Euan McLean (born 9 January 1986) is a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

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 ...

. He played for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, Dundee United,

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 ...

and

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

and made two appearances for the Scotland under-21 team.

Career

Having been a youth signing with hometown club

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. ...

, McLean began his professional career when he moved south to join

in July 2002. The nearest he came to playing in the Sunderland first team was on the last day of the 2003–04 season when he was an unused substitute at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. At the start of the following season he was still with Sunderland and had been allocated a squad number, but having slipped down to fifth choice goalkeeper he was released shortly after the season began. McLean signed for Dundee United in September 2004 and was initially third choice goalkeeper at the club. By the beginning of the 2006–07 season, he was installed as the regular backup to

Derek Stillie Derek Daniel Stillie (born 3 December 1973) is a Scottish retired footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for a number of clubs in Scotland and England. After retiring from football, Stillie pursued a career in English law, and contested the 20 ...

, and had been named on the bench for United on numerous occasions. He was given his senior debut by manager

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, Du ...

in October 2006, along with several youngsters, in an away SPL match at

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. It proved to be a difficult debut for McLean as Dundee United suffered a 5–1 defeat with manager Brewster sacked the following day; McLean not featuring again that season. McLean made seven first-team appearances in the 2007–08 season and was an unused substitute in United's League Cup Final penalty shootout defeat but was told in April 2008 that he was free to leave

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

at the end of the season. He joined

in May 2008 as backup to first-choice goalkeeper Alan Main, playing in a handful of league matches during his first season at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of . As well as St Jo ...

. As the emergency loan transfer window shut in Scotland, McLean signed with

for the rest of the season. He was released by St Johnstone at the end of the 2009/10 season and joined Forfar on a permanent basis. McLean retired from professional football in March 2011 after being accepted to become a police officer.

Career statistics

''Seasons with appearances only''

Honours

Dundee United

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 ...

Runner-up: 1 :: 2007–08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Euan 1986 births Footballers from Kilmarnock Living people Association football goalkeepers Scottish footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Kilmarnock F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Forfar Athletic F.C. players