, before being signed by
Wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
in early 1965. He spent only one full season at
Molineux as the club attempted to regain their top flight status at the first attempt in
1965–66, but fell short.
MacLaren got a chance to return to the First Division though when newly promoted
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
signed him soon into the
following season, despite McLaren having been in goal for Wolves when Southampton had scored nine against them in the previous season (in a 9–3 victory).
He lasted just a single season at
The Dell, making 22 league appearances, before losing his place to
Eric Martin. After leaving Southampton he joined non-league
Worcester City
Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane.
Worcester City's ...
.
MacLaren died in
Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine ( , non-locally also ) is a small city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region about 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest by road from Melbourne and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the major provincial centre of Be ...
, Australia on 6 December 2016 after a long illness.
International career
While in Penang, he was selected in a
Malaya national football team
The Malaya national football team was the national team of the Federation of Malaya. The national team was active until 1962 and then it was replaced by Malaysia national football team, since the 1963 Merdeka Tournament.
Competitive record
...
and played in exhibition matches. On 18 September 1954, he played for Malaya against
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
in a 3–0 defeat. He then played for Malaya against
Kalmar FF
Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1910, the cl ...
in a 1–1 draw on 20 November 1954.
The following year, on 11 February 1955, he played against
Admira in a 1–1 draw.
Coaching career
After retiring from playing, he took on a new challenge in Malaysia as manager of
Malaysia national team between 1970 and 1971. As national manager, MacLaren guided Malaysia to qualify for the
1972 Munich Olympic Games as group leaders.
After that, he returned to Australia to manage
Sydney City.
In 1977, he became
South Melbourne Hellas
South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, with matches played at Lakeside Stadium. ...
manager for two years.
Personal life
MacLaren's brothers,
Jimmy and
Roy
Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin.
In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...
, were also professional footballers. All three MacLaren brothers were goalkeepers.
Honours
Player
Penang
*
Malaysia Cup: 1954
Leicester City
*
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
:
1956–57
Individual
*
Malaya Sportsman of the Year: 1954
Dave Maclaren , SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2022 (Google Image).
/ref>
Manager
Sydney City
* NSW NPL Grand Final: ''Finalists'' 1973, 1974
* NSW NPL Minor Premiership: 1973, 1974
* Ampol Cup: 1973
*Waratah Cup
The Waratah Cup is a knockout cup competition in New South Wales, run by the governing body of football in NSW, Football NSW. Teams competing in the Waratah Cup come from the National Premier Leagues NSW, National Premier Leagues NSW 2, Natio ...
: 1976
References
External links
Interview with MacLaren in 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaren, Dave
1934 births
2016 deaths
Scottish footballers
Association football goalkeepers
Dundee F.C. players
Leicester City F.C. players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Scottish football managers
Scottish expatriate football managers
Australian soccer coaches
Australian expatriate soccer coaches
South Melbourne FC managers
Malaysia national football team managers
Scottish emigrants to Australia
Hakoah Sydney City East FC managers