Frank McKeown (born 18 August 1986) is a Scottish professional

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 ...

and coach who played as a central defender. He has played for

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

, Raith,

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

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 Greeno ...

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a ...

and junior club

Arthurlie Arthurlie is an area of the town of Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. History of Arthurlie The lands of Arthurlie were held in medieval times by the Stewart family, a branch of the noble Stewarts of Darnley. Later the lands became the prop ...

. McKeown is currently assistant manager at

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

side Dumbarton.

Playing career

After being released by Partick Thistle as an 18-year-old, McKeown signed with junior club Linlithgow Rose before moving on to

. In 2011, McKeown went senior with

where he stayed for four years and became club captain in 2013. In 2015, the opportunity arose to turn full-time with

. He made his debut from the bench in a cup-tie against Elgin City as a late substitute. After less than ten minutes of professional football, McKeown suffered extensive knee ligament damage and was ruled out for at least six months. McKeown was released by Morton at the end of April 2016, after not recovering from his injury, subsequently returning to Stranraer in June 2016. McKeown made a further 18 appearances for the Blues before departing the club on 11 January 2017, signing for fellow Scottish League One side

on 13 January 2017. He left the club in May 2018, following their promotion to the Scottish Championship.

Coaching career

McKeown moved into coaching as first team coach at

in 2019. He was promoted to assistant manager in May 2020 when

Chris Aitken Christopher Aitken (born 21 September 1979) is a Scottish retired footballer and current manager of Kilwinning Rangers. He moved into management at East Kilbride after his elder brother Stephen resigned from his position on 10 August 2021. ...

left the position to join brother Stephen Aitken at East Kilbride. McKeown left the Blues in May 2021, following manager Stephen Farrell to Dumbarton.

Personal life

As well as being a part-time footballer until he joined Morton, McKeown worked full-time as a fireman. He was involved in the rescue attempts after the Clutha Vaults tragedy in 2013.

References

External links

* Living people Footballers from Glasgow Greenock Morton F.C. players 1986 births Men's association football defenders Scottish men's footballers Raith Rovers F.C. players Arthurlie F.C. players Stranraer F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Linlithgow Rose F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players British firefighters {{Scotland-footy-defender-1980s-stub