John McKeand "Ian" McNeill (24 February 1932 – 6 October 2017) was 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 ...

and manager. Playing at

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, McNeill started his career at

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 ...

, making his first team debut in January 1951. McNeill moved to England in 1956, and went on to play for

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 ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. He returned to Scotland to join Ross County, then a Highland League club, initially as a player before taking over as manager the following season. He led the club to their first ever Highland League Championship in 1967. He then became manager of

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, then a Northern Premier League club, in 1968. McNeill then managed

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

in the Southern League, before returning for a second spell at Ross County in 1971. In 1976 he rejoined Wigan Athletic, and led the club into the Football League in 1978. In 1981 he became assistant manager to John Neal at

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 ...

. When Neal was sidelined with ill-health during the 1984–85 season, McNeill also took temporary charge of first team affairs. He returned to management in 1987, this time with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and remained until 1990. After this he became assistant manager to

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in the Fo ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, and later worked as a scout for Bolton Wanderers,

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, Wigan Athletic and Chelsea. He retired from the sport in 2006 and returned to Scotland.

Playing career

McNeill was born on 24 February 1932, and grew up in the

Baillieston Baillieston ( sco, Bailiestoun) is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is about east of the city centre. It also gives its name to Ward 20 of Glasgow City Council and forms part of the Glasgow East constituency of the UK Parliament. Geograph ...

area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He was scouted by

whilst playing 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 ...

side Bridgeton Waverley and the Scotland under-18 youth team, and joined the club as a part-time player in 1949 while continuing his apprenticeship as a draughtsman. He made his first team debut in January 1951 against St Mirren, scoring his first goal for the club within ten minutes in a 1–1 draw. His playing career at Aberdeen was interrupted by

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 ...

, which he spent in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

for 18 months before returning to the club in 1955. He struggled to break into the first team, and in 1956 he moved to England to join

. He scored 18 goals in his first full season at Leicester, helping the club win promotion to the First Division. In 1957–58, McNeill scored the only goal in a 1–0 win in the final game of the season against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

, ensuring the club avoided relegation. He made 72 appearances for the club before joining

in March 1959. He went on to play for

before finishing his playing career in Scotland with Highland League side Ross County.

Coaching career

McNeill was appointed as manager at Ross County while still playing for the club, and managed the team when they won the Highland League for the first time in 1967. He then had a couple of spells with English non-league clubs, first with Northern Premier League side

, followed by

in the Southern League. He returned to Ross County before re-joining Wigan Athletic in 1976. In 1978, he took Wigan to the Football League for the first time after the club were elected to replace

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. The club went on to finish in the top six for the first two seasons in the Fourth Division. In 1981, he joined

as assistant manager to former Southend United teammate John Neal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, Ian 1932 births 2017 deaths Footballers from Glasgow People from Baillieston Scottish footballers Scotland youth international footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players Bridgeton Waverley F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers Southend United F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Millwall F.C. non-playing staff Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Ross County F.C. players Ross County F.C. managers Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff Association football inside forwards Highland Football League managers