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 ...
at
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
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 ...
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
)
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, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
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, 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
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 ...
.
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
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 ...
in March 1959. He went on to play for
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 ...
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
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, ...
, followed by
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. 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
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 ...
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