Davie McParland (5 May 1935 – 14 July 2018) was a Scottish football player and

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 played for Partick Thistle for his whole senior career, making over 400

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

appearances. After retiring as a player, he took over from Scott Symon as manager at Partick Thistle in 1970. McParland led Thistle to promotion to the top division in his first season as manager,Coaches: David McParland
QPFC.com and the following year guided them to arguably their greatest triumph, a 4–1 win in the 1971 Scottish League Cup Final against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. Following mid-table finishes in 1972-73 and 1973–74, McParland walked out on Thistle after a disagreement with the board. In June 1974 McParland left Partick Thistle to become

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 ...

at lower league Queens Park. This was the first time at Queens Park that team selection was handed over totally to the coach. In his first season, Queens Park could only finish 16th in the old Scottish Second Division, well away from getting into the new First Division as the League structure was altered to three divisions. The following year saw them finish fourth in the new Scottish Second Division (third tier), still short of winning promotion. McParland joined

for the start of season 1976-77 as assistant manager, working under

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

. McParland took charge of the 'tracksuit' aspects of coaching at Celtic whilst Stein watched from the touchline, still not fully recovered from the serious car smash he was involved in the year before. His first season saw Celtic win a league and cup double, however the club finished trophy-less the following season and slumped to a fifth place league finish. He was released by the club at the end of that season. McParland then became manager of

Hamilton Accies Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

, where he spent four seasons before leaving in the autumn of 1982. He had spells as Head of Youth Development at Airdire, Dunfermline and Motherwell. In October 2001 McParland was appointed Director of Football at

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

but was released from his role in May 2002 amidst rumours that he did not get on with manager Tom Carson. McParland died in July 2018, just days after Thistle had announced their new training ground would be named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McParland, Davie 1935 births 2018 deaths Association football wingers Partick Thistle F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. managers Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Queen's Park F.C. managers Celtic F.C. non-playing staff Hamilton Academical F.C. managers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Motherwell F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Larkhall Thistle F.C. players Scottish Football League managers Scotland under-23 international footballers

See also

References